Day 59 – Saturday, 03 March 2012, Part 2 of 3- Siem Reap – Ta Promh
After a late breakfast at the local cafe and a photo snapping session of people passing by, followed by a quick pick up of the last of my charged camera batteries we headed back out in our tuk-tuk to Ta Prohm Wat. Ta Prohm is one of my big picks of things to see in the area as it has been left reasonably alone since being ‘discovered’. It still has an element of jungle authenticity about it. It has also featured in Indiana Jones and Lara Croft movies…
Construction of Ta Prohm was started in 1186 and the temple was dedicated to the mother of King Jayavarnan VII. The site is smaller than Angkor Wat and has been significantly damaged by the elements, so passages are blocked with fallen rock and trees grow on, in and around the ruins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta_Prohm
Our first introduction to the site was a mob of tourist buses, tuk tuks and touts – it was not a great start to a day of quiet browsing.
The main entry point, the west gate, was under renovation so we had to enter the site through some temporary steps in the midst of a Chinese tour group – complete with loud hailer – I was not feeling good about this I can tell you!
Once inside the outer wall I again followed the strategy I used at Anglor Wat, walk the outer ring, then the middle ring before entering the centre courtyard. The site is visually stunning !
I would liked to have been there a bit earlier or later in the day to get the sun at a different angles, but it was still only ten am when we arrived so it was not too harsh, though the brightness of the sun made a few photos unusable.
Like Angkor Wat the outer courtyards of the temple were fairly empty of tourists and I managed to get a few good photos sans the hoard.
The inner ring was just packed ! I think the tour groups just charge through the middle of the sites, out the other side and back on to their air conned bus – good for them – suits me perfectly !
49 year old legs, 5 month old Keen Sandals, 800 year old carving in a sandstone block ! Like the other sites we were allowed reasonable access to most places inside and outside the walls.
The exit
What an awesome site !!!
Where is Phil now? 
Love the 6th photo in… tree becoming stone or stone becoming tree? Beautiful.
More fantastic photos Phil, I guess I will need to guard my Ruinhunter title closely? You have explored some fascinating places. Perhaps one day I will get to see them too 🙂
LOL, you have no fear of losing the ruin hunter title to me, that was all when I was free of the burden of having a job – paying for it all now of course ! I was very lucky to have been able to go to some really good places. I think if I had to chose one place to go back to that had great ruins it would be Cambodia. There is so much to explore – and so much more being discovered even now. A magical place with a lovely people.
just fabulous shots and post!! I love the tree roots grasping the building.
Those trees growing through the ruins were quite spectacular. As you mentioned in a comment on Ed’s blog, coming from a place with such a short history – in my case New Zealand, seeing these thousand year old ruins with the remains of the jungle they were hidden in for years, is just incredible.
and mine is Canada!