The previous post in this series is here..
After visiting the Tomb Raider Ta Prohm temple, we went to the Banteay Kdei temple.
When our driver mentioned we will go to “Bun Tea kadai” I thought in Tamil.. he was going to get us to a shop that sold bun and tea.. for breakfast.. the visions of fresh steaming pav and chai was floating in my head. When he stopped at the parking lot and declared we had arrived, only then it struck me. It was yet another temple and I had heard what I wanted to hear.
Our driver said it was a really large temple and we should walk from this gate all the way to the other gate. It was a long distance, no kidding! He would drive the car and pick us up from the other gate. No point in us walking all the way back. We liked the idea.
The temple kept going and going and going.. we counted at least 20 arches through which we walked past on one straight line. The lingas were gone. The buddhas beheaded. Yet again a reminder that we as a collective are idiots. When we finally saw the one active shrine with a new Buddha that people were praying to, we also said a prayer and walked out.
These temples must have been spectacular in their hey dey! How did a country with these riches become what it is today.. we can only wonder.
When we came out we asked our driver “next stop Angkor Wat?” . He said “No. We can see one more temple before we head to Angkor Wat temple”.. This is a different style.. so off we went..It was still pleasant and just before 9AM. We had been on the road since 4;30 but were holding up pretty good.. will pick up that temple in the next post..