Description: The Temple of Bayon was the first attraction which I visited at the Ruins of Angkor. It felt unreal as I climbed the many stairs where an ancient civilization once lived, worked and played. After ascending to the top, I noticed the massive famous Smiling Faces of Bayon. At a distance, they seem to be shapeless rock masses, towering towards the sky. On closer inspection, you notice that the rock masses are actually carved into four faces, each facing in a different direction and all wearing serene smiles.
My first impression was, 'Wow... these temples are quite bigger than I expected'. Based on the photos in magazines, and even shows on the television, it is very easy to undermine the size of the faces. I took a self portrait using a timer, in order to capture exactly how small I was in comparison to one of the iconic faces.
At this point, I started to really and truly pay attention to the statues. The attention to detail was amazing, with countless intricate designs and elaborate carvings. There were etches of people praying, images of warfare and other Khmer icons carved out of the rock surface. It was very impressive, to take note of the talents of the human race, even centuries before modern technology.
At the temple of Bayon, there is a traveler tradition. Everyone usually wants a shot of one of the Faces of Bayon, with the sky taking up the majority of the photo. Luckily, the sky was a brilliant shade of blue, dotted with white puffs of clouds. Perfect backdrop for the trademark photo. After three attempts I was satisfied, and continued my exploration.
I met a guy who was also backpacking solo, and he told me about these 'windows' in the temples, and offered to take my photo, with me looking out of a window. The photos turned out remarkably well, and I thanked him profusely. I encourage anyone who is visiting the temples to look out for those windows. The resulting photos will be worth it.
There were many hallways and rooms throughout the temples of Bayon. They made up quite a maze, which caused me to lose track of where I was several times. They were rather dark and musty, giving them an Indiana Jones atmosphere. Most of the passageways were deserted, but many of the rooms had Buddhist statues inside, and people on their knees.
I found it fascinating that regardless of the fact that the temples are in ruins, people from all over the community still go there to pray. That's defintely one way to keep the Temples of Bayon alive.
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