Wonder of the World. Angkor city forgotten in the jungle (video)

Angkor Wat (Temple City) is an ancient city near the city of Siemriap, 322 km northwest of Phnom Penh (Cambodia), which was forgotten for a long time in the jungle. It was first discovered in 1601 by the Spaniard M. Ribandeiro, the second time by the Frenchman A. Muo (1861).

Angkor Wat, covering an area of ​​2 million m2, consists of 72 main monuments, the construction of which began in 900.

It is the center of a huge temple complex dedicated to the king of the Angkor Empire Suryavarman II, whom the Khmers considered the earthly incarnation of the god Vishnu. The temple was built by the architect Preah Pushnuk around 1150.

Angkor Wat is famous for the symmetrical arrangement of buildings (which is almost inexplicable for Khmers who do not know the laws of balance), for the amazing placement of five towers in the form of lotus buds (the highest is 65 m) in relation to the facade (a traveler always sees only three towers when approaching). An extraordinary three-level terrace with covered galleries, the surrounding of the temple with columns, a stone fence and a 180 m wide moat - everything speaks of the gigantic scale of the building. It is estimated that the construction of this complex took as many stones as the pyramid of Pharaoh Khafre in Ancient egypt... Angkor Wat is included in the list of sites protected by UNESCO. It is famous for its artistic paintings on stone, which occupy a total area of ​​more than 2 thousand m2. Reliefs on mythological, historical and everyday themes adorn the walls hundreds of meters long. Irreparable harm architectural monument inflicted by the Pol Pot people, destroying many sculptures that are now being restored.

Angkor Wat is considered to be the largest religious building ever built.

Angkor photos

Little is known about this mysterious city of Lovek in Cambodia. It is known that the city was the capital during the reign of King An Chan in the sixteenth century, and now on the site of the city is a small village with a beautiful legend.
Lovek became new after the fall of Angkor official capital and the king built his palace there in 1553. At that time, there was a fierce war between Cambodians and Thais, and already in 1594, the leader of Ayutthaya Naresuan captured the new capital. In the seventeenth century, the importance of the city waned and the capital was moved to the city of Udong near this place.
The memory of the city gradually faded into legends, but like many lost cities of Lovek manifests itself in the legends and songs of antiquity.

Search for the lost city.

Having heard the legend about Lovek and found ourselves not far from Udong, we decided to find what was left of this mysterious city that disappeared from the face of the earth.

Finding the city was not so easy. On the map, the city is located near Udong in the direction to the north, and we went there.

Generally they are stressful for the unprepared traveler. If you want to repeat our path, then get ready for the fact that there is no asphalt road here, and the clay gets very wet during the rain and becomes slippery.

On closer inspection, Lovek turned out to be a village about five kilometers long, with a river on one side. The village is rather poor and squalid with a small school.

During our arrival, there was a very heavy downpour, and our car found itself in a terrible situation: the clay was washed out, the wheels of the car just started spinning. And we didn’t even think where it would be better for us to roll - after all, on one side there was a cliff to the river, and on the other there was a cliff to the Khmer houses.

At the end of this slippery street, there was a large pile of clay, which was simply impossible to go around. It was also impossible to turn around. We just sat in the car in the rain and waited for the mysterious city of Lovek to appear. And when the rain ended, lo and behold (!) We went outside and asked the locals where we should go to Lovek, they answered that Lovek is this village.

Then they brought us a grader and cleared the road especially for us. The locals tried to speak to us in Khmer and French. People in distant villages are very kind and helpful.

I don’t know if this village remained the only thing left of the great capital or the lost city never appeared to us. But at least the element was not on our side - the rain did not allow us to drive further from this village. But we got pleasant emotions: firstly, that we got so far and got out, and secondly, that we talked with people from the outback of Cambodia, nice and open.

A sensational discovery was made by a group of archaeologists in Cambodia - an ancient lost city was discovered in the impenetrable jungle, which had been searched for for decades.
The exact location of the city, until recently, was hidden from the general public, thanks, among other things, to the inaccessible terrain covered with minefields and swamps, as well as hidden in dense forests, unfriendly settlements of Khmer ethnic minorities: tribes far from civilization and professing animism.
Not so long ago, I came across a lidar survey map of a part of Mount Phnom Kulen. There was fragmentary information and coordinates of one of the objects. the ancient city of Mahendraparvata, located just 27 km from temple wat Phrea Ang Thom, on Mount Kulen. Using the scarce information about the location of the ancient city, we deciphered the map and, putting it on the GPS, planned a pedestrian trekking along the excavation route. In this article you can familiarize yourself with the results of our walking expedition to the area of ​​the ancient city of Mahendraparvata, made on February 23 and 24, 2016. We set out on the route early in the morning. The entire area around the ancient city is overgrown with impenetrable rainforest.
There are trails in the forest, beaten by poachers who extract valuable species of trees, as well as sappers who are clearing some areas.
Kulen plateau d More recently, it was a stronghold of the Khmer Rouge and became available to archaeologists only in the 1990s. You can read about the history of the Khmer Rouge in the article
There is currently no way to visit the site by car.
The paths in the forest give way to swampy areas and thickets of yellowed grass, in which there is a full set of poisonous snakes living in this region.
Walking trekking along the route is complicated by the clearing of the area and careful tracking of reptiles. We chose not to think about mines, hoping that archaeologists, as well as activists from the demining group, had passed this way before us.
The first 25 kilometers we did not meet a single living soul along the route. Only giant silent trees that hide the centuries-old secrets of ancient civilizations.
Suddenly, a clearing opened to us with the characteristic mark of the ubiquitous Apsara fund, from which we concluded that we were already close to the first object:
The main secret in detection ancient cities in Cambodia consists in the fact that on the territory of the Kulen plateau, as in the main part of the country, the terrain is extremely flat, and any hillock or unevenness on earth surface, is nothing more than an archaeological site covered with sand and dead foliage.

