In search of the intimate Angkor: Deep in the rainforest, there are always unexpected Khmer miracles ahead of the Lolo Monastery group around Angkor: the Queen's Palace, Lychee Mountain, KhunBus binh, and the places that Bermilje must visit once in a lifetime

Cambodia Angkor is the world's popular tourist destination, it is easy to travel there, the process is not much to say, directly write a little Angkor monuments of the introduction and perception of it, I believe that some of these dozens of monuments are readers have not been to or seen. This is a seven-day ticket (any seven days of the month) travel, which actually took six days, and the itinerary is relatively loose and does not need to be carefully planned. With a seven-day ticket, it's more likely to look for some of the less-visited, more intimate monuments of Angkor – it's really possible to dig into the rainforest and find the ruins of an empty temple, which is like traveling to another world where the miracles of the Khmer Empire seem to be quietly waiting to be revived and recreated.

　　■ Angkor Thom: Come to the South Gate again, you can still feel the powerful aura and magic of Angkor King City, "Khmer Smile" does not only exist in Bayon Temple, this four-sided image will appear repeatedly in the Angkor tour, but it is still the most shocking on the towering city gate, and will not be distracted by other factors, and the eyes of those who enter the city will stare at the huge face of the four sides;

Angkor Was the capital of the Khmer Empire, with square walls, three kilometers wide on each side, five gates (two on the east side, the Middle East Gate is the Death Gate, and the living enter and exit via the Victory Gate), and if you can walk along the city wall to the corners of the city, there are dedicated temples on each corner. There is a moat outside the city, and there is a stone bridge leading to the gate across the moat, and the gods and monks on the bridge grab the Naga wrestling, which is a Hindu myth. The statues of the gods and goddesses outside the south gate have installed many newly carved heads, which look more complete, but how come some of the new stone statues have lost their noses? The carvings at the north gate are also very well preserved, and there are no tourists, but the idols, Shura and Naga are badly damaged, and only a pile of rocks remains in the idol group.

South Gate

South Gate stone structure

Bridge over the moat at the South Gate

The gods who grasped Naga

North Gate

Shura of the North Gate

The immortals on the other side are left with this

　　■ Bayon Temple: Angkor Wat is the most well-known and light-seeing rate in the whole Angkor monument, and the overall beauty may be the best, but to say the particularity and uniqueness of the building, I think Bayon Temple can be called the first among the monuments of the Khmer Empire. As long as you are surrounded by a bunch of huge smiling heads, there must be a feeling of crossing into another dimension or a magical world, right? Bayon Also has a cloister structure, as well as a central tower and a quadrangle tower, but I still haven't figured out the distribution of these pagodas, Siem Reap's free guidebook says there are 37 towers, while the LP says there are 54, the gap is too big. Replacing the usual slender tower with a huge head is a genius design. The so-called mysterious "Khmer smile" may be just a kind of realism, but the lips are indeed thick enough, and its scale is really amazing, and the little yellow duck can achieve a fantasy effect when magnified, not to mention so many large stone faces. If that's what the king looks like, then the subjects will really feel a powerful deterrent when they come here: in the center of the empire, the king can always look in all directions.

　　This is the national temple of the Angkor King's City, with four sides facing the four gates of the city, and later every time you go to Angkor to see the temple, you will walk around it. The pronunciation of the locals is closer to "Bayan", and it is not known why Chinese have a translation of "Rong". The temple was completed by Jayavarman VII, who was also the builder of the Angkor King's City and a series of large temples around it. However, this was almost the last splendor of the Khmer Empire, and after Jayavarman VII, there were no more huge construction projects.

　　■ Baphuon Temple: Not far from Baphuon Temple, there are many fewer tourists in Ba Phuong Temple, and it is very special that there is a long elevated corridor in front of the temple, which has not been seen elsewhere, and the female workers who repair the lawn are still hiding from the sun at the bottom of the corridor.

　　The LP said that this large temple used the restoration method of splitting and then re-repositioning, but sadly, the outbreak of the Cambodian civil war interrupted the restoration process, and the records of the split were all damaged, and after the restoration was restarted in the 90s, it faced the problem of how to put a pile of stones back. The temple was not opened to the public until 2011 and is still under restoration. Morphologically, the temple also has a large enclosure, but only a pyramid-like remnant remains of the central tower. Behind the temple there is a miraculous large reclining Buddha, which was tried by Buddhists in the post-Angkor period (16th century) to build with boulders, although it is not completed, but the mouth, eyes and nose of the head of the reclining Buddha are clear and the shape of the body is very obvious. This shows that even if the Khmer Empire weakened and collapsed and the political center shifted to Phnom Penh, the ruins of Angkor were not completely abandoned in their long history.

