A few more temples to go! Here are some glimpses of Thommanom, East Mebon, and another personal favorite, Preah Kahn.
Dang, aren’t the names just cool in and of themselves?
A few more temples to go! Here are some glimpses of Thommanom, East Mebon, and another personal favorite, Preah Kahn.
Dang, aren’t the names just cool in and of themselves?
These temples are awesome. How old are they? Are they safe to go into or must you view them only from exterior?
Awesome is a good word for them! (They certainly had me in awe.) The temples were built at different times during the reigns of different kings. The main temples date back to the 11th and 12th centuries. Many of them were restored/resconstructed in the 20th century, so the pieces fit together and are stable. People could pretty much climb all over them, which is great for immersing yourself and examining carvings up close, but it was also disturbing because it means each person is wearing down the temple a little bit. We think about that a lot: we want to see something (like Iriwaddy dolphins), but seeing them could harm them (like if the boat we ride in pollutes their habitat). We try to avoid harmful activities and to choose eco-friendly providers. Obviously, at the temples we didn’t touch carvings or climb anywhere that was posted out of bounds.
Great pictures! Love this old stuff!
I knew you would! Karen (the sane one in the group) was done templing after 3 days. I went back for days 4 and 5 and wasn’t disappointed.
The workmanship is amazing on these temples. I wonder how many people it took to construct these. You need to get yourself a Indiana Jones hat!
I knew I was missing something!
Such incredible pictures. It’s hard to believe that they were built so long ago and with such limited tools.
Good point. Must have taken a lot of (forced) elbow grease.