Siem Reap, Cambodia
11° 23' N 104° 52' E
May 08, 2008 09:07
Distance 0km

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Angkor Wat. Temple: Ta Prohm.

Angkor Wat. Thursday Afternoon, May 8th.

Second Temple:  Ta Prohm. 

This temple was made famous by the movie “Tomb Raider”  starring Angela Jolie (or Angola Pitt as I called her before my editor corrected me, God bless my editor).  What is unique about this temple is that it is still surrounded and covered with jungle growth. Built in the late 12th Century, it is easily the most impressive and memorable of the temple sites.  Seeing the trees growing out of the walls and roofs of the temple is remarkable.  The tree roots just wrap themselves all over the stones.  Just after we entered the site it began to rain, but it was too late to get my umbrella, so I just accepted the fact that I would get soaked. 

This is a Buddhist temple.  Such temples are made out of volcanic stones at the base and foundations, and sand stone higher up.  The sand stone is easy to cut and carve, which explains how there are so many detailed carvings on them.  The bas-relief have three levels or layers; the lowest layer depicts wars and common personal experiences, the next level depicts the gods and the top layer is dedicated to capturing the mythical life of the royalty. 

As the photos attest, this is a really cool and mysterious site.

Photos / videos of "Angkor Wat. Temple: Ta Prohm.":

The first thing you see when you enter Ta Prohm. Immediately you think, "This is very different from the Bayon." This site was deliberately not restored, they want guests to see what it was like with all the jungle growth. Ta Prohm was deliberately not restored like the Bayon. Parts of the interior of this Buddhist temple still have the fine detail bas relief and carvings that are found on all the other temples we visited. Nature versus temple. If you have seen the movie "Tomb Raiders" with Angela Jolie, what you see was one of the more memorable camera angles in the movie. And of course, tomb raiders always dress that way when they go raiding. Our guide knew all the Kodak shots and angles. Group photo. It was so hot, we went back to our hotel for a swim and continued exploring in the later afternoon. We are all soaked, as it rained on us while we were out. Seems like it rains somewhere between 3 and 4 every afternoon around here.
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