The bas relief walls in Wat and Bayon were really interesting, depicting life and death carved in stone. And, again, they are huge. Dozens of meters long. I don’t know how much of them are in original and good condition vs. refurbished, but they looked amazeballs. The depiction of the stegosaur in Ta Prohm was a real head-scratcher, though. According to our guide, nobody really knows why that was carved in a line of other, recognizable animals. Maybe someone saw a fossil? Maybe we walked with dinosaurs. Oooooooo….
We walked through the central temple inside: the Bayon, and a couple of places outside that were a bit off the beaten track, since we were on bikes and not being motored in even a tuk-tuk. Even though Ta Prohm is kind of accessible (it’s almost a K walk to/from where the parking area is), there wasn’t a lot of people, despite it being relatively famous as a result of “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.” I guess people don’t want to walk a bit. Also, tourism hasn’t yet rebounded from Covid. For me that combines to be a good thing, because I get unimpeded views and access to famous places without crowds. For the locals, it’s not a particularly good thing, since they literally survive on tourism. In places I know the locals are getting the money (not the big stores, restaurants or the parks), I’m happy to pay what they want, no haggling whatsoever. I’m staying in small, local boutique hotels, too.
The photos can’t do justice, but hey, enjoy anyway.