　　The temple was erected more than 100 years ago in the Angkor King's City, and the king who completed this magnificent temple was called UditiyahVarma II.

There is a viaduct in front of the temple

Temple columns

Ascend the stairs to the temple

Stone carvings are also everywhere

The central tower at the top of the temple

Look at the temple at the top

Large reclining Buddha on the back

Reclining Buddha's face

　　■ Royal Palace & Phimeanakas: The palace building has long since disappeared, leaving only a large enclosure and the Phemeanakas in the middle, meaning "heavenly palace". This was supposed to be the tallest building in Angkor King's City, the standard pyramid-like, the stairs were as steep as ever, only the back (west) was slightly slower, it should be for people to climb, and the other three sides were too dangerous. The guides will tell the story of the snake spirit that took place in this building and transformed into a beautiful woman to seduce the king, and the king must come every day, and if the snake spirit does not come one day, it will bring ominousness to the kingdom. But I think the king is tired enough to climb up and down every day, and he still has the energy to deal with the snake spirit every day? There were also two baths, one large and one small, for men and women, and it was not known whether the king had taken a bath and climbed up or climbed down to wash it.

　　The imperial palace predates the Temple by about 100 years, and about 1000 AD. According to research, Phimeanakas once had a roof of pure gold, but with the existing tower-like buildings of the Angkor monument, it is impossible to imagine what it looked like back then.

The courtyard gate of the royal enclosure

Courtyard door

The center of the ancient royal palace, a pyramid-shaped structure

The stepped type of the front is very steep

Look at the front staircase at the top

The steps on the back are relatively gentle and can be climbed

These stone lions are estimated to be looking for where to put them

Big bath, literally a swimming pool

　　Preah Palilay: If you're looking for a secluded and private Khmer monument in the heart of King Angkor, this temple is probably the only one. To get there you need to cross a small dirt road, passing a contemporary temple with two large Buddhas. A few hundred meters away is the parking lot, whether it is a free trip or a group tour, you will use this dusty and noisy square. But when we were at The Prapalilei Temple, we only met a foreigner. One of the great things about the Angkor monuments is that they are in the middle of the jungle, where it is easy to separate the main road from the crowds.

　　The temple itself is small, and the main tower has collapsed in half, taking on a strangely pointed knife shape. However, there are three large trees firmly rooted in the stone base on one side, adding a sense of fun. The upper part of the tree has been cut down, and now new branches and leaves have been extracted, still growing, and it is not known whether it will grow back into a giant tree in a few hundred years. The temple was also built by Jayavarman VII, but other studies suggest that it may have been in the 13th and 14th centuries, which was already in the post-Angkor era.

Contemporary temple, simple Buddhist temple

Another big Buddha

Pointed knife-shaped central tower

There are three plants (or one?) on the back. A large tree, once cut down but withdrew new branches

　　■ Terrace of the Leper King and Terrace of Elephants: The Terrace of Elephants is said to be a royal crematorium, named after a leprosy king on the stage, which was not too carefully described, and said that there were very intricate and exquisite carvings, some of which were very well preserved.

　　The war elephant platform is much larger, basically a "mountain" layout, with a total length of 300 meters, and the middle and two sections have grandstands extending to the square. The entire wall is covered with reliefs of elephants, while the protruding grandstand is supported by Lux. The grandstand in the middle connects directly to the main entrance of the royal enclosure. It is generally believed that the war elephant platform is a large review ground, and the scale of the military parade in that year is certainly spectacular at a length of 300 meters.

These two platforms were also built during the reign of Jayavarman VII. The rise of Angkor has gone through hundreds of years, but the collapse of weakness has been very rapid.

The main entrance to the Royal Enclosure

War Elephant Platform

elephant

The protrusion segment in the middle

Lux-supported platform

　　■ North-South Warehouse and Temple of the Twelve Pagodas (Kleangs & Prasat): The name of the North-South Warehouse means warehouse, but its meaning has always been unknown, and it may be to receive foreign guests. Zhou Daguan of the Yuan Dynasty of the Twelve Pagoda Temples said that it was used to debate judgments, and when there was a dispute, he sat in that tower, and whoever died or got sick first would lose. These small buildings are not very distinctive, there are few tourists, but their location is in the center of the city, facing the elephant platform, perhaps it was an important occasion.

