although we toyed with the notion of getting on-site in time to watch the sunrise, your FrontLine Media team are anything but "morning people." It would be a full day of spectacular exploration none the less.

Prasat Kravan - "cardamon sanctuary" - 10th century (921) - Hindu

The first Hindu temple we explored, Prasat Kravan consists of five brick towers on a raised platform. Dedicated to Vishnu and 'consort' Laxmi, most of the action are the brick sculptures on the interior walls. The central tower was the most intact and representative of how all five would have looked.

There was some action to be found outside as well. Pants seem to be optional until an age older than we are accustomed.

The levitating lions were put back together with some interior metal support

Sculpted out of the structural brick, Vishnu is represented inside the central tower here with his four attribute - a disc, a ball, a conch and a club.

Srah Srang - the 'royal bath' - late 12th century - Buddhist

Srah Srang appears to be a large lake, but it's rectilinear shape belies it's natural appearance. It is actually an artificial construction, with laterite steps along the entire perimeter. It was, in fact, the royal pleasure pool for the king. The structure visible in the foreground was the landing terrace for boats, with stairs leading down into the water.

More Naga balustrades, Garudas, and lion sentinels. Here Garuda is typically astride the Naga, its serpentine heads arrayed below and around him.

mostly unrestored

Banteay Kdei - the 'citadel of cells' - late 12th century - Buddhist

1 - The main gopura entrance through the outermost enclosure wall includes a good example of one of the towers featuring the four cardinally oriented faces. Their expressions are all beautifully rendered - out of millennia aged stone, they still look soft, organic, and immensely expressive.

2 - Lions, Nagas, Garudas, Oh My! The causeway leading towards the central sanctuary.

3 - Side view of the main entrance through the outer enclosure wall into the central sanctuary and Hall of Apsaras.

4 - Many of the walls and vaulted halls were buckling with a near liquid appearance. Here is where I talked adam into doing his first "run-through," which consisted of him running like hell all through the temple... entirely naked. No, actually it was to get video sequences ala Evil Dead.

5 - one of those quickie shoring up jobs, this shot doesn't do justice to the wicked lean this hall was sporting.

6 - There is just too much to look at...we could easily the entire day, entire three days, and entire week just studying this one temple. The problem is that this is true for almost all of them. Although the pictures may create the impression that they are very similar, each has something entirely distinctive that makes them all unique. The layout, materials, methods, detail, imagery/themes, state of collapse/restoration/overgrowth, colors, locations, even the "mood." Even the numerous "Mt. Meru" Hindu temples (you'll know them when you see them) are all worthwhile. Even if you suffer from pathological ennui, I could not imagine ever being bored here.

7 -

8 - From out the back of the west side, looking across the moat towards the jumble of connected towers comprising the central sanctuary.

9 - This is the same only closer - couldn't decide which one to drop.

10 - A collapsed section that contained the cells of the monks

11 - Southwest corner of the Hall of Apsaras

12 - Some detail of the same...the hindu's got to the Buddha images here as well

Preah Rup - 'turn, or change, the body' - 10th century (961) - Hindu (Dedicated to Shiva)

13 - Built entirely of brick and laterite, Preah Rup is distinguished by its ruddy hue. The first temple we visited modeled after mythological "Mt. Meru." Sort of like "Mt. Olympus" it is the home of the Hindu gods. Perfectly square and located at the center of the universe, it is the axis around which the continents and seas are arrayed. (See the Neak Pean comments from Day One ) A popular temple model, it typically manifests as an artificial hill of three tiers topped by five towers in quincunx with smaller temples and structures arrayed below and either a surrounding moat or lake to represent the cosmic seas. All this really meant to us was a lot of huffing up deadly undersized stairs with no shade enclosure to break from the punitive near-equatorial sun. The Khmer believe Preah Rup to have been a funerary temple, as its name recalls the ritual of cremation wherein the silhouette of the deceased, outlined with its ashes, is successively represented according to different orientations. Mathematics, geometry, and linear orientations seem to be relevant considerations in Hinduism as is true of most of the ancient religions.

14 - From the south-southwest

15 - Looking upwards from the eastern entry, they almost look like stairs. They are more like block walls with each layer offset 5-7 cm (2-3 inches). An architectural necessity to maintain the overtly dramatic rise.

16 - These halls may have had wood roofs, there wasn't visible debris evidence of collapsed stone.

