Right across the road from Thommanon is a small temple known as Chau Say Thevoda. Similar in construction and floor plan to Thommanon, Chau Say Thevoda appears to be a neglected sister of her well preserved sibling to the north but fact of a matter is, Thommanon was built much earlier than Chau Say Thevoda.
Photo: Chau Say Thevoda Temple is in Desolate State Compared to Thommanon
When Thommanon and Chau Say Thevoda were initially discovered, it was believed that they were built to be a pair. Their location on each side of the road just outside of the Victory Gate made it seem as though they were planned to line the Victory Way, but neither is true. Victory Gate as well as much of Angkor Thom were built much later.
Photo: Guess What This Cambodian Woman at Chau Say Thevoda Wanted - That's Right... Money!
Compared to Thommanon, Chau Say Thevoda is in desolate state but restoration works are in progress so the temple is slowly regaining its original shape. As is the case with most other temples, Chau Say Thevoda faces east with east gopura (entrance gate) being the biggest and most elaborate. Even though Chau Say Thevoda is basically identical to Thommanon, it’s slightly smaller and has gopuras on each of the walls (Thommanon only has east and west gopuras, south and north walls have holes as though gateways were intended, but were never finalized). Unlike Thommanon, Chau Say Thevoda has two (not one) libraries – one in the south-east and one in the north-east corner.
Photo: Chau Say Thevoda - Notice Collapsed Lotus Tower Which Originally Resembled Angkor Wat Towers
The most obvious difference between Thommanon and Chau Say Thevoda is the “stone bridge” – a causeway on pillars which may have once served as the means of access to the temple from the Siem Reap River. This causeway stretches on for quite a bit and if it weren’t for money hungry Cambodians who were flocking around to harass the crap out of me until I have eventually given in and gave them all my money, I would have probably climbed on it to see how far it leads.
Photo: Stone Bridge on Stilts Dominates the Chau Say Thevoda Temple
Mentally and physically exhausted, I have made Chau Say Thevoda my last temple on the small circuit and rode back through Angkor Thom to buy one more coconut from my new friends at Angkor Wat. Every thread on every bit of garment I was wearing was sogged in sweat. My skin was on fire from exposure to an insanely intense Cambodian sun and I simply had no more strength left to resist the relentless touts and other scam artists who prey on exhausted tourists as they become easy targets. I wanted to finish the small circuit in one day, but this was much tougher a task than it seemed. I was physically fit and in good shape to cover the distance on a bicycle but the sun of Cambodia is a force that’s not to be taken lightly. Riding though Angkor is easy – roads are flat with virtually no hills to scale, but the heat is more than devastating.
Thommanon is a small, but nicely preserved temple from early 12th century. Built during the reign of king Suryavarman II (founder of Angkor Wat), Thommanon is just outside of Victory Gate on the north side of the Victory causeway but it stood there long before both Victory Gate and the causeway through it were built.
Photo: Thommanon Temple of Angkor, Cambodia
Thommanon is a rather small, but very elegant temple covered with admirable, fine carvings. Much of the outer enclosure is gone, but the temple was clearly built to face the east, even though as I was coming from the south it seemed as if the main entrance was facing this way. Lacking outer wall also gave an impression that individual parts of the temple were standalone, isolated buildings. They are not.
Photo: Library of Thommanon on the Left and East Gopura on Far Right
Central sanctuary of Thommanon has a lotus shaped tower similar to that of Angkor Wat (built by the same king – Suryavarman II). Short corridor connects the central tower with mandapa, an antechamber. West and east gopuras (entrance gates) are still standing, but north and south do not exist. It is possible that even though they were intended, they were never built. The gap in the base of the wall suggests that the empty space was left to put the gopura there, but the plan was probably never carried out. The moat that once surrounded Thommanon is now dry and virtually non existent.
Photo: Thommanon Tower Resembles Angkor Wat Central Sactuary
Thommanon has a rather high base with main floor being 2.5 meters above ground. Main entrance is obviously on the east, however each cardinal point has a staircase with porch and fake entrance of its own. Even though risky, it is possible to get inside through any of those fake entrance but expect lazy locals who don’t go to work and just kill time sitting around on the stairs and porches staring at you and making fun if you attempt to get in through anywhere but the main entrance.