Temple of the Twelve Pagodas

　　■ Phnom Bakheng: Mt. Bakheng is the most famous sunset-watching shrine in Angkor, but I heard that at dusk it is crowded, and it is very early to avoid the number of people who can't go up the mountain, and have to occupy a place. So when we go in the morning, it is very clean, and the tourists are only three or three, but this kind of high-rise temple generally has no place to avoid the sun, which is too exhausting.

　　Of course, Bakken Mountain is a mountain, but it is only one or two hundred meters high, which is actually a small hill. A small dirt road leads to the top of the hill, with a small slope and no need to walk for a long time. It is also a temple, but it is very spectacular. The multi-tiered platforms are layered upwards, and each floor is surrounded by a circle of towers, which are not the same in shape as other temples in Angkor. The number of towers is probably the largest in the entire city of Angkor, and the LP says there are a total of 108 in addition to the central tower, which is obviously a well-designed figure. The lowest level of the tower is brick, closer to the temple of Lore, while the upper floor is made of stone. Although a large number of towers have collapsed, the remaining clusters of towers are still imposing. The central tower is not large, and it has no roof, becoming a square, so this monument is more suitable for looking at the whole from a little further.

　　Bakken Hill was the first large temple in the Angkor region, marking the relocation of the capital of the Khmer Empire from Lore to Angkor, built by Jeruama I in the late 9th century.

　　Once again, the Band of Mine Victims was seen at Bakken Hill. The first time I went to Cambodia, I saw a lot of such bands, but the second time I went, I didn't see the most important attractions such as Angkor Wat and Bayon Temple, and the rest of the temples were probably one or two in a courtyard. The band at Bakken Hill played very well, and when we donated money, they played a "Alishan Girl" in return.

Bakken Hill

Step-shaped temple

Tower group

Central Tower

The ground is carved in stone with sacred cows

Bakken Hill is a great place to overlook Angkor and Siem Reap

A city in the jungle

Wild monkeys

　　Preah Khan: This is the sister temple of Tabrung Temple, the most popular attraction in Angkor, and the shape is very similar, but it is much less visited. Both super large temples were built by the madman Jayavarman VII, commemorating the king's father and mother, respectively. The date of construction of the central tower of the Temple of the Holy Khan is very clear: in 1191, because of the inscription preserved, the inscription also records that the temple enshrined a total of 515 gods and held 18 festivals and celebrations every year. During the construction of the Angkor King's City, the Temple of the Holy Sword was also a temporary residence for the king.

　　Instead of going to the temple, we walked a quarter of the way around the broken walls, waiting until the sun penetrated the dark forest and illuminated the broken columns and statues of the south gate, and the magical time travel seemed to happen again, quite like the Indiana Jones movie. After entering the temple from the south gate, walk on the central axis once until the east gate turns back. The Temple of the Holy Khan and tabulon temple are actually a form of small pagodas built in four directions around a central tower, but because they start on the flat ground, there are a large number of cloisters connected, which are intuitively very different from Angkor Wat and Dong Mei Ben Temple. At the east gate, there is a huge banyan tree pressed against the monument, which may be larger than all the ancient trees of tabulon temple, and there is a very strange column-style two-story building nearby, which is not Angkor style at all, and is said to be an imported product of the Greek style.

Outside the Temple of the Holy Sword

Temple gate, forget which door

At the south gate, two mutilated idols stood guard at the door

Stone carvings on the eaves of the south gate

The small pagoda inside the temple and the broken windows form a "candle" that the temple staff pointed out to me

A banyan tree pierced through a temple with a collapsed roof

Greek-style double-storey building

Inside the temple, most of the buildings are mutilated

Huge banyan tree at the east gate

Big banyan tree

　　Preah Neak Poan: This is a very small temple, but the temperament is very special, and it is also a positive "ten" shape layout, similar to many Angkor temples, but this "ten" character is not composed of a tower, but a large four small four square pools. In the center of the central square pond is a small circular tower with two snakes surrounding the tower, the head separated, and the tail wrapped around the rear end. There were originally four statues in the four directions of the pagoda, but now only one of the legs of a horse remains, which is said to be related to Avalokiteshvara. The four small square pools have decorative nozzles connected with the large square pool, and the water flow from the elephant head, horse head, lion head, and human head from the center to the outer pool is also a wonderful landscape, right?

