Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King

Today, we used day 3 of our 3 day Angkor Wat flexi pass to visit some more temples in the greater Angkor area, with our first stop being the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King, located in the North East corner of Angkor Thom. The two Terraces cover a length of almost 400 metres, with detailed carvings along their length.

Built in the twelfth century, the detail on these carvings, like the rest of the temples around Siem Reap, is simply amazing. Most of these temples, gates and terraces were built first and then the murals were carved into them after the temple was constructed, so only the best were able to work on these as there was so very little margin for error.

Lori, Mikah and myself in front of one of the airvata, or three headed elephants, that can be found at many points along the Terrace of the Elephants. These airvata also feature in the gates of Angkor Thom and elsewhere in the former Angkor-era Khmer empire.

Just some of the length of the Terrace of the Elephants at Angkor Thom.

The central part of the Terrace of the Elephants leads back into the Royal Enclosure and was used as a stage for Angkor-era public ceremonies.

Large parts of the Terrace of the Elephants are shown as being held up by carvings of Garuda and Chimera with lion heads.

Another view of the centre "stage" part of the Terrace of the Elephants.

The Terrace of the Elephants eventually meets the Terrace of the Leper King, a large, intricately carved structure.

Both the outer wall and some of the inner walls here are carved in detail, leading some to speculate that the inner wall started to collapse and so a new wall was built in front of it. Another theory is that the Terrace of the Leper King was also home to the Royal Crematorium.

The three headed elephant, Airvata, also features here in this carving on top of the Terrace of the Leper King.

The statue that gave this terrace its name, there is no definitive answer on who the statue represents, some suggest it is either King Jayavarman VII, who was not known to suffer from leprosy, or King Yasovarman I, who was referred to as the Leper King. Other theories suggest is is Dharmaraja, the Indian god of death, also known as Yama. This is a replica of the original statue, which is now in the National Museum in Phnom Penh and is about 200 - 300 years older than the terrace on which it was located.

Our awesome Angkor guide Kea Simon, a very knowledgeable man who has been a real asset here over our time at the temples of Angkor and Siem Reap, seen here at the Terrace of the Leper King. This was the last day we had Simon with us.

We had actually visited part of the Terrace of the Elephants a couple of days earlier, but when we walked across the centre stage out of the jungle in the Royal Enclosure, we were hot and tired after a long day of trekking and climbing and just wanted to get back to the hotel. This was probably a good thing, as we took a bit more time to explore the Terraces than we would have at the end of that day.

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Ta Prohm aka. The Tomb Raider Temple

After Angkor Wat, one of the first temples in Cambodia that springs to mind is Ta Prohm, known by many as the Tomb Raider temple. While some claim that one of the Indiana Jones movies was shot here as well, there is no proof of that.

Built in the 12th century and abandoned in the 15th, when the temple was rediscovered in the early 20th century, several large trees had set roots through the temple walls. Early restoration efforts mostly involved clearing the scrub and making the temple accessible, but the size of the roots and how they had grown between the sandstone blocks of the temple walls made removing them impossible.

As you enter Ta Prohm from the east, just before you get to the main temple area, you pass a Dharmasala, or firehouse (literally a house with a fire where pilgrims can rest on their travels).

Ta Prohm is famous for it's trees, such as this one that featured in the Tomb Raider movie with Angelina Jolie. While much of the vegetation has been cleared now, quite a few of the larger trees were deliberately left to give an impression of what the temple looked like prior to the last 30 years of careful restoration.

As with some of the other Angkor temples, Ta Prohm is quite the labyrinth of passageways, with some amazing interior decor to be seen.

Apsara dancers decorate the walls of this hall of Ta Prohm.

While there are not as many of the story telling bas reliefs as there are at some other temples, there is certainly no shortage of carvings on the walls, such as this multi headed naga serpent.

As with many Angkor temples, works to restore Ta Prohm are ongoing, with the Indian government working with Cambodian locals in this case. That said, Ta Prohm is intended to be carefully restored, leaving some of the ruins as they are.

The restoration works have included laying timber walkways throughout Ta Prohm to make the temple safer for tourists.

These temple ruins may look neglected, but that is intentional here, with much of the restoration work focussing on stabilizing the ruins of Ta Prohm as they are.

There is no shortage of discussion about what the animal in the centre carving here is. There is no definitive answer as to why there appears to be a stegosaurus carved into the walls of Ta Prohm.

Part of the beautiful, and still standing, exterior of the Ta Promh temple building.

We visited Ta Prohm in the afternoon in late September, and while there are less tourists than you would find earlier in the day, and in the drier months, Ta Prohm was still quite busy. If (or when) we come back to Cambodia, I'd love to get a 7 day Angkor pass and spend another hour or 2 just taking in some of these temples as even though we did not rush through them, it still seems there is much more to be seen here.

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Royal Enclosure and Phimeanakas Temple

After exploring Bayon and Baphuon temples, we were nearly ready to find somewhere to cool off and have some lunch, but first, we had to get back to Sophorn and his air conditioned van. Simon lead us on a little loop through the ruins of the outer walls of the the Royal Enclosure, past the Phimeanakas Temple pyramid, a smaller three tier temple with the remains of a gallery on the top tier and out to the main road, through the centre section of the Terrace of the Elephants.

The outer walls of the Royal Enclosure have long since been overgrown by jungle, making for some amazing scenery as you follow the trail through to Phimeanakas Temple.

As much as I really enjoyed the restored temples we saw, seeing these walls, still standing after nearly a thousand years, but now covered in greenery was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

The Royal Enclosure was once home to the Royal Palace although these days there is not much left aside from Phimeanakas Temple and a couple of sandstone pools, but it must have been an amazing site when it was home to the kings of Angkor.

Phimeanakas temple is another of the pyramid style temple, meant to represent an eartly embodiement of Mount Meru. The temple is currently off limits and there are plans to restore some of the upper levels.

Approaching the Terrace of the Elephants from the Royal Enclosure, the terrace was used for public gatherings and royal displays.

View through a missing section of the Royal Enclosure wall to the centre section of the Terrace of the Elephants.

Standing on the Grand Entrance at the Terrace of the Elephants, this gopura served as an entrance to the Royal Enclosure and the Royal Palace.

These stairs lead up to the Grand Entrance part of the Terrace of the Elephants, named for the carvings of the grand elephant parade that adorn most of this 350 metre long terrace. This centre section however, is decorated with garuda and lions and topped with statues of lions and naga.

There was certainly plenty to see here, walking through the jungle, past temple ruins and former palace grounds, and just like so many of the other temples we visited during this trip you can't help but feel that a second, third or fourth visit may be needed to fully explore this area.

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