| Arrival in
Siem Reap airport in Cambodia! That's Leanne, me, & Stephanie.
|
We went straight
from the airport to Angkor Wat. |
Angkor
Wat has incredible relief carvings of apsaras – celestial dancers.
|
They were
created when the gods & demons were Churning the Ocean of Milk,
trying to produce an elixir of immortality. |
The elixir
was eventually found, but not until after the apsaras were formed,
and also some toxic puke made the god Siva's throat turn blue. |
These reliefs
are about 1000 years old. That's the original paint on this scene
showing the king. He has lots of servents carrying umbrellas and fans
for him. |
The
reliefs feature brutal battle scenes, like this guy's head being carried
off by the enemy. |
Look carefully
and you'll see some demonic animals eating the bad guys here. A morality
tale. |
This
guy's being turned on a spit. Ouch. |
There's
Vishnu with many arms and faces. He can grow as many as necessary
to combat armies of any size. |
Here's
Vishnu again, standing on top of a turtle to be the fulcrum in assisting
the gods & demons cooperate in that Churning the Ocean of Milk
story. |
Looking
down a wall of relief carvings, there's Leanne & Stephanie with
our local guide for the day. |
When
this temple was Buddhist, this depicted Buddha. |
But
then the temple became Hindu, so they chopped off Buddha's head and
replaced it with Vishnu's, along with some other attributes. |
A
view of one of the many buildings that comprise Angkor Wat. |
These
are the towers that are meant to recall the 5 sacred peaks of Mount
Meru. |
This
is one of the "libraries" of Angkor Wat, though I'm not
sure if it was ever used in the sense that we understand libraries
today. |
A
view of Angkor Wat from the causeway. Those upturned bannisters represent
the Naga, the multiheaded snake who, predictably enough, also plays
a role in the Churning of the Ocean of Milk story. |
One
of the Naga heads. No, not naugahyde. |
Three
lovely and well fondled apsaras. |
This
wedding was taking place when we visited the temple complex. |
Stephanie
in the beautiful light of an Angkor Wat twilight. |
Leanne
on the causeway to the temple complex. |
That's
me among the apsaras. |
Climbing
up those temples was steep and precarious! |
We
are apsaras. |
Looking
back for a goodbye glance. |
The
famous and magnificent Angkor Wat sunset. |