　　Pansnake Temple is located in the middle of a reservoir, and to reach Pansnake Temple, you need to walk through a water boardwalk. This reservoir was originally used to ensure the water supply of the Sacred Sword Temple, and together with the Pansnake Temple itself, it can be used to glimpse the superb water conservancy technology of Angkor. In the northeastern part of the Angkor King's City, the original huge East Pond has become land, but the royal bath still has water retention, like the reservoir of Pan Snake Temple, close to the natural wetland state. In the western part of Angkor, most of the West Pond is still on the water, and the Temple of Same Ben is basically a temple in the water. The Khmer Empire dominated Southeast Asia by relying on huge water conservancy projects, but how did it suddenly collapse?

Small square pool

Central pool and central tower

The only remaining stone carving on the four sides of the central tower

Reservoir outside Pansnake Temple

　　■ Ta Som: Also a small temple with a miniature four-sided statue in the courtyard. Like the PanSnake Temple, Tassa was built by Jayavarman VII, which shows that he is not only keen on super projects such as Bayon Temple and Sacred Sword Temple, but also designs some small products. The east gate of this temple is completely occupied by a large tree, and the roots and stones are completely entangled, which is impressive.

Tassa

The East Gate of Tassa

　　■ Eastern Mebon and Pre Rup: These are two temples of basically the same shape, with three high platforms and five pagodas at the top – a large pagoda in the center and a small pagoda at the four corners. They are a rare brick pagoda in the Angkor monuments, and the surface was originally rich in plaster decoration, but most of them have fallen off, leaving only some fixed holes.

　　Dongmeiben Temple was originally located in the middle of the huge East Pond. Dongchi is a 7-kilometer-long and 1.8-kilometer-wide super artificial reservoir, which is larger than the two West Lakes of Hangzhou, but unfortunately it has all dried up and most of it has become farmland. Located 1 km south of DongMei Ben Temple, Bijrin Temple was originally a temple on the edge of the reservoir, and the north-south axis of the two temples is located in a straight line, which fully illustrates the technical level of the Khmer Empire. They were the earliest temples built after the capital of the Khmer Empire was relocated back to Angkor from the brief Tribute Period in 952 and 961, respectively, when the king was named Razendravarman II.

Dongmeiben Temple

The small holes in the brick tower were originally used to hold the plaster deity

Stone carved elephants on the horns

Biru Temple, did not climb up, could not climb

　　■ Ta Prohm: This is one of the most attractive large temples in Angkor, and my first short day in Angkor, what impressed me most was not the huge smiling face of Bayon Temple or the beautiful minaret of Angkor Wat, but the magical scene where the huge trees are entangled in stones, trees and temples, no wonder it was chosen as the location by Tomb Raider. When the ancient Angkor complex was discovered again by the world, it was probably a common sight of trees and temples combined, right? But most of the trees were cleared during the restoration process, and now only Tabulon Monastery has preserved the most large trees. Today, the tree itself has become the object of protection. Keep the tree or keep the temple? This became a dilemma, as long as the trees continued to grow, they were constantly oppressing and disintegrating the fragile stone structures of the temple.

　　There are many tourists here. Unlike the first time I went to Cambodia, when I came to Angkor again, Tabulon Temple had built a standardized wooden boardwalk, and group visitors had an almost fixed route. Some temples and cloisters are also surrounded by railings to prevent them from crossing or climbing at will, which may be a safety issue. This time in tabulung temple walked twice, the first time was the route of the tourist group boardwalk, the west gate into the west gate out, a few days later from the other side of the dirt road re-crossing, the east gate into the west gate out, the dirt road on the other side of the tourists are much less, the big tree landscape is also less. There are several temples in Angkor with large trees wrapped around the temple, such as Tassa, The Holy Sword Temple, Thanei Temple, and at the extreme, the near-primitive Bendere, but Tabulon Temple is still the irreplaceable and most scenic temple.

The temple was built in 1186 in the seventh century in honor of the mother of Jayavarma, and at its peak 80,000 people from 3,000 villages were asked to support the temple.

Simon

When I first arrived at Angkor, the largest banyan tree had no wooden fence in front of it

The first time I went to Angkor,

　　Chau Say Tevoda and Thommanon: These are two small temples outside the Victory Gate of Angkor, built in the middle of the 12th century during the reign of SuriyaVarma II. The main reason for the temple was that it was repaired by Chinese help, and the last time I passed by, it was a scaffolding construction site. The temple is small but elaborate, an asymmetrical pattern. The Temple of Tomanon is just opposite, across the road, with a higher spire, which is an annex to the Temple of Chowsa but was restored very early. These two temples are hardly touristic.