Photo: Fine Apsara Carvings on Thommanon Central Sanctuary - Notice Outer Apsaras with Different Skirts Than Inner Ones
Even though by the time I got to visit Angkor Wat I had already been in Cambodia for over a week, it was at Thommanon where I made a rookie mistake of thinking that there is such a thing as friendly local in Cambodia who is simply nice to you because they want you to have nice memory of their country. Unfortunately, such people don’t exist in Cambodia or are an extremely rare breed trampled and pushed aside by thousands of greedy scam artists.
Photo: Carving of God Vishnu Garudavahana Standing on Garuda Seen on Inner Door Lintel of the Thommamnon Madapa
Frustrated real good by having been harassed by extremely aggressive touts whole day, I kept ignoring every local who came to talk to me. I knew that they all want money and nothing but money. They are too lazy to go to work and abusing tourists doesn’t require manual work so why would they even bother working? Yet in spite of all that, when a local guy approached me and told me about a nice carving on the opposite side I may have missed, I still ignored, but listened with one ear opened.
He retained this very friendly tone of voice and talked to me as if he would like to be friends. I continued suspecting something fishy so I followed my own path and ignored him for the most part but he stuck by me telling me more about the Thommanon temple and asking questions about where I was from and when I came to Cambodia so eventually it seemed as though he was a nice guy who was just excited to meet a foreigner to get a chance to exercise some of his English.
Photo: Eastern Gopura (Entrance Gate) of the Thommanon Temple
What a foolish thing of me to think it was the case. Even though I vastly ignored everything he told me about the temple and only responded politely to questions, as I was leaving the temple he insisted that I pay him for his guiding services. I told him I didn’t have any money on me so if he said up front that this is what he wanted, I could have saved him from hassle but he used sneaky tactics to stick with me and since I didn’t tell him off right away, to him it meant I needed to pay him money.
Needless to say, confrontation was imminent as Cambodians are extremely pugnacious but luckily I had my bicycle with me so I mounted it and quickly rode off. Another temple called Chau Say Thevoda is just on the opposite side of the road from Thommanon and it looked as though this was the reign of a completely different set of touts so he didn’t follow. Apparently, even Cambodians have rules. It’s shocking, but rules among themselves dictate which zone you don’t stick your nose into because that’s where other touts operate and they don’t stick their nose into your zone.
I was physically and mentally exhausted. The heat from the non compromising sun was taking its tall. I needed another coconut and I really needed a break from the touts who knew very well how exhausting the sun was and how easy it could be used against weary tourists. I went through the stalls by Thommanon when tout who demanding money got off sight to find one that will not try to overcharge me for a coconut and took 30 minutes break from the sun sipping on this refreshing beverage.
I was only meters away from Chau Say Thevoda and it looked like just a small ruin, but I couldn’t do it anymore. I have severely underestimated the aggressive nature of Cambodian touts and devastating heat of Cambodian sun. I wanted to finish the small circuit, but I had no physical nor mental energy left. Physical energy was sucked out by the merciless sun, mental by the merciless scam artists and touts that followed me along on every step not giving me a minute of peace.
Aside from West, North, East and South Gate allowing access to Angkor Thom, the royal city had one more gate built on its eastern wall – Victory Gate. The Victory Gate is in line with the Royal Palace area and was clearly erected to allow for direct access to the Royal Square.
Photo: Victory Gate of Angkor Thom - View from the West in the Afternoon (good lighting)
Similar to the South Gate, Victory Gate is crowned with the face tower and flanked by Airavata – the three headed elephants plucking lotus flowers with their trunks. Due to extensive theft of Angkorian artefacts by local people of Cambodia, many figures lining the causeway across the moat leading towards the Victory Gate were stolen or damaged during theft attempts. Most lack heads with only parts of their bodies holding naga balustrade as if in a tug-of-war remain.
Photo: Victory Gate of Angkor Thom with Vandalized Balustrade on Either Side
Wat Tang Tok is a small monastery within Angkor Thom, not far from Victory Gate, just north of Vihear Prampil Loveng. During an Angkorian era, Wat Tang Tok housed a laterite shrine with sandstone carvings, but nowadays only a pile of rocks remains of the original structure. Modern pagoda with live-in monks was built next to the ruin and even though it contains naga serpents and lion guardians, it looks way to modern to be of much interest.
Photo: Modern Wat Tang Tok Monastery
Resident monks as well as all other people of Cambodia refer to the monastery as Wat Tang Tok however Apsara Authority which is paid to overlook Angkor Archaeological Park has allegedly decided to rename it into Preah Ang Sang Tuk. The reason for this move as well as whether it sticks are unknown.
