Bayon

Princess Cheryl's thought of the day:- A weight-gaining weekend!!

Our second destination of the day after leaving Ta Prohm was Bayon.



I only realized that the color of all our Bayon photoshoot was quite different from those photos taken by my friends. Majority of the photos that I saw were having more brownish color but surprisingly ours are very much like shooting stone statues.



Now I know why... because we're freaking crazy to visit Bayon at 12pm! Photoshooting always gives the best effect during noon time (natural light) when the sun is high up in the sky.



I was left behind by our team after taking this shot... Well at least not only me alone, Noel was the photographer for this shot.



They were already up the steps.



I'm lazy to do a long intro about Bayon, so let the photos tour you around this ancient temple in the Angkor Kingdom. It was built in late 12th to late 13th centuries, and was the State Temple of Jayavarman VII. An extremely complex structure.




Dancing apsaras.





Trying to pose like the apsaras.



We entered through the E.




Climbing the narrow stairways to the second level.




A glimpse of the enigmatic faces.



There are 200 over faces in this maze-like temple.



It is said that the smiling faces were the combination of Jayavarman VII and Buddha.







I thought I captured a lot of professional shots for Noel on that day itself.



What about myself?!



Not up to what I expected... *sigh*



Some other tourists asked him to snap photos for them.



After a while I really felt like walking in a maze.. Everywhere is full of the smiling faces. Faces on all 4 sides of each cardinal points.






WHERE AM I at the middle of Bayon??




Faces everywhere. Including mine.



Simon said this is the angle where you can see 3 smiling faces on 3 different towers.



I say this is how you can see 4 faces... (><")



And finally after half an hour we met our team!!



The others were still walking around the 'maze'.



I insisted to snap this photo, climbing and sitting on one of the nagas before going down to the first level. Luckily I didn't broke the 800-year-old structure...else UNESCO will be sueing me for destroying world heritage property.



The only way up second level is through the narrow stairways. Guess whose leg was that.



There I was, walking in the 'maze' of Bayon for 1 whole hour baking myself under the hot sun.



Saying bye bye to the Guarding lion of Bayon. There'll be chances for us to meet again in future. =) We're gonna head for lunch on Tonle Sap lake.



Then we headed out from Angkor Thom through the South Gate. South Gate is the only entrance/exit which is still well-maintained.



Can you see there are 2 rows of sculptures each on the left and on the right of the entrace? On the left are the statues of gods, while the right are demons.



Of course I'm on the left, by looking at me you know I'm not devilish. =D



Simon our professional photographer of the event. He gave me a surprise on the final day, not only me but also another few of us.



This!!



At Ta Prohm. Without me knowing it.