The Temple of Zhou Sa under restoration

Zhou Sa Temple

The main tower of the temple

There are also elevated roads in front of the temple

Temple of Tomanon

　　■ Angkor Wat: After returning to China, I wanted to check whether there were any books on the architecture or art of sculpture in Angkor, but only found a thick book of the Chinese cultural relics department on the Zhou Sa Temple. If the Zhou Sa Temple can write a book, then Angkor Wat can probably write a cabinet, right? This is undoubtedly the most dazzling pearl in the entire Angkor monument, with the largest volume, the most perfect form, and the largest number of tourists. As the largest single religious building built by human beings, it is difficult for the world to find a similar comparable; its bas-reliefs with a circumference of several kilometers, thousands of fairies and gods, is a huge physical museum, art museum, and cultural museum. Unlike other monuments in Angkor, Angkor Wat has not been forgotten and abandoned by the Khmer people, and even when Cambodia's political center moved to Phnom Penh, it has remained a holy site for the Khmer people. Angkor Wat was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1992, the first World Heritage Site in Cambodia.

　　Angkor Wat was also built by Suliyahvarman II, a Hindu temple that is also believed to have been used as a mausoleum, but Suliyahvarman II died during his expedition to Vietnam and was not buried here. Its top is considered a man-made paradise, and now only the two wooden steps on the back can be used to go up and down, requiring long pants and sleeved clothing, and queuing when there are many people. In the past, it was possible to climb the stone stairs on the side to reach the top (very steep and dangerous, especially when it rained), and some of the external space at the top was also fenced off, and it was no longer possible to enter and exit at will, probably for the purpose of protecting cultural relics, or possibly to ensure safety. There are too many tourists here, and I am afraid that there will be more and more in the future. Probably only in the early hours of the morning and at sunset is there a slight quiet in Angkor Wat.

First trip to Cambodia to photograph Angkor Wat

The first time I went to Angkor Wat, there were already so many tourists, more than a decade ago

It was taken on the first trip to Cambodia, and these places have been fenced off to prevent tourists from entering when they go to cambodia for the second time

Second trip to Cambodia to shoot Angkor Wat

A ring corridor on the outskirts of the monastery

Bullet holes left over from the Cambodian Civil War

idol

The reliefs in the ring gallery are thousands of meters long, recording the history and culture of the Khmer people

Relief part

Wooden staircase

Central Tower

fairy

　　Prasat Kravan: Built in 921, Cardamom Temple is one of the earliest temples in Angkor and one of the few brick temples in the area. The guide's manual said that the temple may have been built by the ministers, has no royal background, and is not large, with five towers lined up in a row.

　　Although the appearance is very unremarkable, this temple has the only brick statues in the Angkor region, located on the three walls of each temple, with a beautiful posture, and some of the gods are very complex and considerable. In the whole of Cambodia, there are only two temples with similar brick statues, the other in ChaLk province south of Phnom Penh.

Of the five towers, only one has a roof

The idol on the façade

The brick statue inside the tower is the only one in Angkor

　　■ Royal Bath (Sra Srang): This is a large rectangular pool of 800 meters by 400 meters, I wonder how the royal family needed such a large pool to bathe? The current standard swimming pool is only 50 meters. Only a few steps and a few decorations remain on the shore, like a dock, and a large amount of building stone is piled on the ground, and there is an engineering team in the process of sorting out and restoring.

　　Banteay Kdei: It was a very large temple built by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century, but I can't find any information on who the temple was built for, and it is a Buddhist temple. From the perspective of shape, this temple is very similar to the Temple of the Holy Sword and the Temple of Tablon, but the damage is even more serious, most of the promenades have been depped, and several towers are hooped with iron hoops, when they are wooden barrels? Some of the exquisite sculptures can still be found. It is very sparsely visited, almost an empty city, almost a world away from the tabulon temple next door (the walls of the two temples are actually on both sides of the same road). There is a large tree near the west gate, and the towers here form a very beautiful landscape.