Excavation of an ancient city in Cambodia

Any such irregularities indicate the presence of a human settlement.

Intuition did not deceive us, and now, a clearing with the first archaeological objects opened up to our eyes:

There were five rectangular prasats (brick towers) in the clearing, of which only one survived:

We found such artifacts inside the towers and in the surrounding area.

In terms of the similarity in size, these two elements resemble a kind of installation with a lid.

with a characteristic high-tech finish.

The purpose of these items is not entirely clear, as is the reason why such elaborate and difficult doorways were installed in simple brick structures.

After careful examination of the surrounding area, we discovered three more dilapidated complexes of similar brick towers on a laterite platform.

Each of them contained a stone artifact unlike the rest. It could be ancient wells, water purification systems, or something else.

These structures have long disappeared into the jungle, leaving only traces in the form of mounds and hollows, which are easy to see among the trees and overgrowth, and which are hidden by the moss-covered ruins of the temple.

The mounds are several meters in diameter and, to the untrained eye, look like ordinary natural hills. However, archaeologists know that they matter much more.

Scientists suggest that the population the ancient city of Mahendraparvata died out due to lack of water - the resources of the land were exhausted and not restored, and people had to go in search of territories conducive to the prosperity of life.

Moreover, the mystery is the mysterious objects of the ancient city that have stood for centuries, the unique, technologically skillful stone carving, and engineering structures that have no analogues, the intended use of which has not yet been solved.

You can read about the intended purpose of some artifacts in the article:

The most interesting objects were found 6 kilometers to the north:

Archaeological maps assure that this is nothing more than a quarry, in which the stone was mined for the construction of Angkor.

On the lava frozen thousands of years ago, artificial notches and perfectly straight cuts are clearly visible:

From the stone quarried in these quarries were built giant structures ancient Angkor.

A laterite pyramid rises in the center of a kilometer-long territory, lined with cut lines and rectangular trenches.

The pyramid is crowned with destroyed brick prasat, inside which, however, another mysterious installation has been preserved:

Let me outline a few historical versions of what this is:

Archaeologists are sure that this structure is called

Yoni

Within Indian culture, worship yoni is most clearly traced in the mythology and rituals of Shaivism and related sects, where yoni honored in conjunction with the corresponding masculine symbol - lingoi(creative principle) as a natural energy contributing to its manifestation, as well as a way to obtain "sacred" healing water.

The water that falls on the top of Linga's head and flows into the Yoni is considered sacred and endowed with healing properties.

All found Yoni have just such a perfect treatment.

Enough interesting fact is the presence under each "Yoni", mine, going vertically underground. In some natural depressions, mines filled with sand and compressed foliage can be seen.
In these photos you can see, perhaps, the last of the untouched mines, which we cleaned a little of the cultural layer.
Some information from the press about the discovery and research in the area of ​​the ancient city of Mahendraparvata:

The ancient city of Mahendraparvata, which disappeared in the wilds of the tropical forest, was previously known only from legends.

By special order, we carry out trekking walking tours to the excavations of the ancient city of Mahendraparvata, as well as one day excursions on motorcycles with a driver, as part of individual tours:

