More Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom means "a Great City", and it includes Bayon, the crumbling ruin with the enigmatic faces (previous post). After spending a few hours at Bayon, we moved on to the surrounding areas of Angkor Thom. First was Phimeanakas, which once housed the royal palace. All that is left today are two pools which were used for royal ablutions, but now look like charming ponds set amidst ruins.












Angkor Thom was so large that we frequently found ourselves alone, admiring the temples at our leisure.





Eh, but not always alone.. We spotted many giant insects - giant ants, giant millipedes.. Here's one, with S' 'model', pretty foot as a comparison.






Then there were the Terrace of the Leaper King, and Terrace of Elephants, of which the latter was used by the king (Jaya-something VII, sorry!) to view his military might.





But all I could think about was all the mozzies that stagnant water was breeding!





I wanted to visit Preah Palilay, also found in Angkor Thom, as it was 'one of the most atmospheric temples' according to Lonely Planet. Though the tall looming trees had since been chopped-trimmed, it wasn't so bad, primarily because it was deathly quiet there, making us both feel like we were Lara Croft or Indiana Jones, stumbling across an undiscovered temple!




That was enough for us that morning, so we headed back to the cool, lemongrass-scented relief of the hotel.. more to come in the afternoon!