The gate is still four-sided, and the security guards are a bit lazy

A statue of a deity at the door is majestic and powerful

There are also Statues of Buddha in the temple, and it feels like it still has a religious function

Inside the temple

A cluster of towers hooped by iron bars

Stone

Large trees and tower groups

Left the temple

　　■ Ta Keo Temple: A large temple built in the 10th century during the reign of Jayavarman V, and a five-pagoda pagoda similar to Mephong Temple and Birin Temple, built of stone. What is more special is that this is the only temple in Angkor that is not decorated, and several pagodas all show the naked appearance of boulders, but they appear rough and simple, and the arrogance is extraordinary. This temple is also the steepest of Angkor's many temples, and visitors are cautious when they enter the temple. No decoration experts speculated that the work stoppage was stopped halfway, and the reason for the shutdown may be that it was struck by lightning, indicating ominousness. Now there is a Chinese engineering team doing the restoration here, and on the north side you can see our camp and the large machinery, but you don't see the staff.

ChaJiao Temple

China assists in the restoration of cultural relics signage

Equipment of the Chinese engineering team

The interior of one of the towers

This temple has the steepest steps in the Angkor monuments

Look down from above

Two feet, life size

　　■ Chapel of the Hospital: Just opposite the Chajiao Temple, into the woods, the trail can be reached by walking 100 meters, few tourists will go there, very private, almost isolated, the other end of the trail leads to the river, I don't know where the destination is. During the reign of Jayavarman VII, there were 102 hospitals, which were not only responsible for healing, but also for sheltering poor and sick people, which shows that the society was already very rich and developed at that time. At present, there are only two hospital ruins in Angkor, the main body of the hospital is a bamboo and wood structure, completely absent, leaving a stone hospital temple.

Ruins of a royal hospital in the jungle, a temple

Although it is a small temple, the carving is not ambiguous at all

　　■ Ta Nei: This is probably one of the most difficult temples to reach and the least visited temple in Angkor, although because of the dirt road, the tuk-tuk can still arrive. The temple itself is not large, medium-sized, the interior collapsed most of the time, its characteristics may be far away from the avenue, the secret place in the forest, perhaps because of the environment, but also because there is no human interference, the stones here are covered with moss, showing a very special texture.

　　Although the Thane Temple is only 800 meters away from the Trajiao Temple from the mobile phone map, there is no sense of direction in the jungle, it is not easy to walk, we first walked to a fork in the road, at the end of which is a quiet stone foundation site, and then there is no road, fortunately, the mines in the Angkor area have been cleared. From the Thane Temple to the river dam road is even less obvious, the road sign is not right, along the sign to a trail to turn around and actually return to the Thane Temple, this time has begun to thunder, pouring a rain down it is very tragic. Find another slightly larger dirt road not far ahead to the dam, and listen to the sound of the water. The river is yellow and the water is very fast, and there are many locals outing there. Crossing the river is a big dirt road where cars can pass, and it is back to the human world. However, the driveway to the Temple of the Holy Khan also requires a trail that passes through a botanical garden where several locals plant potted flowers.

The base of the temple at the end of the path

Tane Temple

Mossy stone staircases

Inside was a pile of rocks

Trails in the jungle

Dam, after the dam you can find the main road

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="117" > the Lolo Temple Group</h1>

　　Rollo was also the former capital of the Khmer Empire, predates Angkor and is 13 kilometers away from Angkor, and now mainly retains three temples. The guidebook says the temples marked the beginning of the Khmer Classical Art Era, around the late 9th century AD, when the king was named Indravarman I. The political center of the ancient Khmer Empire has moved many times: (Chenla) Tsangpo Polegu - (Angkor) Lychee Mountain - Luoluo - Angkor - Gongkai - Angkor - Phnom Penh, and its history is long and tortuous.

　　Bakong Temple: This is the largest and most complete of the three temples, with a large enclosure, the temple itself is square stepped, but there is only one minaret on the highest level, and it was later expanded. There are several small towers on the ground, which are brick, and there are some small towers on each floor of the staircase, and elephants on the corners. Pa Khong Temple was the center of the country at that time, and its architectural form was the ancestor of many temples in Angkor in the future generations, but most of the descendants would add four pagodas to the corners to make the shape more complicated.

The BaKong Temple of du pagoda, the originator of the Angkor temple

Fairy statue

From the temple, look at the enclosure of Bakon Temple, and there is a small building inside the courtyard

Elephants on the corners of the steps

　　■ Preah Ko: The sacred cow is Shiva's mount, so there are three stone carved sacred cow statues in front of this temple, which are well preserved. The temple is a combination of three brick towers in the front row and three brick towers in the back, which seems to have never been seen in Angkor, but the Temple of Plopannan in Indonesia is such a combination (three large pagodas dedicated to the three Hindu gods, three small pagodas are their mounts). LP introduces the plaster reliefs of this temple as the best preserved in Angkor. It doesn't look like much left, but the difference between the plaster relief and the brick tower itself is clear, and plaster is obviously a simple and more colorful method than carving stone. However, gypsum is not a very stable substance, how can it be preserved for thousands of years and be so intact?