The country, which will be discussed further, got, probably, the most in Indochina. In addition to the standard set, French colonization, Japanese occupation and the civil war, it also had an internal dictatorship, the history of which had no analogues. We are talking about Cambodia, which I still remember from my pioneer past as Kampuchea, I think, even from the generation of those who are now over forty, not many remember how those tragic events developed. When there is a civil war, there are always all sorts of radicals and anarchists, besides the right and the left, the red and the whites (remember dad Makhno and a bunch of all sorts of atamans), who are eager for power or money no less than everyone else, and sometimes even come. The same Makhno had huge territories under his control, and if it were not for the "cunning move" of the First Horse, it is still unknown how it would have ended. Also in Cambodia, during the civil war, the radical Khmer Rouge guerrilla group gradually took control of the country. And then the most sad thing began, called the genocide of one's own people. Moreover, it was carried out with Asian cruelty and perversion - people were killed because they are of the wrong nationality, because they are intellectuals, for picking up a banana that fell from a tree, even for wearing glasses. We have a different topic for the article. But some things must be said - it was in Cambodia that they came up with the idea of ​​saving cartridges and killing people with hammers and hoes, crushing them with bulldozers and throwing them to crocodiles. According to various estimates, during the Pol Pot genocide, from one million to three million of the local population died in the country. So, in spite of all these horrors, Cambodians are so friendly people that all that remains is how to be surprised at their philosophical outlook on life. A country where, due to the huge number of mines left over from the previous regime, it is still impossible to move outside the main tourist paths; where wages are at the level of a few dollars; where the main food is still rice (and they also eat spiders and other insects with great pleasure - is this not from global gourmet? walk with a smile on your face. This involuntarily lifts the mood.

By the way, about mines - this is an absolute reality, if you were told that these territories are not cleared of mines, you should not experiment. Look at a huge number of cripples, of all ages and genders, and the desire to check will disappear by itself. Moreover, there is no such need in Cambodia, since the two main cities are also two main hiking trails- this is Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Phnom Penh is the capital, in which, in addition to the standard set of royal palaces and museums, there is generally nothing to see, with the exception of the genocide museum, but Siem Reap is exactly the town near which Angkor Wat is located, one of the most famous places on the planet. Almost every person in our country knows about Angkor Wat from external media - if he did not even watch Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider, or did not play the first videos with Indiana Jones, then Mowgli must have read or watched the cartoon. But Kipling wrote his "Jungle Book", just under the impression of visiting Angkor. So we know about this wonderful place since childhood.

So, what is Angkor Wat, and why is it so famous, why, after almost a century and a half, people still dream of seeing it and talk about it with a breath? The thing is that it is Angkor that is ideal for the legend of the lost city: it was built, it was great, people left it and the jungle really swallowed it. These are not poetically lines of the introduction to the article - this is absolutely real story Angkor Wat. The primary history of the construction of the entire temple complex is already being lost - historians disagree on the timing of the completion of construction, whether it is the twelfth, or the fourteenth century. It has already been forgotten that the discoverer of Angkor was not a French, he just walked on someone else's maps, many Europeans had been there before him, which means it is not clear how many years this city stood in desolation. For many years now, archaeologists around the world have been fighting in disputes over what the complex actually was - a tomb for the king, such as the pyramids, or was it still a residential settlement. All this went on and on, and Angkor Wat, as it stood, still stands. And all because for the bulk of all this is secondary, and primary is the fact that this is exactly the same the lost city, which for eight hundred (according to other sources, four or five hundred) years stood completely absorbed by the jungle, and now we can walk around it and look at these stones. And the city was indeed completely engulfed in lush Asian vegetation. What we see now cannot be compared with what the Frenchman saw in front of him in 1861, our guide told us that the entire territory of Angkor was looked after daily, continuing to clean it of the advancing vegetation and if we stopped work at least for month, the monument will not be recognized. Angkor is very well monitored, its territory is cleaned, cleaned and restored, it is guarded around the perimeter and to get inside, you need not just buy a ticket, you have a whole ritual with photographing and making an individual badge. Such attention to Angkor is not surprising - it gives a real part of the funds in the budget of the whole Cambodia, not in vain for national flag country flaunts one of its monuments - Angkor Wat. Even during the reign of Pol Pot, none of his soldiers entered Angkor, and they were not afraid of either God or the devil. For unclear reasons, they went to the territory of the complex and therefore the monument was almost not damaged.

Angkor translated from Khmer is the city. According to one version, the original depositor of Angkor began to build here the capital of the Khmer state in the ninth century, and accordingly, after his death, his followers decided to move the capital to Phnom Penh, which led to the “dying” of the city. It is very important to understand that the temple complex itself is a huge structure, it is located on an area of ​​more than two hundred square kilometers and there are more than two hundred monuments on its territory, i.e. one per square kilometer... At the same time, it was not built by one ruler of the Khmers, and, accordingly, bears the distinctive features of different eras and religions. All guidebooks and travel companies will tell you that when planning a visit to Angkor, you need to put in a week for your stay - perhaps, but, in my opinion, you can keep within two or three days. It is important to decide in advance what is important for you to watch. If you divide the city into main attractions, then you get the following must-have program:

1. All tourist buses and taxis arrive at one place, all excursions in all directions begin from it, improvised carriages depart from it, here the helicopter takes off and climbs hot-air balloon... Do not spare the money, be sure to take a balloon or helicopter over Angkor: firstly, climbing to a height is always unforgettable experience, even for such airy cowards as me; and secondly, it will give you an additional feeling of the greatness of this city, because even from the air you cannot fully realize how great and beautiful it is. Here you just need to decide when it is worth doing: before all the excursions, or after - both are equally good.

