Banteay Srei and Ta Prohm

The boys were a bit worn out after the first two temples in the morning, so we had lunch and relaxed a bit.

After that we took the boys back to the hotel for a rest and Ian and I headed back out to see two more temples, Banteay Srei and Ta Prohm.

Banteay Srei

Banteay Srei Temple is a beautiful 10th century Khmer temple complex dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor, it lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, 23 miles North of Angkor Wat. Banteay Srei is built mainly of deep red sandstone, a material that lends itself to the elaborate wall carvings which are still well-preserved today. Banteay Srei means Citadel of Women and it is believed that the reliefs on this temple are so delicate that they could only have been carved by the hand of a woman. The relief carvings on the central buildings depict scenes from ancient Hindu myth.

In fact, the buildings are miniature in scale compare to the standards of Angkorian construction. The remarkable craving skills and the red sandstone medium have made the temple very popular with tourists, and is widely praised as the jewel of Khmer art.

Ian is taller than the entry way

(from the website: sacred-destinations.com) Unlike most of the temples of Angkor, Ta Prohm has been largely left to the clutches of the living jungle. 

With its dynamic interaction between nature and man-made art, this atmospheric temple is a favorite for many - who can't help but feel a little like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft (which was filmed here) as they pick through the rubble.  A rare inscription at Ta Prohm provides statistics on the temple's workers. Allowing for some exaggeration to honor the king, the inscription's report of around 80,000 workers, including 2700 officials and 615 dancers, is still astounding. Great trees tower above Ta Prohm, their leaves filtering the sunlight, providing welcome shade and casting a greenish light over the otherworldly site. Delicately carved reliefs on the walls sprout lichen, moss and creeping plants.  Some as wide as an oak tree, the vines at Ta Prohm cleave massive stones in two and spill over the top of temple ramparts. The effect is striking, especially at the strangulating root formation on the inside of the easternmost gopura (entrance pavilion). Another popular site is the "Tomb Raider tree" in the central sanctuary, where Angelina Jolie picked a jasmine flower and was sucked beneath the earth.  Ta Prohm is extensively ruined, but you can still explore numerous towers, close courtyards and narrow corridors, discovering hidden gems of stone reliefs beneath the encroaching foliage. Many of the corridors are impassible, thanks to the jumbled piles of carved stone blocks that clog their interiors. There are 39 towers at Ta Prohm, which are connected by numerous galleries. Visitors are no longer permitted to climb onto the crumbling galleries, due to the potential damage to both temple and visitor.

Buddhist monks visiting Ta Prohm