Angkor Thom: Elephant Gate and Bayon

The western gate into Angkor Thom

The city of Angkor Thom is the last great capital of the Khmer Empire. Set over 10 square meters, the city was built by King Jayavarman VII, considered a great king because of the all the building that he did.  

The entrance gate to the city is quit imposing and impressive.  The causeway is flanked on each side by 54 gods and 54 demons, each pulling on a snake, which represents the Churning of the Ocean of Milk.  Several of the sandstone statues are in need of repairs and a few even have new heads.  

 

The gate itself has the faces of the Buddha, facing each direction, surveying and watching over the king's people.  On either side of the opening, the three-headed elephants made the base of the gate.  Though I don't think its official name, we refer to the gate as the elephant gate, and you can, indeed, ride elephants through it.  A lady staying at our hotel did that, saying it was "quite lame."  The gate and bridge are very much in use by people driving back and forth, through Angkor Thom.  As we walked over it, we had to dodge the tuks-tuks and cars.  No elephants though.
 

The good guys

 

Bayon

 

 

 The first structure within the city gates we visited was the Bayon, a temple with over two hundred Buddha faces-- many still intact, having survived the Buddha removal of the Hindus by the fact there were just so many of them here. 

Our guide, Mr. Moon, was marvelous, as he explained with the stories carved on the walls meant or why there were so many false doors. He was with us the whole day, from 5 am when we saw the sun rise, to the end of the day, with the sun set.  We treated him to lunch at the local restaurant and he explained some life about Cambodia in general.  He could speak English, Japanese, and French, but preferred the English/American tourists (we tip, whereas the Japanese don't).  He was the youngest of a large family and his dad was now a Buddhist monk.

Bayon was Jen's favorite temple, and we were able to Eskimo kiss the Buddha.  Well, Will was interested in a bit more than just rubbing noses.  Inside each temple is always a shrine to Buddha, with either a monk or nun there to help you offer prayers with incense, a lotus flower, and gold leaf.

Most of the Buddha faces have extremely long earlobes, as it is the belief that the longer the lobe, the longer life you will have.  We wondered around this temple for a while before moving further into the Angkor Thom to see additional structures.