2. There is a straight stone road from the central place of arrival - this is the main entrance to Angkor Wat, the most promoted of all the monuments of Angkor. The temple complex itself is surrounded by a fairly high wall and a moat filled with water. According to one version, Angkor Wat was built like a huge tomb of the king and is nothing more than an Asian pyramid. By its design, it is exactly a pyramid, only of three levels. In general, the whole structure of this structure is rather complicated - remembering it now, I caught myself feeling that I probably could no longer walk along it, so as not to get lost, there are so many passages and stairs in it. The main thing is that it is absolutely certain - there are galleries on the first level, where bas-reliefs of epic, mythical or religious have been preserved on the stone; on the second level there are bas-reliefs of dancers, of which there are already two thousand pieces, despite the fact that all are not repeating, at the same time four corners serve as the basis for four towers; the third level is the last, central tower. A few important points: first, pay attention to the epic bas-reliefs of the first level, besides the fact that they are more than a thousand years old, they are also really interesting, especially if you are told details from the life and myths of the ancient Khmers. Second, the steps to the towers and levels are real steep, reminiscent of the Mayan pyramids, be careful, last year a German tourist came from there and access to them is limited. Third, all structures are not very reliable, because everything is very old, and the stone used in construction is soft, so everything is constantly shifting slightly.

3. Again, near the place of arrival is the entrance to Angkor Thom, a mini-city, with real walls, gates and bridges. The gates are located in all parts of the world and are perfectly preserved. Cambodians believe that Angkor Thom was built by the greatest king of the Khmers, but this is not the most interesting thing - what is inside it is much more important. Literally right away (I don't know which part of the world these gates are, but right from the central place of arrival), the Terrace of the Elephants is located inside, another monumental monument, which is a perfectly preserved sculptural group of real elephants, with trunks, ears and tusks, only propping up their backs a building that has not survived to this day. It's worth looking at them, the place is described in all guidebooks, but you don't need to stay for a long time, especially because the Elephants' terrace is just on the way to the famous Bayonne.

4. Bayon - a place known no less than Angkor Wat, the famous smiling faces of Angkor, its business card and the most popular type for tourist postcards. Remember, huge towers and the same huge faces on them, from all sides, there are no eyes, but it seems that they are all looking at you and there is nowhere to hide from them. The temple itself is huge, just like all the others are confused and incomprehensible, but the most important thing is at the top - more than fifty towers, decorated with two hundred smiling masks. By the way, according to one version, the king himself posed for these masks.

5. To visit Angkor and not see Ta Prohm is simply blasphemous. After all, Ta Prohm is a city left in the state in which it was found. It is undoubtedly cleaned up, but just enough to make it possible to understand the monstrous power of nature. Stone trees sprouting through the stone, turrets entwined with branches, weaving of lianas a meter away from the paths, trees burning like a match and not burning at all, Ta Prom - nature reserve... The trees are especially impressive, in all their majesty they really go right through the meter-high stone walls and it somehow does not fit well in the head: after all, here is the trunk, here are the branches, here are the leaves - and the stone passed through like a knife through butter. However, thinking about it, we forget. That it took centuries, and the fact that the wood of this species is as hard as iron. It even makes a sound, if you knock on it, it is by no means wooden.

6. With all your travels around the great Angkor, you will definitely have the opportunity to see local residents of Cambodia, ordinary people, those who are not involved in servicing the tourist business, but simply live in the neighborhood of Angkor. Do not neglect this opportunity, take a look, and especially pay attention to the craftsmen engaged in the process of extracting palm juice and making sugar from it - this is especially interesting for us. The very procedure of climbing on a six-meter bamboo pole, on sharp protruding knots, with ten or even more bamboo canisters on the belt evokes respect. And what can we say about the unpretentious idea of ​​digesting juice, from which then a very thick and viscous mass is obtained, which solidifies, turns into palm sugar. And all this among the squalid huts, with children running around completely naked, with vats standing right there over the fire, and with a saleswoman who, right there, in your presence, deftly wraps a piece of brown sugar, wrapping it with leaves all that the same palms. Exotic!

6. A special excursion attraction is watching the sunset from the Bak-Heng mountain. This is really an attraction, because this is a whole action: first you need to climb the mountain - while you have two options, either walk for half an hour, or ride an elephant for the same half hour; find a place for yourself among the ruins of another temple, because there will be a carriage and a small cart for those who wish; get settled, in ten minutes to see the sun go down, and then another half an hour to descend back. Despite all this fuss, all this is worth it, it's not in vain that so many people are crowding the hill - the sun is really a bright orange kolobok very rapidly, right before your eyes, sinks over the horizon. At the same time, before it starts to sit down, you have time to admire Angkor Wat - the view from the hill to it is simply amazing.

Wonder of the World. Angkor city forgotten in the jungle (video)

Continuation. Start: 1. Pattaya - Aran. 2. Aran-Siem Riep.

