Category Archives: Angkor Wat

An Artist’s Palette ~ Cambodia (part 2) by Lynne Mayhew

By Ron | Published January 23, 2011

Angkor Wat (click to enlarge)

A traveler or a tourist does not go to Cambodia without visiting the ancient temples of Angkor, located near Siem Reap. This vast empire weaves throughout Indochina, but the royal roads lead to Angkor Wat, now a UN World Heritage Site. Built in the early part of the twelfth century by the ruler Suryavarman II, it is a Hindu temple or wat and is recognizable by its five towers which appear on Cambodia’s national flag. After years of civil war and trauma, the Khmer people once again look to these temples as a source of religious inspiration and pride. Angkor Wat is believed to be the largest religious structure in the world. While London had a population of 50,000 and was building cathedrals during this period, one million people lived in the Angkor kingdom during its height. ( read on….)

Also posted in Asia, Cambodia, Lynne Mayhew, Travel | Tagged Angkor Wat, Asia, Cambodia, Travel | Leave a comment

Postcard from Angkor Wat, Cambodia

By Ron | Published November 9, 2010

Cambodia is quite a contrast to Vietnam – slower paced and less frenetic. Also a much smaller and less densely populated country, with a population of 14 million vs. 87 million in Vietnam. Prior to the Khmer Rouge genocide in the mid 70,s the population was 8 million. The Pol Pot killed over 2 million. Every family was affected. Paraplegics, victims of land mines, are a common sight.

Most of the images below are of the Temples ( Hindu early on but mostly Buddhist) of Angkor Wat built between the 8 th and 14 th centuries by a variety of ruling kings, each trying to out do the other. The bigger temples required up to 40,000 elephants and hundreds of thousands of slaves.

You will also see a few pictures of present day temples, etc.