Bayon was built by the great Jayavarman VII int he 12th century. It is a Buddhist temple filled with monumental sculptures of a face. Debate rages as to whether the face is a bodisvatta or in fact Jayavarman VII. The Cambodians are generally convinced of the latter, though unusually Lonely Planet disagrees. Whatever way you decide I could not escape Mums voice in my head telling me flatly it reminded her of the Harrods Man. (Mohammed al Fayed).
At the entry to the South Gate there is a small brick temple we motored past. This is Baksei Chamkrong.
It is pretty cool to be able to drive into an ancient monument. We climbed up the walls to get a look at the causeway. I noticed later this had been roped off.
Bayon is huge, beautiful and is indeed a bit mysterious. The carving of the faces is of such quality that it does inspire admiration no matter the odd feeling the inhabitants must have had of being watched. It also feels smaller inside. It has a round tower in the centre on the third level which is unique. All towers at Angkor have roofs designed to resemble a lotus bud and petals, however the towers themselves are not round. All the Angkor temples, incidentally are in some way unfinished, whether due to ongoing modifications or just a lack of time during a rulers reign. Most are laterite and sandstone.
There are elephant rides at Bayon as well as some macaques.
We walked northwards towards The Royal Palace, along the Terrasse des Elephants. We passed Baphuon, which I would have like to have seen, a steep symetrically impressive five-tiered pyramid temple, built in the 11th century. The Baphuon also has a huge reclining Buddha statue built into e western facade. Built in the 16th century, at least 100 years after Angkor was abandoned (in around 1411) this statue is taken as proof that the temples were never forgotten and "never truly abandoned by the Khmer".
The Royal Palace was a wooden building, so has disappeared. A small 'chapel' building at its centre still remains, now called the Phimeanakas. However the Terrace is impressive enough: a wide causeway sheltered by trees, it was described by a 13th century traveller, the Chinese ambassador Zhou Daguan. The king would review royal ceremonies and performances from here in a very similar manner to communist countries today. Across the wide space, 'royal square', in front of the terraces is a series of 12 small brick temples, apparently modified at certain dates, called Prasat Suor Prat, behind these are two further larger interesting buildings known, erroneously, as "khleang" or 'storehouses'. Use as yet un-pinpointed- there is a great deal of archaeology and research still to be done here!
North of the Terrasse des Elephants is the Terrace of the Leper King, subject of further folk tales. It has a huge lotus flower style fire cradle on top. It may have been the site of royal cremations. It has a twisting, turning gap between inner walls.
The head of a turtle, a manifestation of Vishnu.
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