Friday 1 December 2017

A Cambodian Adventure - Temples

We have recently returned from a fabulous trip round Cambodia. It has been a huge adventure and we learnt such a lot about the country and its history, both ancient and more recent. 


Our first temple visit was at Banteay Chhmar. This moated temple complex is near the Community where we had our first Homestay in Cambodia. A wonderful experience of traditional Cambodian life. 


Before we left Banteay Chhmar, we visited the silk weavers and saw the beautiful scarves and silk products that they were making. They were so lovely I couldn't resist a small scarf as a reminder of the trip.


At Siem Riep we had a very early start to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Unfortunately it was a cloudy morning but this did not alter the grandeur of this beautiful temple complex. 


We also met the local monkey troop which lives here.


At Ta Prohm temple ( my favourite ) the spung trees were growing through the walls and creating wonderful structures in their own right. This is where Tomb Raider was filmed.


Even though the spung is taking over, there are little glimpses of the temple between the roots.


The temple at Angkor Thom again was spectacular and everywhere you looked there were huge carved faces on each side of the pillars. There must have been hundreds of them. 


At  all the temples there were beautiful intricate bas relief carvings depicting  the battles and victories of the early Khmer Kings





I have such a lot of wonderful pictures to sort out and I am sure they will be a source of inspiration in my work in the next year. 

Bev





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