Page 49 - Experience Thailand and More

WHAT TO DO Throughout the temple, there are as many as 36 different depictions

of beautiful, heavenly nymphs, Apsaras, or devadas. At the center is a
quincunx of richly carved prangs, or towers, where patient tourists will
line up and wait up to an hour to climb steep steps to gain a view of the
AND SEE temple compound and surrounding grounds, once a dense jungle, which

it is now hard to imagine.

Even with all the tourists, it is still possible to find a quiet spot in the
exterior galleries and experience the mystical magic of this wonder of
the world. If you get there early, enter from the east, or back, where few
visitors come. The sight may help you to understand even a little how
Ankor Wat Henri Mouhot felt when he first saw the towers rising above the dense
6 Kilometers north of Siem Reap, Angkor,Siem Reap
http://angkor.com.kh foliage. It is also a great time and spot to take photos.
Open daily from 5.00 a.m. - 7.00 p.m.
It’s incredible to think that “Heaven on Earth” is just 6 kilometers
north of Siem Reap proper. The earthly recreation of Mt. Meru,
home to the Hindu pantheon, Angkor Wat is considered by many
the world’s largest testament to spiritual devotion. First constructed
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in the 12 century by King Suryavaram II, different from most Hindu
and Buddhist temples, it is oriented to the West as it was to serve
as his mausoleum as he believed he was an incarnation of Vishnu,
the supreme being and preserver of the Hindu trinity. It actually took
over a century to complete.

Within a moat rise three galleries, one above another. The walls are
covered with some of the most intricate and best preserved bas-
reliefs retelling the epic Ramayana and Churning of the Ocean of
Milk.
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