Photo: Nagas and Lions Decorating the Entrance to Wat Tang Tok
Behind the pool flanking the South Khleang is a long laterite terrace called Vihear Prampil Loveng. The 128 meters (420 feet) long Vihear Prampil Loveng is surrounded by a rectangular wall with entrance gateway in the north wall – can be accessed from Victory Way, the causeway connecting Victory Gate with the Royal Palace area.
Photo: Vihear Prampil Loveng, Angkor Thom
Most visitors to Angkor Thom never make it to Vihear Prampil Loveng because it’s so insignificant and uninteresting however I thought that the fact that it houses the chief divinity of the original Bayon temple was rather fascinating.
3.5 meters tall statue of Buddha sitting on a serpent that coiled three times to serve as a throne and whose multi-head spreads into a hood to shelter the Enlightened One like a canopy was originally placed in the central sanctuary of the Bayon temple but when king Jayavarman VIII took over from Jayavarman VII, he went on a big mission to demolish all Buddhist relics and instil new religion which resulted in destruction of the Buddha statue installed in Bayon.
Photo: Original Buddha Image from Bayon Now Calls Vihear Prampil Loveng Its Home. Notice the Sleeping Nun
Strangely enough, all of the pieces of shattered statue were recovered in 1933 when archaeologists discovered it in the well of the central Bayon which allowed them to fully restore this historically important relic. It was removed from Bayon and placed in Vihear Prampil Loveng where it still sits today.
Photo: Vihear Prampil Loveng Stone Lion Guardians
According to the Khmer legend, serpent Naga king Mucilinda emerged out of the roots of the tree under which Buddha was meditating to shelter him from the storm. This scene has become one of the most imitated artforms in which Buddha was depicted. Even though the original statue depicting the very motif was removed from Bayon, many smaller statues of the same can still be found at several spots throughout the big temple.
Vihear Prampil Loveng entrance stairs are decorated with Angkorian era lions and elephants but the overall ancient feel gets lost with the rather unfitting pavilion housing the statue. When I made my way all the way to the pavilion to take a picture of said Buddha, I disturbed a Cambodian nun who was sleeping at the foot of the statue. Upon noticing, she instantly rose and charged towards me to try to collect donations which as it goes with Angkor, are solely used for personal enrichment of a person who collected it. This prompted me to shoot off.
However since Vihear Prampil Loveng covers quite an area, I got out of her sight quickly and was able to spend a little more time taking pictures of what fascinates me about Angkor the most – trees growing over ancient stones.
Photo: Roots of a Massive Silk Tree Wrapping Around Ancient Angkor StonesPhoto: Huge Tree Growing on Top of Stone Wall at Vihear Prampil Loveng
The Khleangs are two larger structures facing the Angkor Thom Royal Palace area from behind the Prasat Suor Prat Towers. One on each side of Victory Way, scholars doubt The Khleangs would have been made to function as store houses as their current Khmer name would suggest.
Photo: South Khleang with the Prasat Suor Prat Tower on the Right
The North Khleang was built at the end of the 10th, beginning of 11th century, proceeding the South Khleang by a few hundred years signifying that the original purpose was not to build symmetrical buildings. The inscriptions on the North Khleang repeatedly mention king Jayaviravarman suggesting that it was built during his reign.
The South Khleang was probably built during the reign of king Suryavarman I and it was likely meant to improve the symmetry of the Royal Palace area. The South Khleang is narrower than his northern brother, less architectonically striking and was left unfinished.
Two pools were built to flank The Khleangs on inner sides but during my visit only south pool had water in it. It is my understanding that The Khleangs were built in their own distinguished style, but despite this potentially intriguing architectonic uniqueness I didn’t find them anything special and moved on to Vihear Prampil Loveng which is just as unattractive as The Khleangs but houses the statue of Buddha that was originally inside the central sanctuary of Bayon, but later destroyed by king Jayavarman VIII.
Twelve stone towers on the east side of the road, opposite the Royal Palace area are called Prasat Suor Prat. Five of the Suor Prat Towers are on the left and five on the right side of the Victory Way (road connecting the Royal Palace with the Victory Gate) and face the Royal Palace, while additional two are placed further back and face each other. They are each square in plan and identical to one another. Atypically, aside from main entrance doors with a porch, there are also windows on each of the remaining three walls.
