This month we're celebrating our 10th birthday at Escape Worldwide,
and looking back at 10 years of globetrotting in the name of bringing you great
holidays - at least that's our excuse! We're having a look at our personal top
10 favourite travel experiences of the last 10 years.
Escape Worldwide - Home of Long Haul Holidays
http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk
Mark goes temple spotting in Cambodia.....
"The first time I really heard about Angkor Wat was 20
years ago, when I was backpacking around Thailand and made it to a temple that
once stood on the edge of the Khmer empire, on what is now the border between
Thailand and Cambodia - Khao Phra Viharn. This out of the way temple was in a
sorry state and was around 100 miles from Angkor Wat itself, but it really gave
a sense of how mighty the Khmer empire was in its heyday, and how magnificent
Angkor would have been. I started finding out more about the Temples of Angkor,
but it took me another 14 years to actually make it there!
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| Bas reliefs at Angkor Wat |
Angkor Wat is just one part of the complex at Angkor, but is the most important
and most impressive - although the slightly eerie Bayon and the jungle-clad Ta
Prohm are up there in my list of favourites. There's a lot more to Angkor than
just Angkor Wat itself! Having said that, as Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu
temple complex in the world and one of the finest ancient structures in Asia,
it really is the main attraction for visitors to Cambodia.
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| Trees and Temples at Ta Prohm |
I spend three days in the area, based in the nearby town of Siem Reap,
exploring the temples. Personally, while I get really excited by temples and
the like, I do have a limit before I get 'templed-out', but at Angkor there's
so much to see and the sites are all so varied, it's easy to really immerse
yourself in the history without getting bored. Even in three days I still
didn't get to see some of the outlying temples!
Angkor Wat itself is just vast - the sheer scale is incredible, and recent surveys have indicated that this was at the heart of a city of up to million people in its heyday, making it the largest city in the world at the time - by a long way. The site is over 200 acres in size, and it can easily take half a day just to take in the main features. The moat that surrounds the temple gives it a magical feel, while the temple itself is then surrounded by a wall almost 5 metres high. As you move towards the centre of the complex each level becomes increasingly higher - be warned, there are lots of uneven steps and I really felt my muscles aching at the end of the day!
Angkor Wat itself is just vast - the sheer scale is incredible, and recent surveys have indicated that this was at the heart of a city of up to million people in its heyday, making it the largest city in the world at the time - by a long way. The site is over 200 acres in size, and it can easily take half a day just to take in the main features. The moat that surrounds the temple gives it a magical feel, while the temple itself is then surrounded by a wall almost 5 metres high. As you move towards the centre of the complex each level becomes increasingly higher - be warned, there are lots of uneven steps and I really felt my muscles aching at the end of the day!
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| Amazing Bayon |
It's the detail included at the temple that's really breathtaking, including
the huge amount of intricate bas reliefs that adorn the walls of the temple and
tell stories of battles, tales from the Ramayana and of day to day scenes from
Khmer life - the most celebrated panels, known as the Churning of the Sea of
Milk relates to the solstice and equino. Be sure to take a decent guidebook
with you to really understand the intricacies of the bas reliefs, the history
of the temple and the importance of the whole of Angkor! "
Watch this space for number 5...... Elephants in Sri Lanka
Escape Worldwide - Home of Long Haul Holidays
http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk
haloooo.....
ReplyDeletewarm greeting from Bali :)