17 - This funny man wanted adamn to take his picture...I thought he looked Burmese.

He was Taiwanese the photo was just a pretense to talk adam up.

18 - Many of the towers feature false doors on all sides except the "proper" eastern side. Reminds me of the isometric two-dimensional worlds in computer games where doors only seem to exist facing one direction. (u. vii)

19 - actually just another view of #[?]

East Mebon - 10th century (952) - Hindu (Dedicated to Shiva)

20 - The two Mebons, West and East are located in the Western and Eastern Barays, which look like enormous natural lakes. They are in fact artificially created reservoirs that served (and still serve) to irrigate the surrounding agricultural land. The East Mebon once stood on a small island in the middle of the Eastern Baray and was only accessible by boat. Now the baray is a plain of rice paddies, so the original majesty of the island temple is left to only to imagine. The temple itself is similar to Preah Rup in that it is a three tiered multi-towered representation of Mt. Meru. It was constructed of all four durable building materials used throughout Angkor - laterite, brick, sandstone, and stucco. Yes, stucco has been around forever.

21 - First tier, west side, February 2002

22 - First tier, west side, January 2001

23 - the holes in the brick visible to the left were for holding the stucco in place

24 - Adam as one of the people from the village

25 - towers in quincunx atop the summit of the East Mebon

Intermission. We stopped for noodle at a nearby thatched hut. Go eat some Top Ramen and then return in time to join us at...

Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom - 'great city' - 12th-13th centuries - Buddhist

The capital city was indeed 'great' in its day. Grander then any city in Europe at the time it supported one million people, a terrific sum for the 12th century world. Within the royal palace of the king, the Bayon, the Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King, the Baphuon, Phimeanakas, and many many others. All of the residences, even those of the king along with all other buildings were constructed of wood and degraded long ago. Only temples, monasteries, and other religious structures were permitted to be made of stone. The King may have been the King, but it was obvious where the real power lay. Laid out on a large square grid approximately three kilometres by three kilometres (~2 miles). An eight meter high laterite wall encircles it, running 12 kilometers. (~8 miles) There are five great causeway entrances, one at each cardinal location with the fifth "Gate of Victory" a processional path for parades leading towards the two terraces where the king would be seated. At the center, the Bayon is perhaps the most memorable and photographed of temples.

26 - The South Gate - looking over the causeway into Angkor Thom. Similar to the causeway at Preah Kahn (Day One), the massive gods and demons again vie for control of the universe as decided by their colossal tug-of-war game they play with a giant naga serpent.

27 - This causeway is even grander then that of Preah Kahn, and spans the wide moat which encircles the entire city. Unfortunately we were not the first to find them impressive. While growth and collapse can be restored, the legacy of theft is irreparable.

28 - The gates themselves are impressive works. 23 meters (75 feet) high, large heads dominate the upper portion of the tower. At the bottom left and right, the three-headed elephant mounts of Indra pluck lotus flowers with their trunks from what I imagine would have been the moat.

29 - The terrace of the elephants is comprised mostly of difficult to distinguish reliefs of elephants hunting tigers

30 - Large Garudas adorn the south end of the terrace of the leper king

31 - The long stone causeway that floats atop two rows of short columns has been recently restored and is very kool

32 - These khmer were diving in the pools of the Baphuon, disappearing completely before coming back up with little snails. A lesson from the french perhaps.

33 - The main temple of the Baphuon is undergoing serious restoration.

34 - The Phimeanakas was an extremely steep and tall temple, probably owing to the relatively small base it sat on. The King's palace had been right next to it, and this was his personal temple. I had a long chat up top with a small khmer boy who told me that the Thai's were no good, especially the policemen in bangkok. I left my sunglasses and when i came back up the little bastard had disappeared.

35 - Adam negotiates the wall-steps

36 - One of the two royal baths just north of the Phimeanakas seen in the background

37 - A detail shot of the poolside from #36 above. The motif surrounding the entire pool is one of nagas and naga princesses in their human form.

38 - Angkor is a living area, not a dead monument park. Behind many of the temples footpaths lead off into the jungle where people's thatched homes are. There are a couple of active buddhist wats where monks live. People pray at all the shrines and some are very much in active use.

