Approach to Ankor Wat.  

Approach to Ancor Wat. 

Ankor Wat entrance across its moat. 

Scripted column in Ankor Wat. 

Outer gallery at Ankor Wat. 

Lawn crew hard at work. 

Some of the landscaping crew taking a rest. 

Ankor Wat is used today as a buddhist temple, so it is not unusual to see monks on the premisis.

Corner Tower at Ankor Wat. 

Ankor Wat is a Mountain Temple dedicated to Shiva. It was created by, in one report, Suryavarman in the 12th century (yes, 1100's), though I have seen other literature indicate Jayavarman as its ruler...perhaps it was built prior to Jayavarman taking over? Needs more research. At any rate, the temple is a Hindu temple and was built as a royal tomb, so it is one of only a few that face west. Interestingly, when the region later became predominately buddhist, no real destruction was laid to the existing temples. But later when it returned to Hindu rule, the destruction of Buddhist iconography was rampant among the temples built by Buddhists during that period.  

Inner courtyard at Ankor Wat. 

Detail of a relief wall. In this one the Khmers are battling the Chams, and interestingly, the Khmers are depicted as wearing nothing but decorative belts, while the champs have fancy protective gear. And they still lost... 

The central square within Ankor Wat has relief panels along each of its N, S, E, and W walls. I forget which wall this is but they depict such things as the rising of Suryavarman II to the throne (he built Ankor Wat), battles with the Chams, an ethnic group from Vietnam, the Thais, and everyday life. They were floor to ceiling for incredible lengths. The workmanship was amazing.

This struck me as visually interesting, like for a t-shirt pattern. It was a waterstained wall with old Khmer script, overwritten by newer, different Khmer script that was waxed over in red. Before it was realized that the practice was a bad idea, tourists and locals alike used to take paper and cover the carvings and inscriptions and make charcoal rubbings of the patterns to take home. Sometimes these would be done with crayon to fill the engravings, so the paper would have the charcoal rubbing of the exterior of the carving on one side and the transfer of the crayon in the engraving on the other. Someone woke up to this becoming a damaging practice over time and it has since stopped, for the most part. But the overlay of texts and colors blended with the passage of time on the wall were compelling to me for some reason. 

In an inner courtyard at Ankor Wat.