Angkor Thom

On our second day we wandered the amazing ruins of Angkor Thom and its main temple Bayon built by Jayavarman VII where stone faces gaze placidly out over the landscape.  These stone faces may well be representative of J VII himself, but are intended to celebrate one of the bodhisattvas of the Buddhist religion. 

Here a group of demons hold up the wall.

And on this wall elephants.

A long walk between baray (water holding tanks) takes one to the main temple Bayon.

We climb some more!

The temple is built up level by level. 

Oh yes. More black and white photos. This temple really lends itself to the monochrome.

And finally we see the mysterious faces. 

But there are carvings too. Remember these were carved in the 10th and 11th centuries.

.

Over all the faces loom. There are 37 towers and most bear these faces on all four sides. 

Young women in costume pose for the tourists

Some of the faces appear to be looking at the viewer with a knowing smile. 

How many faces do you see?

A smaller temple on site. 

What's your preference - black and white?

Or colour?

There is no way to show the true majesty of these temples. But they are a real treasure for the Cambodian people.