Having agreed with the tuk-tuk driver in the evening, in the morning we went to explore the greatest wonder of the world and the pride of the Khmer civilization, the Angkor temple complex, a city forgotten in the jungle. It is a giant Hindu temple complex in Cambodia. It is one of the largest religious buildings ever built and one of the world's most important archaeological sites. Built in the 9th to 12th centuries. Over the course of 4 centuries, different monarchs each built their own temple or terrace, or completed the previous ones in connection with a change in cult.

The tuker came for us exactly by agreement at 9-00. Later, for myself, I concluded that I had to leave for Angkor early, from 6-30 to 7-30, but I didn't want to get up so early after the previous busy day. We explained to the driver that we would go for breakfast and then to Angkor. In general, I concluded that if you ask the tuker to show you a hotel or a place where you can have a snack, or just tell him to call in to buy water on the way, then he will take you only to his relatives and friends, or to those places where he is at least 10 cents of commissions will drop, absolutely not reflecting your wishes and interests. If you want to save money, then you yourself must clearly understand where to go. Here's a simple example. I asked him to stop somewhere on the way to Angkor and buy a couple of bottles of water with him. He drove through all the shops along the way, then turned off to the side, into pickles, wandered among the huts and stopped at a merchant on the street, where I was offered to buy water for $ 1 for a 1.5 liter bottle. Yesterday I bought this water at the store he rushed past for 60 cents. And you can take it from shopkeepers for 50. I categorically stated that the price was too high and named the price of the market. The driver swallowed, but did not argue. Since neither me nor the seller probably had a small dollar coin and didn’t want to waste a lot of time on water, I offered $ 1.5 for two bottles and from hand to hand. Keep in mind, here you will be bred for every cent. By the way, I got change from two dollars in local Riels. Rough exchange rate is 4000 reels for 1 dollar, in official places up to 4100. Be careful - they don’t want to take torn and tortured dollars, but give for change.

Finally, we moved to the mysterious and mysterious, covered with dust of times and jungle vines, a majestic monument of architecture of ancient civilizations - the temple complex of Angkor.

Best to start your trip early , then lunch break. Return to the hotel, relax in the pool, and closer to 15 o'clock, repeat the conquest of the temples. By 18 o'clock, choose the top point of one of the temples to watch the sunset. In these places, sunset always occurs at the same time, around 18-30. As far as I understand, on the territory of the complex it is problematic with normal food. And if you decide not to return, take food with you, here everything will be much more expensive. And yet, there is never too much water. Even if you take a significant supply, you are unlikely to remain on the way back.

To meet the dawn, it is worth visiting the distant Bentey Srei, Koh Ke or the nearby Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm. Sunsets are best seen at Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakeng, Pre Rup, East Mebon and Ta Keo. Sitting on a stone heated by the sun's rays during the day, imagine how people who built them a thousand years ago met the sunset, hear a voice ancient civilization, the noise of battles.

The main thing is not to forget to fully charge the batteries of photographic equipment and free up space on flashcards.))) Alcoholic drinks are not recommended, the sun and heat will do their job and put them out of action, and when examining these stairs you need skill. Therefore, in any case, it is better to put all things and equipment in a backpack when going up and down. The stairs of the temples are very steep, the steps are narrow, at this time your hands should be free for safety reasons. When visiting Phnom Kulen, Qbal Spina, Banteay Chma and Koh Ke, watch out for signs along the roads and paths “Danger! Mines ". Not all territories are cleared here, so it is better to take a guide or guide.

Ancient Angkor is a city forgotten in the jungle, located almost 6 km north of the modern settlement of Siem Reap. Individual temples are several kilometers away from each other, and the entire complex occupies more than 200 square kilometers. So on foot you won't walk, but many dare to ride bicycles (you can rent in some guesthouses), but for this you need to study the map well. And keep in mind that to Siem Reap and back 12 km, and at least 8 you wind around the complex, plus on foot, are you ready for such a marathon?
Entrance to the temple complex is allowed from 5.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. local time, the ticket office is open from 5 a.m., and from 5 p.m. you can buy a ticket for the next day and have a bonus on this ticket to enjoy the sunset at any temple for free on the current day.

Our tuk-tuk driver brought us to the ticket offices. Price ticket for 1 day of visiting any temples of Angkor $ 20 per person, children under 12 are free. The price for a 3-day ticket is $ 40, and for a week of studies $ 60. Moreover, now there is a relaxation ticket for 3 days, you can use it during the week, the days may not go in a row if you are waiting for good weather or decided to rest. A 7-day ticket can be used for 1 month. Caution - torn, soaked, lost tickets lead to the purchase of a new one, and being in the territory without a ticket will result in a fine of $ 100.