Photo: Prasat Suor Prat Towers
Prasat Suor Prat Towers were likely built in early 13th century during the reign of king Indravarman II. Their exact purpose is unknown and left for speculation. Their current name, when translated from Khmer language means “Towers of the Rope Dancers” suggesting that the towers may have been used by tightrope walkers as entertainment spectacle for the royals who’d be viewing it from the Terrace of the Elephants.
However according to the account made by the Chinese emissary to Cambodia Zhou Daguan, the Prasat Suor Prat Towers were used as the celestial judgment halls used to solve disputes. If two persons were in a dispute, they would be put in one of the towers each and forced to stay there while their family watches. After a few days one of the persons would have caught bad illness (mostly a fever or ulcer) signifying that this is the person who’s in the wrong, whereas the person in the right would come out perfectly well.
Aside from potentially interesting legends surrounding the Prasat Suor Prat Towers there is little of interest there. I barely spent a few minutes with these towers – just took a couple of pictures and moved on.
I got to the Terrace of the Leper King by following the north wall of the Royal Palace area as I was running away from gnarly Cambodian males preying on foreigners who wander off the beaten track. The Terrace of the Leper King got its name from the genitals lacking statue of Yama – the God of Death, resembling king Jayavarman VII known to have suffered from leprosy (according to the legend, leprosy was the reason why this king built so many hospitals. Khmer people believe that he was not the only king suffering from this disease). Because some layers of the statue got eaten away by lichen, it created an illusion of a person affected by leprosy. The original statue which dates back to the 14th – 15th centuries is no longer on the terrace. It was removed to secure its preservation and is currently located at the National Museum in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. This was a good idea as the cement replica has already been decapitated.
Photo: Terrace of the Leper King Wall with Seven Rows of Extensive Bas Reliefs
Terrace of the Leper King contains extensive carvings on its walls depicting various divine and underworld characters. It is believed that the Terrace of the Leper King was used for cremations or other funerary purpose and was probably built by Jayavarman VIII who succeeded Jayavarman VII, the builder of Angkor Thom.
The walls of the Terrace of the Leper King are 6 meters (19 feet) high and have the carvings on them arranged in seven rows. The mythological scenes include five, seven and nine headed naga serpents accompanied by marine creatures (including mermaids) and several rows of gods often bearing rather ferocious looks on their faces.
Photo: Terrace of the Leper King Outer Wall
Terrace of the Leper King is a standalone structure in a seemingly desolate state that’s easy to ignore so a visitor can move on to something more interesting, but there is more to the terrace than meets the eye – it’s the hidden wall. South west corner of the terrace contains narrow entrance to the trench that takes you through a zig-zag path containing its own bas reliefs. This secret passage is the collest thing about the Terrace of the Leper King and should not be missed by any visitor.
The area of the Angkor Thom Royal Palace used to house the royal palace built by Suryavarman I in the 11th century. It was remodelled several times, most notably by king Jayavarman VII, builder of the entire Angkor Thom compound. It is believed that the royal palace area was in use as the royal palace area all the way until the end of the 16th century.
Photo: Angkor Thom Royal Palace Area Northern Wall Gopura
The area of the Angkor Thom Royal Palace was once surrounded by a 5 meters high wall. Only a few fragments of the wall remain today. Five gopuras (entrance gates) allowed for access to the royal palace. Main one was on the east, connected to the Terrace of the Elephants, while north and south wall had two gopuras each. After exploring the royal palace area, I exited through the gate on the northern wall, just west of Sras Srei pool.
After exiting the area I was first exposed to the sight I was looking forward to the most – ancient stone and jungle becoming one to a point that one could not be without another. This was the first thing I learned about Angkor Archaeological Park when I initially found out about it many years ago – ancient temples were abandoned, jungle grew over and across creating some of the most mind-boggling spectacles I have ever seen. I really couldn’t wait to explore Ta Prohm temple which has the most of these giant silk trees growing on top of ancient stones, but Angkor Thom Royal Palace area already contained the same, only on a much smaller scale.