Sacred Cow Temple

Stone carved sacred cow

The remaining plaster decoration is attached to the brick tower

When the plaster is dropped, you can see the small dot used to fix the plaster, and there are also on the Dongmeiben Temple

Sculptural details, comparable to the Palace of the Queen of Beauty

Stone tablets, do you know these words?

　　Lolei Temple: Built in 893 AD, It was dedicated to his parents and grandparents by Indravara I, so there are four pagodas in total. The status quo is unbearable, only one remains intact, and the other three towers have collapsed in half, but some exquisite carvings and decorations still remain to this day. Originally located on the central island of a large reservoir, the temple is now all farmland.

The tower was in tatters

One cat

Only half of this one is left

Exquisite sculptures can still be found

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="157" > around Angkor: The Queen's Palace, Lychee Mountain, Pybusbin, Beng Mile</h1>

These monuments are far from the core area of Angkor City, difficult to reach by tuk-tuk, need to rent a car or charter a car, and have enough time to stay. From the traffic map of Siem Reap, these monuments are in two directions, the more appropriate route is Lychee Mountain, Khyubsbin, Queen's Palace a line, Gongkai, Beng Mile, Rollo a line, divided into two days to go, but because we in the Preah Vihear Temple on the way back to see the Queen's Palace, so later with a day chartered car to take Lychee Mountain, Gobsbin, Beng Mile.

　　■ Banteay Srei go to the Queen's Palace at four or five o'clock, there are few tourists, and some guides say that there is a queue to take a photo at noon. The Queen's Palace is very small, according to research, it is not a royal construction, but the overall preservation is relatively complete, there is a small pool outside the temple wall, and the red temple and green rainforest reflected in the water are quite beautiful. The main building of the Queen's Palace is three towers, and the exquisite carvings in the temple are decorated in many monuments of Angkor. Built using red sandstone, the temple is easy to carve, and the carving curves here are quite intricate, deep and accurate, and some parts are only a few millimeters thin. Parts of the temple's interior are now also fenced off, and some of the carvings are less likely to be seen closely.

In the Queen's Palace, respectively encountered Three tour groups in China, Japan and South Korea, the Chinese tour group has the most people, but the tour guide's explanation is very cold and uninterested, the tour guide simply did not say it later; several Japanese tourists are the most serious; Korean tourists listen carefully, but the tour guide directly touches the monuments, wants to point out the difficulty of carving, and tourists even get started, and even make an outward pull action on the thin layer of pattern carving, saying that they have no doubt about their poor quality, right?

　　■ Phnom Kulen costs $20 per person, not included in the Angkor ticket, and the charter driver said that a businessman built a road, which is a toll. In fact, this mountain road is very primitive, potholes and dust all the way, if it rains, it may trap the car. Because the road is narrow, one-way traffic is implemented here, and the mountain is up in the morning and can only go down after 12 o'clock.

The summit is dominated by three attractions: temples, waterfalls and linga in the water. Linga didn't go because of Bobsbin. The temple is not large, the main attraction is a large reclining Buddha at the top, carved directly on the rock at the highest point of the mountain, and the wooden building outside is probably added later. The waterfall is divided into two layers, the upper floor is wide and the lower level is high, which is a good tropical landscape, but it is a small waterfall after all, and it is not special.

　　Go to Lychee Mountain mainly because this is the holy mountain of Cambodia. In 802 AD, Jayavarman II proclaimed himself the King of God here and became independent from the Kingdom of Java, and the Kingdom of Cambodia was born. There are still many pilgrims here, holding a bouquet of fragrant flowers to the temple to worship, and even seeing a whole roast suckling pig. Naturally, there are also many beggars and children on the road. Lychee Hill is also the earliest political center of the Kingdom of Cambodia, with some scattered temples and carvings, but the LP says it is difficult to reach.

Pilgrimage hiking trails, children begging all the way

Reclining Buddha at the top of the mountain

The reclining Buddha is at the top of this mountain, carved directly on the mountain

Lingayoni

Tropical waterfalls

A market that serves tourists and worshippers

　　■ Kbal Spean: It is not far from Lychee Mountain to Kbal Spean. Also known as the "Thousand Linga River", the ticket is included in the Angkor University ticket, and there is a 1.5-kilometer jungle dirt road from the ticket office to the water Linga, which is enough to block out a large number of tourist groups. There are two main pieces of Linga, the total number is estimated to be more than 1,000, but they are very small, all of which do not add up to a very large scene, in addition to Linga, there are some small gods and animal carvings. Although the entire carving area is not large, because it is directly carved on the rocks near the riverbed and riverbank, many carvings need to be carefully searched to find, which makes this rainforest appear quite mysterious and unique. Downstream is another small waterfall where many local tourists play in the water.