The cashier takes a photo of you and issues a ticket with your photo, at the entrance to each church the ticket is checked - they look at the date and photo. If you want to receive a souvenir ticket with your beautiful photo v good quality- you can bring your own the size of a passport and it will be printed on the ticket (laminated for only $ 60). Try not to be at the ticket office at 7.20-8.00 - this is the peak time when tourists from Korea, Japan and China are brought in. A lot of them. Lots of. And all of them are without prepared photos, respectively, the procedure is delayed and you can enjoy the queue for a ticket to Angkor - the wonder of the world for quite a long time. We are not such early birds, we left the hotel at 9.00 - there was no queue at the box office, we got tickets in 5 minutes.

Again we go to our tuk-tuk, using the map we agree with the driver what we want to see for today and which route we will take. On a standard map of Siem Reap for tourists on back side the diagram of Angkor is given, where the large and small circle is indicated. For the most part, you can move slowly for 3 days. Within 1 day, it is possible to catch only a small circle.

There are usually three main routes to visit.

One day.

If you have one day to visit the temples of the great Khmer civilization, you will have to get up before sunrise and drive to Angkor Wat. Near the temple, without entering its central territories, you meet the dawn and immediately go to Bayon, stopping at the southern gate of Angkor Thom on the way. After visiting Bayon, you can see Bapuon, Pimeanakas, Terrace of the Elephants and the Leper King. If you have finished before lunchtime, then you can have time to drop in at Pré Caen and its long suite of rooms. The second part of the journey will pass through the Victory Gate of Angkor Thom and the Ta Koe Temple. Then - Ta Prohm, lost in the jungle, and at the end of the trip, go from the opposite, eastern side of Angkor Wat. Walk through the entire temple (about 2.5 km), climb to the central platform with towers, see galleries with carved bas-reliefs. If you have time before sunset, climb Phnom Bakeng and watch the most famous temple in Cambodia disappear in the last rays of the sun.

Two days.

A two-day itinerary is preferable. Taking a one-day route as a basis gives you more time to explore the temples on the first day. On the morning of the second day, start in Banteay Srei (37 km from Siem Reap) and on the way back visit Ta Som, Nick Pin and Pre Kan.

Three days or more.

Having such a reserve of time, you become the lord of the temples, there is a unique opportunity to choose three options for inspection. First, you are using the two-day tour, just combine a trip to Bentei Srei with a tour of the sacred mountain Phnom Kulen with waterfalls and the Thousand Lingams stream. In the following days, capture Roluos, as well as visit Tonlespan Lake with water villages. In the rest of the time, re-visit the places you like.
Second option. A slow, gradual tour of the temples, day after day, one by one.

The third option. Inspection of the monuments of Khmer architecture in chronological order by the time of construction. 1. Day - Roluos, Koh Ke, Bentey Srei (before Koh Ke you can stop at Ben Melia). Day 2 - Angkor Wat, Ta Prom, Ta Keo, Angkor Tom (Terraces, Bapuon, Pimeanakas, Bayon). Day 3 - Ankor Thoma Gate again Bayonne, Pre Kahn, Nick Pin and after lunch Tonle Sap.

The last two options are interesting in that you seem to be immersed in the atmosphere of an ancient civilization, you begin to live and think like the locals, at the same time, at any moment you can turn off the chosen route and make your own, unknown to this day.

We decided to see first Prasat Kravan, Ta Prohm, Bayon, Baypon and, in the evening, Angkor Wat, with a break for lunch.

Prasat Kravan- to look exactly at the beginning. Interestingly, if you are not a specialist in oriental studies after Ta Prohme or Bayon, you will not be impressed. There are many bas-reliefs here. A total of 5 prasats standing in one line, entrances from the east. If you stand 1-2m from the central highest building and look up, an incredible illusion is created that prasat is falling on you.
Built in 921, it is unique in that the bas-reliefs are carved directly into the brickwork. On the bas-reliefs one can see Vishnu, sometimes riding on Garuda, sometimes with the indispensable attributes in his hands: a lotus, a mace, a chakra and a shell. We spent about half an hour here. Better to visit in the morning, then the lighting is more interesting.

Ta Prom- here the tuker will have time to relax properly, you won't get out of this amazing place quickly. When we drove up - several groups of barangs came out to meet us (in Tae farangi, here barangi - all people of non-Asian appearance) completely stunned - we asked the tuker "What's wrong with them?" - he replied: this is normal, everyone comes out like that, you just see the temples of our Gods - he proudly declared.

And rightly so. A temple built in 1196 by King Jayavarman VII in honor of his mother, whom he identified with the Goddess of Wisdom. Conceived as a monastery and a university, the temple consisted of 39 prasats and over 800 brick and stone structures... Left to the mercy of the jungle in the 15th century, after the fall of the Khmer Empire, it began to look even more mesmerizing. Trees sprouted through the walls and enveloped the buildings on top - this landscape was perfect for filming films about the tomb raider, the locals call this place - Angelina Jolie. In the 20th century, a program to restore the temples of Angkor began, then they opened Ta Prohm among the jungles.

It was decided to only strengthen and support it a little, but generally leave it in the form it was found by researchers - now in it we can see how nature takes over everything.

