The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country located in the south of the Indochina Peninsula. This is a constitutional monarchy, in which the head is the king. The legislative body is a parliament consisting of two chambers. Its capital is Phnom Penh, and the main attraction is Angkor Wat (Cambodia). The photo below shows it at sunset.
A little bit about the country and its population
A small state is lost in the green jungle. It arose in the 600s A.D. Nature is still virgin beautiful and surprises the traveler with amazing plants of the wet savannah and unusual animals. In the center is Tonle Sap Lake. And on three sides it is surrounded by mountains. And the fourth overlooks the Gulf of Thailand. Rivers flow along the valley : the Mekong, the country's main artery, and Tonle Sap. This amazing stream periodically changes its direction. A river can flow into or out of a lake. The population of the country is the Khmer people (approximately 14 million), who are 95% Buddhists. For them there are more than 4 thousand temples. The language used in everyday life is Khmer, older people speak French, young people study English and Chinese. The climate is humid and hot. The best months to visit are from the end of October to April, when there is a dry winter with temperatures from + 22 ° C to + 26 ° C. But humidity is kept at 93% throughout the year.
Landmarks of the country
Tourism business in the country is still poorly developed. The city of Siem Reap is famous for its pagodas, temples and vatami: wat Bo (wall paintings), the Preah Angcherk and Preah Angchorm pagoda (very revered by the locals. There are two Buddha statues here), Yatep - here live the local spirits that guard the city. Sihanoukville has beautiful beaches and diving centers. But still, the main thing Cambodia is proud of is the Angkor temple complex. Everything fades before him, like stars and the moon before the light of the sun. It is located near the city of Siemrap. In all its grandeur, the sights - Angkor - are located in the center of the state of Cambodia.
The temple complex can almost be considered a city. This iconic building is the largest in the world. Here is a panorama of Angkor (Cambodia, photo below), now cleared from the jungle.
In addition, this historic reserve has
Mount Bayonne Temple. This is also a visited and very interesting temple. It offers a magnificent view of Angkor from above. The jungle reign in Ta Proma and are not going to leave him yet. There are more modest but no less wonderful temples: Baksey Chamkorng, Thama Bai Kaek and Prasat Bey.
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Giant, largest - it's all about Angkor. Cambodia, a thousand years ago, very quickly, in just 30–40 years, erected and also decorated the temple for Hindus, worshipers of the god Vishnu. This was done at the direction of King Suryavarman II. He was a warrior, spending time not in fun, but in worries about strengthening and centralizing the state. But he remained in history as the creator of the Angkor temple. Cambodia attracted all its forces for its design and construction.
Design
By the time Angkor was created, Indian culture had existed for at least 4–4.5 millennia. The knowledge of Indian astronomers was extremely high. It can be assumed that they were involved in creating the layout of the Hindu temple of Angkor. Cambodia on its own would hardly have been able to do this. Moreover, the temple was dedicated to the deity Vishnu - the keeper of the universe, the protector from evil, the connecting link between people and the universe.
At the end of the 20th century, the British historian D. Grisby concluded that the main structures in Angkor are a projection of
the Dragon constellation onto the earth. He was prompted to look for such a relationship by an inscription on an excavated stele of the 12th century, which reported that their country was similar to heaven. This connection is indicated by another inscription of an earlier time, which states that the stones of Angkor are associated with the movement of the stars of the sky. This has given rise to numerous modern studies and discussions in the world of historians and archaeologists. They do not stop today.
Construction
In those days, there was a lot of sandstone in the kingdom of Cambodia. The Angkor temple complex was built from it. The construction took about five million tons of material. He was rafted along the Siemrap River. All stones are very smooth, as if they were polished. The solution for their bonding was not used, and they are kept only by their own weight. They are so perfect with one another that the blade of a thin knife does not pass between them. It is believed that elephants were used in the construction. Absolutely all surfaces are covered with kilometers of thread. These are scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata, unicorns and dragons, warriors, griffins, charming dedavasis (dancers). From all of the above it follows that there were very skillful craftsmen who built Angkor. Cambodia, by all accounts, had centuries of experience in such construction.
Architecture
It was a period of maturity in the development of sophisticated architecture with the complete harmony of all its parts. As in many ancient civilizations, the sanctuary was the home of the gods. It gathered only the priestly estate and kings, and also it was intended for the burial of rulers. Angkor Wat, the temple complex in Cambodia, is a rectangle with dimensions of 1.5 x 1.3 thousand meters and an area of two km². The area of the Vatican is almost three times smaller. Along the entire perimeter there is a moat filled with water 190 meters wide. A platform is installed in the center of the courtyard, which is enclosed by a wall. A temple is built on it. Nowhere is a capsule found on which would have its original name or the date of commencement of construction. Angkor Wat Temple (Cambodia) consists of three buildings having a common center. It has five towers in the shape of a lotus. The highest central tower rises 65 meters from the ground. The main entrance to it leads from the west. The road to it, made of sandstone blocks, is surrounded by low parapets, on which sculptures of snakes with seven heads are located.