Small pieces of Linga

Carvings on the shores of the water

A larger piece of Linga

This piece has been covered by river sand quite a bit

Discover several small idols

waterfall

A few more were found

Linga, Joni

Beng Mealea: The car from Bobsbin to Bengmele was driven for an hour and a half, and the charter driver chose a newly reclaimed dirt road. It used to be a large forest, and now most of it has become a forest farm, and tractors carry wood out of the car and cut it into small pieces, and it is not obvious that it can be of great use. Wood-depleted forest farms have gradually become newly reclaimed farmland, where a very small number of reclaimers have colonized and built very simple stilts, and most of the fields are still wasteland, and a small number of areas have been planted with rice. Along the way, you can see how humans have encroached on the land of nature and changed it. The whole road is basically wild, very American Western.

The colonist's cabin

Dirt roads in the wilderness

Beumilli is also a large temple, no less than the large temple in Angkor City. There are many tourists, but once you enter the interior of the temple, they are immediately scattered and there will be no crowded feeling. When I went, I bought a separate ticket for Bendere, and recently Cambodia has included this monument in the Angkor University ticket. Unlike the temples of Angkor, Beng Mile is almost completely collapsed and has not been repaired, which is presumably the condition of most of the temples when Angkor was rediscovered. There is a wooden boardwalk that leads to the central area, which was built by the French for the film "Tiger Brother Tiger Brother". Some of the passage corridors may require flashlight lighting, no flashlight on the feeling of the feet to go, anyway, there is no obstacle on the ground, the target is also very clear in front of the light place. There are also some areas if you have physical strength then climb it yourself, as if there is no special mark to indicate where not to go, the rock pile is too large, you can grope out countless trails out, safety can only rely on yourself.

Off-topic, "Tiger Brother Tiger Brother" is really a good movie, originally thought that this is still a storytelling story, only to find out that the protagonists are really two tigers.

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="158" > places that must be visited once in a lifetime</h1>

Among the Historical Monuments I have ever seen, Angkor is undoubtedly the best, and I cannot imagine that anyone would not be shocked and moved when facing the monuments of Angkor. Although Angkor is a world tourist hotspot and tourists are like a tidal wave, I still have to say that it is a real place to visit once in a lifetime!

In terms of scale, Angkor Wat is the world's largest single religious building, the ultimate of human creation, and Angkor Wat is only "Little Angkor", there is a "Big Angkor" waiting for you to explore, that is a city and dozens of temples, palaces of large and small sizes, around Angkor, there are various temples of different sizes and styles, don't forget that the Khmer people also have developed water conservancy projects; in terms of artistic beauty, Khmer architecture has its own characteristics, high and wide platforms, thin and towering tower halls, from the single tower, The combination of three towers to dozens of towers and the ring corridor all create a stable and harmonious and rhythmic beauty, you can see the influence from India, you can also see the radiation to Southeast Asia, but the Khmer architecture itself is unique. Carvings throughout all parts of the building have carved each temple into an art palace; in terms of the uniqueness of the landscape, when you are surrounded by dozens of huge stone carved human faces taller than you, there are mysterious smiles in all directions, when you see a huge banyan tree tens of meters high with a few meters thick roots and branches tightly hugged and wrapped around the temple, when you see a thousand linga looming in the babbling stream, how can you not be surprised and sigh?

My first trip to Cambodia was official, Angkor was just a day trip, went to Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple, Tablon Temple, Queen's Palace, these four attractions are indeed representatives of Angkor monuments, day trip to these temples is the most suitable choice. In addition to the one-day tour, the Angkor ticket also includes a three-day tour (any three out of ten consecutive days) and a seven-day tour (seven consecutive days or any seven days in a month). A self-guided Angkor 3-day tour is a more common option: a small circle for one day, including the main attractions in Angkor Wat and King Angkor City; a large circle for one day, the main attractions are located in the northeast outside of King Angkor City; the rest can choose to continue exploring in Angkor City, or to more remote locations such as the Queen's Palace, Tubus binh, Lore, Simiben, Beng Mile and so on.