Another delinquent Angkor post……
We visited the Baphuon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាពួន) temple June 4th. It was our first stop of the day.
I loved this temple.
When reading about it I learned that the temple I got to see has had
significant restoration. There are some
signs posted explaining some of the restorations that have been done.
This temple was constructed in the mid 11th
century (circa 1050s) Originally dedicated to the god Shiva, it was converted
in the mid 15th century to be a Buddhist temple. That is when the reclining buddha was built. Confession, when I first noticed the
roundness of that wall I thought it was because it was falling apart. Granted, I was walking around the corner and
couldn’t see the front of the wall yet.
I still felt a bit silly when I took in the full figure from the front.
At the top of the temple there was a small area set up for
offerings, so I left my riel, lit an incense stick and said a small prayer. It was very peaceful and, again, humbling.
I did some exploring on my own as Stephanie did not want to
scale the steps to the upper levels.
When I came back down I ventured off the beaten path, through a crumbled
doorway and took the selfie posted. I
mean, I bought a selfie stick, I had to use it a couple of times!
On my way back to the tuk-tuk I saw a monkey,
and then another, and then I realized they were all around me. They did not care about me one bit which made
it all the better. No begging, no fear,
just completely uncaring about the human cutting through their late morning
shade.
A Travelling Accountant 