Today, the entrance to the gopuram (gate tower above the entrance) takes place through a sacred place under the south tower. It has a huge Vishnu figure with 8 arms. She fills the whole space.
The sculptural decoration is organically connected with the whole composition of the temple. On the first tier, the most notable are eight huge images, the area of which is 1.2 thousand square meters. m. The walls of the 2nd tier are decorated with bas-reliefs of apsars (heavenly maidens). There are two thousand of them. From the second level you can see the entire courtyard. Stone steps lead to the third level, to the huge conical towers. The highest is the center of the universe. All towers represent, as the ancient Khmers understood, the abode of the gods Mount Meru. The highest still preserved figure of the Buddha, although initially the temple was dedicated to Vishnu.
Historical reserve
The temples of Angkor in Cambodia are not limited to the colossal and mysterious Angor Wat. The city of Angkor itself was a "City of Capitals" with a population of more than 1,000,000 people living in wooden houses that rotted with high humidity. Its ruins are located approximately five km from the Angkor Wat complex. Temples that were built of sandstone and tuff were preserved there: the elephant terrace, Ta Prohm, Angor Thom (included in the UNESCO heritage list), Preah Kan (translated as “the sacred sword”), Ta Prum and Bayon Temple. It has 54 towers directed to the sky, and all of them are decorated with images of Buddha.
Angor Thom (The Great Capital) and Bayon Temple
It was the capital under ruler Jayavarman VII. He adopted the philosophy of Buddha and in honor of him built a square city with a fantastic area of 900 hectares. It is divided by roads into 4 equal parts. The remains of stone buildings sprouted in the jungle. In the center stands the Bayon Temple.
Its size is smaller than other attractions of Cambodia, but if you come closer to it, then it strikes with grandeur. Bayon has three levels. The first depicts scenes from peaceful life and battles. On the second, which is much better preserved, the tourist enters the labyrinth of galleries with low ceilings. On each of the fifty towers, faces are carved, which, depending on the lighting, may look good or evil. These ruins look majestic, especially if you look at them from the third level.
Ta Prohm
This is a temple-monastery, which was called Rajahavira ("royal monastery") with a complex layout. Its territory is heavily overgrown with trees with powerful trunks and branches. His clearing began in 1920. But the jungle does not want to part with it. This Buddhist temple is very romantic, as part of the destruction and tropical trees are deliberately left in it. It makes an indelible impression on tourists. On the territory of the monastery, among the ring structures, large silk trees and strangler trees grow.
If the seed remains in the crack of the masonry, then it gradually grows and breaks the wall with its roots and heavy trunk. Initially, they become the skeleton of the building, but when they die, they destroy it. The temple itself consists of three galleries with one center. It is surrounded by a moat. The entrances through the gopurs (entrance towers) are located on four cardinal points. The stela in the monastery describes its wealth (tons of gold plate, silk beds), and also ascribes to the king the creation of hundreds of statues of gods, decorative towers, almost five thousand stone dwellings, as well as the presence of hospitals in the kingdom. All remaining walls, of course, are covered with exquisite carvings. The place where the episode of the film "Lara Croft - Tomb Raider" with Angelina Jolie was shot is very popular with tourists. Red paint has been preserved on one of the pillars. According to the guides, human blood was added to it. In fact, iron oxides, which are very resistant to fading, were added to it. The stegosaurus, which is carved on one of the medallions, is something inexplicable in Ta Prohma.
Angkor, Cambodia: how to get there
By air
There are no direct flights from Russia to Cambodia. There is an international airport near Siem Reap. Airliners arrive in it through China (eastern and southern airlines), Korea (Seoul), Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand (Bangkok, Pattaya). The most expensive, but also the most popular flight is Bangkok-Siem Reap. It is easier to fly to Bangkok, and then fly through Kuala Lumpur or Phnom Penh. From the capital of Cambodia, you can then go by taxi or by bus. The airport is 7 km from Siem Reap, and the hotel can be reached without complications. And if a room is booked, then the tourist will be met for free and taken to the hotel.
Waterway
You can get to Siem Reap by speed boat from Phnom Penh, if time and money permit. Tickets are sold at the hotel reception or at travel agencies. Traveling along the lake and river in six hours will allow you to get acquainted with the life of the local population.
Bus
From neighboring Asian states (Thailand, Vietnam), as well as from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, you can be reached by bus. Flights are offered a lot. The cheapest are Cambodian. A bus in the afternoon is quite safe transport. Night trips are not recommended.
Tours "Angkor Cambodia"
Tour operators offer a trip to exotic Cambodia. For example, Moscow companies Level.travel, WAND, Coral Trevel, as well as TEZ-tour. Tours are designed for three days and two nights.
Reviews of tourists visiting Angkor
In the temples of Angkor, the spirit of millennia is felt. Angkor Wat is perfectly preserved. They say that on the highest tower there is a connection with space. The rulers seemed to compete with each other, who will put a more beautiful temple. And all of Angkor became like a city of the gods. All reviews have a lot of great photos. Angkor is surrounded by special energy, and experienced travelers believe that it has no equal in the world. This country should be seen by everyone.