Author: jmaurizi

East Gate

This gate is hardly ever visited, especially by tour groups. The road to the East Gate is part of the original road of Angkor and is actually not a through road as all the other gates are. This road ends just past the East Gate. The East Gate is in a bit of disrepair. However, efforts are being made to restore. From the photos you may be able to see cables keeping the faces above the gate intact. On each side of the gate are three Elephant trunk looking as if they are supports for the gate but of course they are not.

One item that separates this gate from the others is the ability to climb onto the outer wall of Angkor Thom and have a close up look at the faces of the gate. There is also a trail along the top that I hope I can explore on my next visit.

This is a great place to see an Angkor Entrance without the hoards of people standing in the road blocking views and pictures. Definitely worth a visit.

Author: jmaurizi

Mangalartha

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Mangalartha is a small single temple set about 300 meters into the jungle from the Victory Gate road. This temple is seldom visited by tourist. This temple is rather significant due to a well preserved inscription at a door jam that provided researchers with good details about the time and origin of the temple.The temple is named after Jaya-Mangalartha who was an influential priest in the 13th century. He was the founder of this temple.

There are some excellent carving scattered around the grounds of Mangalartha. This is an excellent place to visit in the heat of the day and when the other popular sites become inundated with tourist.

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To find Mangalartha drive toward Victory Gate from the Elephant Terrace area. In about 500 meters you will see what looks like a bus stand or type of shelter. Just past this is an unmarked dirt road. Park at the entrance and walk down the dirt road which leads directly to Mangalartha.

Author: jmaurizi

Royal Palace Wall

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Situated between Baphuon and Phimeanakas temples is a large wall that encompasses the Royal Palace area. There is a trail that runs along side the wall. It is worthwhile to take some time to explore this trail and walk along the wall. Many parts are still in good condition and it is a great way to get away from the crowds at the temples.

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Not many people venture back here. The trail is well shaded and I definitely want to explore this some more. The trail seem to go on for a bit.

Author: jmaurizi

Angkor Thom Overview

Angkor Thom is the next stop after Angkor Wat when entering the Angkor Archaeological Park from the south. It is distinguished by four main entry gates, one on each side (north, south east and west) of the Angkor Thom complex. The South Gate tends to be considered the main entrance because that is where the majority of visitors first enter. By 9:00am this south gate can have a lot of people.

The main attraction within Angkor Thom is Bayon Temple. Said to have 200 faces of a smiling Buddha. I haven’t counted them but there are a lot. Most situated on towers with a face looking in each direction. There are outer and inner galleries with carved bas-reliefs that are fairly well preserved and interesting. I went back a second time in the late afternoon to study these in a little more detail and escape the crowds.

As mentioned above, Bayon Temple is the main attraction and is the largest temple within Angkor Thom and the first you will come to when entering through the south gate. In order of ascending north, the next sites are Baphuon and Phimeanakas with the Terrace of the Elephants directly in front of these two.

North of this is Terrace of the Leper King and Preah Palilay. Across the road is the Prasats Sour Prat which is divided by a road that leads to the fifth gate, the Victory Gate. Continuing north on the west side of the main road is a tented area with many food vendors. Behind that is Preah Pithu Group.

This whole area has a lot of visitors. Most focus on Bayon Temple. I recommend getting there early, maybe 7am to get you photo with no people standing in front of everything.

My most recent trip was May 2015. During this trip I focused on less traveled to ruins as well as seeking out places for sunset and sunrise. As it turns out, the hidden benefit to this was that I avoided the crowds of people while still seeing the main attractions of Angkor Thom.

One morning I went to Bayon for the sunrise. I would do this again but only if there were clear skies. It gave me the opportunity to see the faces of Bayon with a slight glow. I was also able to explore the bas reliefs of the outer galleries with no one around to get in the way. This is the way to do it.

For the added ruins I went to in Angkor Thom, they were great. The first was Mangalartha, a small ruin down an unmarked dirt road as you exit via the Victory Gate. I also visited the East Gate of Angkor Thom. This is seldom visited because there is no through road at the gate, the road is rough and it is a state of being restored.

Author: jmaurizi

Sunrise from the east side

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA So with the waves of people flocking on the west side of Angkor Wat to see if the sun will light up the clouds or break through for a nice orange ball, I decided to try something different. From my experience, I knew the clouds were not going to break and it would not be much of a show this morning.

I walked to the east side of Angkor which was an excellent decision. Believe it or not I was the only person on the other side. To me, this is a great opportunity. When the sun rises it would light up the face of Angkor Wat instead of a shadow on the face from the west side.

It was very special. Something that cannot be told by the photos is the sound of nature. Crickets and frogs sounding off was deafening and very pleasant. This was as much a highlight at the scenery.