39 - if he hadn't been so little, randy might have smacked'em

The Bayon - 10th century (961) - Hindu (Dedicated to Shiva)

40 - Our book says the capital "...is a microcosm of the universe divided into four parts by the main axes. The temple of the Bayon stands as the symbolic link between heaven and earth. The wall enclosing the city of Angkor Thom represents the stone wall around the universe and the mountain ranges around Meru. The surrounding moat suggests the cosmic ocean."

41 - The large outer wall is covered from top to bottom with intricately carved, beautifully detailed, and well preserved bas-reliefs of historical battles, processions, mythology, and scenes from village life. The same wall also serves as part of a structure containing another gallery of reliefs on the interior. From afar, the Bayon appears an impressive if architecturally confusing jumble of Angkorian spires, shrines, and halls. The features for which it is renowned are less apparent until you move within. The layout is very disorienting. Part exposed pyramid ala "Mt. Meru," it also contains many interior spaces; large halls and shrines. Unlike the majority of temples, there is no direct route to the heart. The paths are circuitous, and non-intuitive. To go up, sometimes you must first go down, or head further in to find your way out. I still cannot really claim to have my brain wrapped around it's geometry, and attempting to label what pictures were taken where would be a futile joke.

42 - their was either some active survey work being done, or some on the job training.

43 - we debated the purpose of these tents, but it is hard to imagine another purpose apart from shelter, regardless of how uncomfortable they looked. I think the few Khmer educated and lucky enough to get a gig like this really aren't too picky about their sleeping accommodations. That or a field installation by notorious plastic-popmeister Christo.

44 - The ancient Khmers after opening a big can of whup-ass on the Chams of south vietnam (an indianized hindu civilization) The soldier on the left..."seems satisfied."

Thousands of square meters of this stuff.

Oh no! j00 rox0red us!

45 - We soon found ourselves in the inner sanctum...Randy's flashlight illuminates wisps of his incense smoke offering while an old woman monk chants benedictions. (well...they sounded like benedictions...)

A moment later we stepped back out onto the top level into the light and the marvels.

Contributing to the challenge of maintaining orientation are the sights upon entering the temple proper. Once you become aware of the faces, there is a tendency not to notice or consider much else. After gaining access to the non-linear third level, the Bayon experience consists largely of random wanderings amongst the hundreds of stone visages peering from every surface.

There are at least five visible here - they are hard to discern in photographic flatland.

The faces are believed to be that of King Jayavarman VII, the one responsible for building most of the 12th century buddhist temple complexes.

A year prior, while gazing at a face just like this one I looked down and my eyes met a local Khmer guide who looked to be about 30. He was smiling at me with the same inward serenity, and in that moment looked like he could have been descended from Jayavarman himself.

This one is one of the big money-shots, but only earlier in the day when the lighting is better

uncanny

46 - The dominating beehive central tower is covered with dozens of the faces, it's circumference adorned at more frequent intervals then only the cardinal points.

what can be said?

Phnom Bakeng - 9th century - Hindu

As the sun's descent gathered momentum, we rode back out the south gate and after a few hundred meters stopped on our right at the base of the hill upon which sits Phnom Bakeng. One of the oldest temples we visited, it is the only one we saw that was cut from the natural rock of a hill, though the Khmer artisans then faced it with sandstone to allow for further ornamentation. A long climb up a steep rocky trail opened up from the jungle onto a wide plateau. Though we had attained some altitude, another steeper climb up treacherous "stairs" was necessary to attain the summit/temple still looming above us. This mountain had been the center of an even larger pre-Angkor Thom capital city - can you guess what it is a symbolic replica of? We knew you could...

47 - Looking up...see the three rows of stone on the bottom left corner? Those are the stairs and the lack of depth is not an illusion...

48 - hindu lingam high above the jungle canopy

49 - detail from the central sanctuary, one of the few structures still intact. according to the book..."the number of towers suggests a cosmic symbolism. The seven levels (ground, five tiers, upper terrace) of the monument represent the seven heavens of Indra in Hindu mythology...originally 108 towers were evenly spaced around the tiers with yet another one the central sanctuary, at the apex of them all."

50 - hmmm...at the extreme right is what looks like a large natural lake, but is in fact the Western Baray. There are two pixels or so of the West Mebon island temple visible at the edge. We found suitable seats on the stones and watched the show until the mosquitoes were swarming for our blood.

51 - From the south-east corner of the temple, there is a fairy-tale view of the big-mondo, the titular character itself, Angkor Wat. It's massive. But that's a story for another day...