Level 3

Level three was a short walk from the 2nd level, and included the main temple complex. Here's what I understand after our 3 days of Khmer temple touring.

1. Main temples are cruciform (shaped like a cross, and no, not because the Khmer worshipped Jesus). Why are there so many cruciform shaped things in Khmer architecture? I have no idea.

2. Lintels, pediments, columns. All important, and all should include carvings from the Ramayana or other hindu/buddhist scenes.

3. Shiva likes riding with his consort Uma on his bull, Nalinda. Or, at least, the Khmer artisans liked carving that scene.

4. Ancient ruins are very cool. Even more so when you get to explore them with few, if any, other tourists around.

5. People have a strange desire to build things that will a) glorify their god(s) and b) outlive them.

So, to level three. It sits on a cliff jutting out over the Cambodian countryside 600 meters below.



Katherine enjoying the view of the Cambodian countryside. Beautiful, isn't it?


The main temple on the right, with some lesser buildings on the left.

There was a nun sitting in the sanctuary of the temple guarding a shrine of some sort, and a small girl waiting to sell offerings to tourists to give to the nun (or at least place at the shrine), a very symbiotic relationship.

Dr. Katherine Nervig, Archaeologist/Anthropologist for the British Museum, posits that the Khmer must have been a people small in stature, or a people with a very high tolerance for forehead pain.