We take a few photos. This is especially difficult here - there are a lot of people, especially Chinese. They are everywhere. They strive to take pictures everywhere, they generally have some kind of cult of photos. They film everything. In general, everything. In the most interesting places, especially near the temples overgrown with trees, there is a queue for a good shot. The Chinese skip the line and break the entire exposition.

Here, too, amazing bas-reliefs are everywhere.

Further Bayonne... The famous pearl of Angkor Thom. Better to drive directly to Bayonne, because from the gate of Angkor Thom, it is located about 1.5 km. The best time to visit is early morning - there are fewer tourists and the dawn illuminates the towers beautifully. Or at sunset, it's also beautiful, but there are many tourists.

There are about fifty towers in the temple, on which there are 200 huge faces.

The faces on the four sides of the tower speak of the omnipresence of the Buddha, whose prototype was the first builder of this temple, King Jayavarman VII, who identified himself with God.

They say that at different times of the day, faces have different expressions from kind and peaceful to angry and terrifying.

The restoration of the lost parts of the faces has not yet yielded results, because there is no technology of such precise turning of a stone, as during the construction of these temples! None of all the world's specialists without concreting, cementing, etc. did not figure out how to hold these huge boulders together. The photo shows that the left, restored part of the face breaks the symmetry. In contrast to the unrestored faces, the left and right sides are completely identical, which surprises scientists.

This is simply incredible, given our development of civilization, science and technology, in the presence of laser technologies. What other technologies have not been mastered by modern homo sapiens to make up for the knowledge of the 11-12 centuries.

Dazed, we spent about 2 hours here. We went up to levels 2 and 3. We saw the monk guardians.

The little son greeted the giants with pleasure.

From here we decided to go to dinner... I explained to the driver that it was time to go to the hotel, and then we would return to Angkor Wat and continue our sightseeing. Then I did not even think that in the future this would cause a discussion with the tuker and be a reason for begging for money. We returned to our guest house, ate, and rested in the pool. In our guest house, as it turned out, there are a lot of young people from different countries Europe and in the afternoon almost everyone fell out to relax in the pool, so the reservoir was full, but it was quite fun. Although the temperature of the heated water tended to the body temperature))).

At 15-00 a tuker drove in, we moved on to continue the inspection. He drove to Angkor Wat and said: everyone, you wanted to come back here after lunch, please. For lunch we left Angkor Thom, which is a couple of kilometers further, and planned to return there. I began to explain to him that we had interrupted the excursion elsewhere and wanted to go there and return. He parried, you said Angkor, here he is, and Angkor Thom is further away and it seems like you have to pay extra for gasoline. Such impudence began to irritate me. Yesterday the price was agreed for the whole day with a lunch break at the hotel. I explained to the tuker that he was very upset with my disposition towards him, and I would be ready to pay only $ 10 out of 15 for a spoiled mood and an excursion. Realizing that the money could not be squeezed out, but it could also be lost, the tuker moved on with a frustrated look. He was unlucky with travelers from Russia, where you sit on us and get off.)))

Examined Bauphon.

There are several restrictions on visiting this temple, children under 12 are not allowed, etc.

The temple is built as a five-stage pyramid of three tiers. It is a mountain temple that represents sacred mountain Measure. During the heyday, the dome of the temple was covered with copper plates.

Bapuon was erected by King Udayadityavarman II, who ruled from 1050 to 1066, and was the center of the former capital - Yashodharapura. Restoration work has been going on for more than half a century, the temple looks dilapidated and not all places are open to the public.

The temple is located 200 meters northwest of Bayonne, south of the Royal Palace and approximately 10 kilometers from the center of Siem Reap. Usually, he becomes the next item for inspection after Bayon. You can spend no more than half an hour here. If you are short on time to explore all the attractions of Angkor Thom, then perhaps Bapuon should be missed. There are not many people here because of the ongoing work.

Despite the above, from the platform of the central tower (third tier) a panoramic view of the surrounding area opens, in particular from south side the towers of Phnom Bakeng are visible, from the north - Pimeanakas. For good photos it is better to choose the first half of the day or sunset.

We looked into Pimeanakas.

This so-called "heavenly temple" has no bas-reliefs.

Dedicated to Hinduism, built inX-XI centuries under Rajendravarman II (ruled 944-968), after restructuring under the reign of Suryavarman I (ruled 1002-1049) served as a temple under royal palace... At the beginning of the 20th century. restoration work began to clean up the temple, some of the stairs were supplemented with wooden ones for easy viewing.

There is such a nice little pond nearby.

Nearby there are two more small, not so popular Temples, therefore less trampled by tourists. Preah Pitu and Prasat sur Prat.

Inside, the bas-reliefs are so clear, symmetrical and all different.

It's dangerous to get in, but soooo interesting.

Despite more than half a century of clearing, the jungle is advancing.

Immersed in greenery, the buildings look exotic and mesmerizing.

