Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom (which means Great City) is a walled city inside the Angkor which was the capital of the Khmer empire.  It was built sometime in the 12th century and where the priests, and the palace and military officials lived. Now, the walled city is a huge complex with several ancient ruins. 

We entered the walled city of Angkor Thom via the South Gate.  There was traffic when we reached the gate.

Whoa...all roads lead to Angkor Thom

Traffic at the south gate

Near the gate, there are elephants which can be rented to take the guests around.

Yang Min, making sure I wont be able to run away from the elephant

The south gate has very interesting details. Giant faces, each showing different expressions, line up the road to the gate.  On the left side (if you are entering the city and facing the gate) are 54 figures of gods, whose expressions are either smiling, serious or serene. On the left side are 54 demons, with grimace on their faces. The gods are holding /pulling the head of a snake, while the demons are pulling its tail.

The demon gods

Rekha is not scared of them..

The south gate is an elegant entry tower. At the top of the tower are giant faces facing the four directions. The lower half are elephant statues with the figure of god sitting on each of the elephants.

The south gate is a lovely, elegant entry tower.  However, after I entered the walled city, I had to get out of it again. Work got in the way of my tour and I received a call to go back to the hotel for a short meeting about the workshop arrangements.  The tour guide was kind enough to ask the driver to take to the hotel, wait and take me back again to the Angkor Wat (and I only needed to add USD5 for the gas). What that meant however was me, missing the tour of the Elephant Court  and the other temples in the Angkor Thom. 

The good news was, when I came back, I was right on time for the Bayon temple ( well our kind tour guide has arranged for it so that I will be able to join the Bayon tour..shhhh).

Preparing to visit the Angkor Wat

I got really excited when I found that our annual network conference (which happened in March this year) was in Siem Reap, Cambodia. That meant I will finally be able to explore another ancient temple in Asia, the most famous maybe, the Angkor Wat.

I immediately got in touch with my friends from China, Yang Min, and from Nepal, Neeta to ask if they wanted to come a day early so we can do a tour. Of course, both said yes. Later, Rekha , from our office in Australia, Ranjit , from Canada, and Hailin from China also asked to join. I also emailed 2 colleagues who are new in the Asia Region, Dracuse from Haiti and Carlos from El Salvador-- my way of welcoming them to the region. (Later, however, Neeta was unable to join because of cancelled flights.)

Three weeks before our travel, I emailed Kimrom, a tour guide who promptly responded to my queries and sent me all the information that I need. Her rate is very reasonable: USD 100 for the 8AM to 5 PM tour , and this also includes the minivan and the driver who will pick us up from and take us back to the hotel, cold water during the trip and cold towel. Payment is done at the end of the tour.  

I have arranged for the tour, including the itinerary, and informed my colleagues, who were also very excited with the tour.  

On the day of the tour, Kim Ron was there before 8AM to pick us up at Somadevi Resort. It was everybody's first time to meet Ranjit, Dracuse and Carlos and it was funny how we were trying to guess who they are, from the many people in the hotel lobby :).  But we managed. Well, not after I kept ignoring the girl in pink dress, who kept smiling at me, never thinking that she is Ranjit- and all the while thinking that Ranjit is a male. Oh, well.....

Our tour guide in action

We reached the entrance of the Angkor Archeological Park in less than 30 minutes and Kim instructed us to queue to buy our pass, show our passport, and have our photos taken. The one day pass costs USD20 (they only accept cash in US dollars, Cambodian Riel, Thai Baht and Euro).  There is also a 3 day pass (USD40) and 7 day pass (USD60), which gives you the idea how huge the Angkor complex is.

Visitor's photo is printed in the pass, which makes for a good souvenir, but it also helps the government track the visitors, in case something goes wrong. Or in case somebody did something wrong like what some foreign visitors did recently: taking nude photos in the sacred temples. They got caught, by the way.

After we got out pass, we were reminded to keep and always carry our pass, as it will be checked when we enter major temples.  

And - we were ready to explore! 

Me and my travel buddies for the day

(PS. Visitors are advised to wear sturdy shoes, as there is a lot of walking involved.  Also bring sunglasses, hat and sunblock as it can be very hot and humid)