I have to say, we were disappointed in the tour guide we had on our first day. He wasn’t very inspired, nor was he particularly informative. He imparted little information, historical or architectural, about the temples we visited beyond their original Khmer names, which were so polysyllabic and unreproducible as to have flown in one ear and right out the other. It seemed that this guide saw his main task to direct us to what he thought were the best locations for Instagramming. Not my thing, and I was hungry for information.
Hoping
for a better experience the second day, we took our rental scooter to the
meeting point, where we joined our small group on a tourist bus. 
Some of those on the bus had been with us the day before, which was both good news and bad news. One couple (to the immediate left above), two quick-witted, sarcastic, very engaged guys from London, we were happy to see again. We'd recommended Miss Wong for cocktails and they'd recommended buying weed in Bangkok--legally, of course.
Another couple (all the way up in front on the left), a rather embittered and entitled middle-aged man from the Midwest and his (probably) mail-order, middle-aged, equally dissatisfied and even more entitled Thai bride, we were not so happy to see again. Tipping the day’s scales to the good, however, was our new guide for Day 2, a man well-informed and eager to answer whatever questions we and our fellow travelers threw at him.
We visited seven temples on Day 2, but before I get into that, a primer on Cambodian temple architecture might help to understand the photos below. Wiki Angkor has a very detailed article on the subject, concentrating on Angkor Wat as its exemplar, but this summary from (believe it or not) a real estate property guide might be more digestible:
[T]he vision and architectural style of the Khmer
Empire were at an all time high during the Angkor period. This was primarily in
the late 8th century … to 15th century CE….
While a number of buildings were constructed during the Angkor period, non-religious buildings used wood as [the] primary material while religious structures used stone.
This means most non-religious buildings have deteriorated over time while only religious buildings have stood the test of
time. Moreover, construction for these buildings were done over a number
of years so architectural styles have changed and been adapted to these
buildings.
Despite the differences in architectural styles over the years, most of the elements, foundation, and more of the ancient Khmer architecture remains the same.
Temples built in the Khmer Empire
generally include a staircase since it represents the stairs leading to where
the gods are, which is why it’s generally called the stairway to heaven.
Moreover, all Khmer style stairs are always steep with an angle between 45 to
70 degrees.
All religious buildings constructed in the Khmer Empire have been built
with a number of structures necessary for their faith. Whether the temple is
large or small, these structures are almost always included. Some of these structures
are the following:
Library. One of the most important structures added in
temples are libraries although it’s not indicated in historical or religious
texts on why they are necessary. However, it’s been debated that they are also
used as a shrine and not just a place where books and religious texts are kept.
Moreover, these libraries are always placed beside the entrance to the temple’s
enclosure in pairs. {The library below is one of a pair at Angkor Wat.]
Prang. A prang, which is a tall spire, generally represents the zenith of Mount Meru where the deities lived.
Bakan. A bakan or central sanctuary is an
important structure in a religious temple since it’s dedicated to that temple’s
primary deity. Generally, in the central sanctuary, a statue of the primary
deity is constructed. However, if the temple’s deity is Shiva, the representative
icon there is a linga. [A linga is an abstract representation of the Hindu god Shiva, usually a short cylindrical
pillar-like symbol, made of stone, metal, gem, wood, clay or precious stones—in
other words, a phallic symbol].
Gopura. The entrance [gate] to the temple is often called gopura and it often has the shape of a cross with a wide base since it closely follows the wall of the enclosure.
This plan by Baldiri shows both the enclosure and the gopura of Angkor Wat.
Cambodian temples are typically constructed from the following materials, as described in the summary:
Laterite. [This is a
soft, reddish rock composed mainly of iron and aluminum oxides. Due to
weathering in hot and wet climates, it gradually gains strength and becomes a
hard mass or crust that can be quarried as stone.] Since
laterite can help strengthen the foundation of a temple, it’s often used as a
base for large religious structures as well as for other hidden areas within
it.
Brick. The
material most often used for all religious structures is brick, specifically
for smaller temples.
Sandstone.
Different materials like sandstone are necessary to delicately craft specific
elements within a temple. However, eventually once the process of obtaining
sandstone became easier, some temples … were built purely from sandstone.
Our guide pointed out that in many instances, the sandstone blocks, some weighing as much as 1.5 Tons each, were laid without mortar, meaning they were precisely cut. A word on construction logistics from Wiki Angkor:
The sandstone was quarried
and transported from Mount Kulen, a quarry approximately 40 km
(25 mi) northeast.
The route has been
suggested to span 35 km (22 mi) along a canal towards Tonlé Sap lake, another 35 km (22 mi)
crossing the lake, and finally 15 km (9 mi) against the current along
Siem Reap River, making a total journey of
90 km (55 mi).
Based on experiments, the labour force
to quarry, transport, carve and install so much sandstone probably ran into the
thousands, including many highly skilled artisans.
Armed with this basic overview of Cambodian temple architecture, here is a look at the seven temples we visited on Day 2.
Pre Rup, dedicated in 961, a Hindu temple in the temple mountain style made of brick, laterite, and sandstone. The temple's name means "turn the body," which has led some historians to conclude it was built as a royal crematorium.
.JPG)
Neak Pean, built in the mid-12th c., is a Buddhist circular mebon which sits in the middle of an artificial island in the Preah Khan Baray reservoir. Originally designed as a hospital, it was thought bathing in each of the pools here, representing earth, wind, fire, and water, would cure disease.
Preah Khan (Khmer: ប្រាសាទព្រះខ័ន; "Royal Sword") is a temple
at Angkor, Cambodia, built in the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII to honor his father. …The temple is flat in
design, with a basic plan of successive rectangular galleries
around a Buddhist sanctuary complicated by Hindu satellite temples and numerous later
additions. Like the nearby Ta Prohm, Preah Khan has
been left largely unrestored, with numerous trees and other vegetation growing
among the ruins.
The temple's foundation stela has provided considerable information about the history and administration of the site: the main image, of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in the form of the king's father, was dedicated in 1191 (the king's mother had earlier been commemorated in the same way at Ta Prohm). 430 other deities also had shrines on the site, each of which received an allotment of food, clothing, perfume and even mosquito nets; the wealth and treasure of this ruin includes gold, silver, gems, 112,300 pearls and a cow with gilded horns. The institution combined the roles of city, temple and Buddhist university: there were 97,840 attendants and servants, including 1000 dancers and 1000 teachers.
After an eight-hour day of sightseeing in 35 C.
heat with 95% humidity, we were ready for a dip in the pool,
Keep it real!
Marilyn
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