"Wat's" Up?!

To start off our post for today, I'd like to introduce you to some friends of our that we've been spending a lot of time with over the past 3 days. They have visited the temples with us, they've carried us when our feet were tired. They even stuck with us through the sun, the heat and the mud. "Unitrak"and "The Winner" as they are affectionately named by the stickers on their sides have been our trusty, old bicycles for the past few days.

In an effort to stay in shape and have the freedom to explore the temples at our own leisure we opted to rent bicycles to see the temples. We've put in a lot of kilometers in the past 3 days cycling through the countryside and stopping to explore the ruins.

The ruins have been incredible. We've been blown away by how big they are, and how many there are. We are by no means experts on how or why they were built, but they sure are impressive. I'll give you a little summary, but leave the real research for you history buffs who want to know more.

The temples were built between the 9th and 13th centuries. These temples are the only structures that have survived, as houses and other public buildings were made of wood, and haven't survived the many years that have passed. Stone was used for the temples as only gods were allowed to live in structures made of stone.

We've seen so much that it's hard to even explain it all. Some of the temples we've seen have been taken over by the forest around them. It's incredible to see huge trees and their roots tearing these old stone buildings apart. One of the temples we visited was even featured in a couple of the Indiana Jones movies.

Another one of the popular temples has 216 faces built into the stone. They are said to be more than a passing resemblance to the king who was responsible for having the temple built. There are over 1100 carvings all depicting vivid scenes of 12th century life in Cambodia, including kick boxing and cock fighting. The detail in the temples is incredible! This temple belongs to a group of buildings within a fortified city. The cities walls stretch more than 12 km and are 6 m high and 8 m. wide, every step of the way.

The greatest of all temples is Angkor Wat, which we left for our last day, today. Soaring skyward and surrounded by a moat that would shame European castles, Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world. It was built from 1112-52 to honour Vishnu, a Buddhist god. It was supposed to be his funeral temple. The building and the courtyard themselves are massive and the whole structure is surrounded by a huge stone wall. The detail on every stone causes one to wonder how many people would have been involved and blows your mind as to how they did it. Surrounding the central temple complex is an 800 metre long series of carved scenes depicting things from battles in Asia to battles between gods and demons.

We have more pictures of these buildings than we know what to do with. If you're interested in seeing more when we come home, we'll be glad to show you. As for us, we're pretty watted out so we're heading on to another town tomorrow. More posts will come from Battambang!