Wherever I Want To Be: Siem Reap, Cambodia: Angkor Wat, intriguing history, and Aspara dance

My hostel worker tried to persuade me to go to Angkor Wat during sunrise, meaning leaving the hostel at 4:30 AM. I wasn't thrilled about this and was dissuaded to do it by girls in my hostel who told me that it was very boring waiting for the sun to come up and then she was tired the whole day.

I ended leaving for Angkor at 8AM which I turned out to be a great time. I had my own private guide for the day which cost $28 USD. It was completely worth it. He was very knowledgeable about the temple, shared Cambodian history with me, and took several photos for me.

Angkor Wat is the largest religious structure in the world. What I heard on a documentary that I didn't hear or read in the museum was that it was originally built by a king who wanted to portray himself as a god and thus ensure obedience from his subjects. The museum stated that it was built to the Hindu god Vishnu. Its built at the peak of Khmer architecture.

Angkor Wat was designed to resemble Mount Meru, which is the home of the gods in Hindu mythology. There is a large moat surrounding the temple which is to represent the oceans of the world.

Also described in a documentary is how the whole complex is actually floating on water. The stones were placed without mortar! Traction keeps the stones together. Mortar wasn't used to allow for carving of bas relief structures across each stone.

The temple itself is set far back from the entrance. Two long snakes, called Naga, line the entrance. The snake has 7 heads, meant to represent the 7 days of the week (so my guide told me).. The legend of Naga is that while Buddha was meditation, there was a terrible rainstorm and a snake came out of the earth and spread itself over Buddha to protect him from the elements. I told my guide that It was interesting how in Buddhism the snake is seen as a protector, but in Christianity, he is a destroyer.

Some of the stones that paved the entrance have large holes in the center. These stones were carried by elephant and bamboo sticks where placed through the holes. The stones without the holes were carried down on the river on a bamboo raft.

Ponds filled with water lilies flock both sides of the temple, allowing for a gorgeous reflection of the temple.

The bas reliefs cared into the stone wall depict Hindu mythology, war, every day life. Aspara dances flank doorways. Each dancer has its own unique hairstyle, usually some form of braids!\

Churing of the earth: Demons on one side, gods on ahtoer

We then drove a short distance to Angkor Thom, a walled city. The Bayon temple distinguished by large faces carved into the stone. I told my guide I thought the faces looked African. They all had large broad noses and big lips.

Our final stop was at the Ta Prohm temeple, made famous by Angelina Jolie in the movie tomb raiders.

You really get the feeling that you are in the middle of the jungle at this temple. Huge trees don't just surround the complex, they grow through it. The roots climb right over the walls.

At the end of the tour my guide started telling me a lot about Cambodia history. He said that Cambodia made an agreement with Vietnam that if Vietnam won the war against America, Vietnam would settle territorial disputes between the two countries in Cambodia's favor. For this reason, Cambodia did not try to help the US in its war against Vietnam. However, after Ho Chi Minh killed himself the Vietnamese viewed the agreement as null and still tired to claim the disputed land as their own. I told the guide that that didn't seem very fair and he said, it wasn't. And for this reason several people in Cambodia have hard feeling against the Vietnamese. (And interestingly it was the Vietnamese who overthrew the brutal Khmer regime under Pol Pot).

My guide also told me that the Cambodian government signed a deal in secret with the Vietnamese which handed control of Angkor and its revenues to the Vietnamese. I don't know how true this is. I have read online that a lot of the revenue from Angkor Wat goes to a petroleum company (like they need more money) called SOKIMEX, which is run by a Vietnamese Cambodian man. This is a true pity as the admission ticket to Angkor is $20 for one day, and up to $60 for a 3 day pass.