The twelve towers of Prasat sur Prat served as a kind of court. One of the disputants sat on one tower, the other on the other. Whoever gets sick first was wrong in the dispute. This is the heavenly judgment. Yeah, under the local sun, it's no wonder that both sides of the litigation blister in a few days.

Moved into Ta Keo outside Angkor Thom.

Temple mountain. Built as a center new capital Jaendranagari.

The construction of Ta Keo began under Jayavarman V, but was never completed.

Built of sandstone with jeweler's precision fitted blocks, it is oriented to the East and dedicated to Lord Shiva.

For visiting no more than half an hour, preferably in the first half.

For dessert left the most famousAngkor Wat.

This is the symbol of Cambodia, it is depicted on the national flag.

It is considered one of the largest human settlements of the pre-industrial era.
I was struck by the abundance of tourists at the entrance. The hope of seeing a majestic and secluded place quickly faded. Crowds of tourists scurried back and forth, as if on the main street of the city at rush hour. Such vanity does not at all dispose to reflect on the connection of times, on the spiritual meaning of life and on the greatness of the ancient architects. What to do, apparently the time for solitude in this great place has been lost and merciless legs mass tourism, barbarously erase the stone pavements of the great temples to the ground.

I can advise you not to buy anything at the entrance to Angkor Wat. The prices here are three times more than can be found by going deeper into the temple. For example, one lively young man offered me a travel guide to Cambodia in Russian for $ 25. I saw the same in the shops next to the temple already for 10. The calculation is simple - tourists, not having time to adapt to local economic conditions and, in anticipation of meeting with a piece great history, cannot adequately assess the price level. For a tourist, in principle, $ 25 is not that much money, but the reality is that it is a huge capital here.

Angkor Wat, originally dedicated to the god Vishnu, in terms of architecture, unites the typology of the Hindu temple-mountain, representing the mythical Mount Meru - the abode of the gods

and the typology of galleries characteristic of the architecture of later periods.

The stones that make up the structure are extremely smooth, almost like polished marble.

It is surprising that without mortar, the stones are so tightly fitted to each other that sometimes it is impossible to find the seams between them. Stone blocks sometimes do not have any connections and are held only by their own weight.

Modern estimates were made, according to which it turned out that the construction of only one Angkor Wat temple in our time would take more than one hundred years. However, Angkor Wat was started shortly after the accession of Suryavarman II to the throne, and finished soon after his death, that is, after no more than 40 years.

The temple consists of three concentric rectangular buildings, the height of which increases towards the center, along the perimeter surrounded by a wall 1.5x1.3 km and a moat with water, the length of which is 3.6 km. The inner structure contains five lotus-shaped towers. The 65 m high central tower is very impressive. The total area of ​​Angkor Wat is 200 hectares. There are such small buildings on its territory.

In the 15th century, it ceased to be used and was abandoned. Opened to European civilization in 1860.

One of the first Western visitors to the temple was Antonio da Madalena (Portuguese monk), who visited it in 1586, he described what he saw as follows: “it is such an unusual structure that it is impossible to describe it with a pen, especially since it is unlike any other building in the world. He has towers and decorations and all the subtleties that a human genius can only imagine. "

Khmer temples were not a place of gathering of believers, but served as a dwelling place for the gods, and access to their central buildings was open exclusively to representatives of the religious and political elite. Angkor Wat is distinguished by the fact that it was also intended for the burial of kings.

The architecture of Angkor Wat is organically combined with its sculptural design. On the three tiers of the bypass galleries of the temple, there are bas-reliefs on the themes of Hindu mythology, the ancient Indian epics "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata", as well as on the theme of Khmer history.

The most notable are 8 huge panels on the first tier with compositions "Churning the Milky Ocean" (they whipped up the milk ocean with a mountain to obtain the divine drink of immortality and gain power over the universe), "Battle of Kurukshetra" and others, the total area of ​​which is 1200 m2. The walls of the second tier are decorated with about 2000 figures of heavenly maidens - apsaras. By and large, all surfaces, columns, lintels and even roofs are carved.

The outer wall of 4.5 meters is surrounded by a 190 meter wide moat.

The passage to the temple is carried out along an earthen embankment from the east, and from the west along the crest of a sandstone dam. The entrance from the west is the main entrance, and, possibly, in the past, instead of a dam was located here wooden bridge... Each of the cardinal points has its own group ( gate tower serving as the entrance to the temple complex). Accordingly, the western city is the largest, it consists of three, now destroyed, towers.

Most of the space is now covered with forest. The western group is connected to the temple by a three hundred and fifty meter stone road (platform) with a balustrade in the form of Nagi figures. The road has six exits to the city on each side. A cruciform terrace, guarded by lion figures, connects the stone road to the complex itself, and ponds were added later.

At this point, we first finished our acquaintance with the ancient Khmer and world history. We returned to the room by 19-00 and went for a walk around the city at night. Are you here

Good luck friends!