Angkor Who?

Siem Reap is a city north of Phnom Penh, and in Khmer language, it means Thailand conquered...this was a bazzillion years ago though. Siem Reap is no longer Thai territory. After the French came to Cambodia, Thailand had to let go of its conquered lands. In any case, Siem Reap is COVERED with temples...including ANGKOR WAT, which was just recently on the ballot for one of the new seven wonders of the world. Voting ends today (7-7-07) for the new wonders of the world and although I cheated and voted twice, Angkor Wat wasn't even close to being a finalist.

I actually studied about Angkor Wat a few years ago...i didn't remember much when we were there (sadly) but Angkor Wat is a temple representing Mount Meru where the gods live. The massive moat surrounding it is supposed to represent the oceans. There are tons of intricate bas reliefs that tell stories about Hinduism and Vishnu. It was incredible.

we went there at sunrise, which is supposed to be spectacular, but unfortunately our sunrise was not that impressive.


my maaam and sister resting in the temple



worlds steepest steps.



the temple is covered with apsara dancers who are these mythical female dancers that were born of the bubbles.

you can't hear it that well, but this hallway is called the hallway of echoes. When a person stands at a certain place in the hall and hits their chest it echoes and produces a really loud reverberating thump...check out the video.



we went to a few more temples that day, but i'll save the other temples for another day so as not to overload you.