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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Baphuon Temple at Angkor Thom, Cambodia

Baphuon Temple is a multi tiered temple built on an artificial hill in the Angkor Thom region near Siem Reap. Just a short walk from Bayon Temple, it is part of a walking loop that takes a couple of hours to complete, depending on how much time you wish to spend at each temple. The Baphuon was originally dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, but was converted to a Theravada Buddhist temple at some point, with current estimates placing that conversion around 1440 AD. This style of temple is sometimes referred to as a Temple Mountain, designed to represent Mount Meru, the sacred five peaked mountain at the heart of Jain, Hindu and Buddist mythology.

This is the walkway towards the main approach terrace of the Baphuon. This would orginally have been part of a large entrance gate to the temple.

The long terrace to the Baphuon passes through a pavillion with a large, stone lined pool to the south and reflectng pools on either side of the walkway.

Lori and Mikah in the windows of the pavillion on the approach causeway to the Baphuon.

Passing through the pavillion on approach to the heart of the Baphuon.

Looking back from the outer part of the main mountain part of the Baphuon, you can see here we have already started to climb. You can also see part of the pool near the pavillion.

Part of the next tier of the mountain like Baphuon. There is a tall set of steps on the side here that leads up to the higher levels of the temple, Ken and I decided to head up to the upper tiers while Mikah, Mel and Lori walked around the outside with Simon.

The view from the highest terrace at the Baphuon, showing the terrace we walked down, the pavillion and the gopura at the entrance to the main mountain part of the temple.

The view from the north east corner of the highest accessible part of Baphuon Temple, the entrance gopura to the main part of the temple and the pool near the pavillion in the centre of the shot here.

There were stairs to the top of this central pyramid, but they were closed on the day we visited, it wasn't clear from the signs if they were ever actually open to the public. At this point, we have climbed about 34 metres, and this central pyramid was originally fitted with a large tower taking the total height to 50 metres. Some scholars beleive the statue was constructed of wood and gilded with bronze, which would explain why it has long sice perished.

Passage way along the eastern edge of the uppermost tier of the Baphuon temple mountain.

Baphuon temple, like so many of the temples in the Angkor Archaelogical Park, and indeed througout Cambodia, is an eye opening testament to the skill of those who constructed it. As with many of these temples, all along the way there are bas reliefs to admire and classic Hindu and Buddist temple architecture.

Once described as the worlds biggest 3D jigsaw puzzle, the Baphuon had been partially deconstructed, with around 300,000 blocks carefully removed and labelled before the civil war and the rise of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970's forced that project to be put on hold. Sometime in the years that followed, the plans showing where those blocks had been removed from were lost or destroyed, and it was not until 1996 that another restoration project began to attempt to rebuild the temple. There are still some of these numbered stones laying in the jungle around the Baphuon, athough the restoration is now considered to be complete, so these may be from another temple, or just were not able to be correctly sited at the Baphuon.

If you have the opportunity to visit the Baphuon, I highly recommed the climb to the top of this mountain temple, although it will certainly put your knees to the test.

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Bayon Temple, Cambodia

Bayon Temple is another in the Angkor Archaeological Park, and entry is included with your Angkor pass. We visited here on our second day of the three day pass we purchased in Siem Reap. Built somewhere between the late 12th and early 13th century, Bayon Temple sits in the middle of the Angkor Thom complex and over the last 30 years, restoration efforts here have been assisted by the Japanese government.

Bayon temple is also known as 'the temple with the faces'. Around 200 faces remain here, with the towers having four faces on each tower, some estimates claim that there were around 200 towers here at one point.

Lori has spent almost her entire working life in the mining industry, so when she saw this, mostly female, crew working to excavate more of Bayon Temples secrets, she was naturally very intrigued and rushed over to find out more.

Our Angkor guide, Kea Simon, explaining some of the details in the bas-relief on the outer galleries of Bayon Temple.

Part of the bas-relief from the outer galleries of Bayon Temple, showing the Khmer army marching into battle with the Cham.

There are a number of points along the outer galleries where you can pause to admire the innner part of Bayon Temple.

Here we can see more of the inner part of Bayon Temple, we could keep on coming back here and still not see all that it has to offer.

I love the shots down these dark passageways in these Cambodian temples, and so does the Canon EOS R3. I was a bit apprehensive taking this camera with us, but I think I would have really regretted leaving it at home.

Mel and Ken pausing for a photo as we explore the inner sanctuary of Bayon Temple.

Another view of some of the faces that adorn the towers of Bayon Temple.

Buddhas and faces are everywhere you look here, faces above, Buddha statues with you as you walk. This is, as is common in the Angkor Archaeological Park, an amazingly beautiful temple and one that commands a repeat visit or three.

A bonus shot, Lori (with a little assist from Mikah) getting in on the action at Bayon Temple.

Much like the other temples here in the Siem Reap area and in wider Cambodia, you will not see all Bayon Temple has to offer in one visit, we are hoping to return to Cambodia at some stage and the Bayon will definitely be on the list of places we wish to revisit.

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Tonle Om Gate / South Entrance to Angkor Thom

Tonle Om Gate is the southern entrance to the Angkor Thom temple complex. This is the most well known and busiest of the five gates to Angkor Thom. We visited Tonle Om Gate the morning after we had been to Angkor Wat, our first temple visit of the trip. Angkor Thom and its five gates are part of the Angkor Archaeological Park, meaning you'll need your Angkor pass to visit here. We purchased a three day flexi pass for the park, giving us the choice of which three days we would use to explore the area.

As you can see here, this gate is very popular, not only is it the primary way to access Angkor Thom from Siem Reap, it is also the gate which has had the most attention when it comes to restoration and preservation, making it a popular photo stop for tourists and locals alike.

Our Angkor guide, Kea Simon, explaining some of the history of Tonle Om Gate to Mel and Ken. Simon was our guide through all the Angkor temples and was an invaluable asset to us during our stay in Siem Reap.

The 100m causeway across the moat at Tonle Om is flanked by balustrades featuring Devas and Asuras holding the body of a giant Naga serpent.

On the left side of the causeway, the Devas are depicted with happy faces and represent the good in the world. Here we have Mikah and Lori with the Devas of Tonle Om Gate.

The Devas are in constant battle with the Asuras on the right hand side, who are malevolent beings representing all the bad in the world and depicted with grumpy faces and bulging eyes.

The preservation and restoration of these ancient works is a continual project and you can see here the contrast between original and replacement parts of these statues.

Lori doing her best Asura impression at Tonle Om Gate, Angkor Thom.

Tonle Om Gate, Angkor Thom, as seen from the causeway across the moat.

Here you can see the tri-headed elephant, Airvata, below the faces that tower over Tonle Om Gate. The four faces are believed by some to represent Brahma, the creator, although this is not known for certain.

Here is another angle showing Airvata, the tri-headed elephant, which also features in other nearby monuments, such as the Terrace of the Elephants.

Inside Tonle Om Gate are these small chambers, which could have functioned as guard stations at one point.

Once you have passed through Tonle Om Gate, make sure you turn around and appreciate that these gates are works of art on all four sides.

Tonle Om Gate is an amazing place to visit, no matter the time of year, although visiting at the tail end of the wet season, like we did, ensures beautiful green scenery all around. Make sure you take the time to get out and walk through this gate, as it really is awe inspiring. For me, this gate, and the whole Angkor Archaeological Park, is a very highly recommended part of any visit to Siem Reap, and Cambodia in general.

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