Photo: Monstrous Tree Growing On Top of Stone Fence
Unfortunately, this was a rather remote spot which required getting off the well paved trail so when I exited through the gopura, I found myself in an area full of locals who looked pretty excited to see a foreigner there. I’m an explorer so my wandering feet took me to a place where no tourists ever go, but it came at a price. Cambodians enjoyed making remarks about me clearly realizing I couldn’t understand and had a good laugh at it. This was not an isolated incident though, as every foreigner visiting Cambodia gets that on virtually every step. Large groups of locals doing what they are the best at – nothing, spend their entire days sitting around, killing time by entertaining themselves by making remarks about every foreigner that comes into view. They don’t try to hide the fact that they are talking about you and the more uncomfortable they make you feel, the more entertained they get.
Photo: Gate Through the Wall Surrounding the Royal Palace Area og Angkor Thom Where a Group of Gnarly Cambodians Hung Out
By venturing off the beaten track, I turned myself into a lamb that ran straight into wolves’ den. Seeing gnarly locals a large group of which I walked up to regrouping and pointing fingers at me while clearly talking about me and planning something out reminded me of the fact that Cambodia is one of the world’s most violent countries with remote areas of Angkor counting as particularly popular spots for violent crimes including armed robberies and rape, I quickly realized I needed to get out of there as soon as possible. I can’t even fathom what would have happened if I were a female foreigner, but I clearly understood how terrifying it must have been for scores of girls who got raped at Angkor. And while rapes at Angkor (and everywhere else in Cambodia, but particularly at Angkor because that’s where the most foreign girls venture on their own not expecting a violent crime) continue to occur with alarming frequency, violent crimes committed on foreigners at Angkor are not limited to sexual abuse of the girls.
I was able to assess the situation quickly and acted accordingly to maximize my chances of getting out of there unharmed. It was a very close call, but I believe my larger than average size as well as my acting as though I had something large behind my belt allowed me to have the potential attackers rethink their strategy which gave me enough time to get back to an area with many foreigners around.
Photo: Huge Tree Growing Atop of Ancient Wall - The last Picture I Took Before Darting Off to Save my Arse
Getting off the beaten track in Cambodia is a risky business. Locals take great joy at making foreigners feel uncomfortable with remarks clearly directed at them. This happens everywhere, including public areas where they are unable to take further actions. But once a foreigner finds themselves far enough from any safe heaven, verbal remarks start turning into attempts to take action. Value of human life is about $50 in Cambodia. The police force is a joke and if someone gets murdered, their corpse will rot somewhere in the jungle until the wildlife has carried all of the remains away. With millions of the military grade weapons from the Khmer Rouge regime floating around uncontrolled and unregulated, and with Khmer Rouge killing recruits currently in their 40’s and 50’s, there are more than enough reasons for one to be extremely careful wherever they go. True Cambodian crime statistics are purposefully skewed by the government known for being the most corrupt government in the world so don’t ever rely on that. There is a very good reason as to why Cambodia is considered one of the most violent and most dangerous countries in the world. Don’t believe anyone who tells you that they’ve been here for a long time and have had no problem, because restricting where they go and staying locked up most of the day to stay safe is not the lifestyle I would enjoy.
Sras Srei is a rectangular water pool within the Angkor Thom royal palace area, to the north of the Phimeanakas temple. The pond is 125 meters long and 45 meters wide. It is believed that either on the south or on the west side of Sras Srei there was a terrace which may have been used by the king and his company from where to watch water sports. Since the area around Sras Srei is overgrown with jungle, it offers much needed shade and possible breeze to cool off after exposure to the sun during climb to the summit of Phimeanakas.
Photo: Sras Srei Pool in the Angkor Thom Royal Palace Area
There is one smaller pond to the east of Sras Srei which is believed to have been the part of the original royal palace which may have stood there during the reign of Jayavarman V, Udayadityavarman I and Suryavarman I. Sras Srei was likely built by king Jayavarman VIII, the destroyer of Buddhist artefacts installed by the great builder of Angkor Thom, king Jayavarman VII. The inscriptions suggests that the two pools existed so men can have one for themselves and women one for them. Based on typical sexism of Khmer people which is still as prevalent today as it was 800 years ago, the pool for men was built to be much bigger than the pool for women. Little has changed since the Angkorian era and the men of Cambodia still treat all women (including women from abroad) as someone of a lesser worth. That’s also why Cambodia is the rape capital of the world.
Photo: Once Busy Royal Pool Sras Srei Is Now Overgrown with Jungle
The royal bath pools of Sras Srei are no longer used by the royalties to bathe in, but the waters of the basins offer much needed opportunities for local kids and monks to cool and wash in.
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