Ankor Temples Day-2-Ankor Wat

 The was the main attraction of my visit to Siam Reap was to visit Ankor Wat temple.

The day started at 4.30am, with a short trip from the hotel to the temple site. I had to reach there pretty early to get a good spot to that get sunrise picture of the temple, reflecting on a small pool.  My guide suggested that I wait outside the temple, neat the lake that surrounds the temple, so that I would be less crowded and get better reflection than on a small pool inside. However, nature had other plans for me. It was very windy and with water not still, reflection was not clear and the idea of sitting outside turned out to be a disaster. However, I got some sunrise pictures with the temple in silhouette.

Though Ankor Wat was built as a Vishnu temple, later it was converted to a Buddha temple. At the entrance, there is a big Vishnu statue, probably removed from the main area. 

Once inside, the view was stunning. With sun on the foreground of the temple and carvings on the wall, it was a great feeling altogether. 

This is the small pool where everyone get's their sunrise picture with reflection of the temple.

We walked towards east to get in to the main building. 

After getting inside from east gate, there is one of the biggest carving of "Palazahi Madanam"

Another gate into the temple,  there are different levels of the building , all of which had varying degree of degradation, before restoration work started. 

It was a steep climb to reach the top levels of the temple, where only king and other nobles were  allowed. 

This group of monks were on a visit to the temple.

Took my final round of pictures on my way back.

Vellarimedu-2024

 From what was planned as a trip with four of my friends, it ended up with almost a dozen guys. It was real fun all day with the group of friends, but the place failed to impress with nothing much to do except for some beautiful Palakkad outback's. 

There is a not so bad waterfall up in the mountain. We chose to be less adventurous and did not trek up there.

This is one of the few times when I get to be on the other side of camera, thanks to my friend who insisted that I should also be in the frame.

This house and the Indian equivalent  of a barn with thatched roof caught the attention of everyone passing by.

Angkor Temples-Day 1- Neak Poan, Ta Som East Mebon and Pre Rub

 From Preah Khan, I continued my visit to Ta Som. This temple sits in the middle of a large lake, filled with water lilies.

There were many devotees offering prayers in this temple, many of them in their traditional attire. 

Next stop was at Ta Som. This temple was not in its pristine condition, with minimal restoration work visible.

From Ta Som, we went to East Mebon. This is a much bigger temple compared to earlier two. The construction style and the stones used are also not the same as earlier temples.

There is a small Buddha statue inside the main temple building

Post lunch, the final visit was to Pre Rub (Brae Rub) temple. This is one of the tallest temple of the day, with excellent views once we got on the top. Eve otherwise, the temple was magnificent, though not fully restored. We were greeted by a horned bill at the entrance.