September 28, 2024
My fellow residents are celebrating final days in Belfast!
I am having a little case of FOMO since I found out the residents in Belfast already, are doing a bicycle beer cruises Sunday afternoon. They are making up signs to say " the boat people are finally leaving" and "bye, bye Belfast" and will pedal throughout the city with a photo stop at City Hall! Over 40 of them are committed so far. I also saw them partying Thursday, the start of Octoberfest with the locals. Love this Irish tradition with the song "don't rock the boat baby" !
I rallied for our last temple of the morning, because I heard this one was unique and I think it was my favorite. Ta Prohm was built starting in 1186 by King Jayavarman VII as a Buddhist monastery and university dedicated to the king's mother. It was left mostly un-restored so that huge banyan and silk cotton trees grow directly over and through the walls. In 2001, the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie was filmed here.
Angkor , a UNESCO World Heritage Centre , is one of the most important archaelogical sites in SE Asia . It extends over 400 square km (250 miles). It contains hundreds of distinct structural remains and major temple sites (with around 72 recognized major structures). Below are a few other temple sites we saw. The first two were from a distance, on our sunset hike, the first night.
Angkor Wat is the largest temple and the Capital of Angkor World Heritage . We hired a separate English speaking guide and tuktuk driver for the morning to escort us though this massive complex. We entered Angkor temple thru the west entry, the same one King Suryavarman would have entered via elephant, back in 1150, when it was built as a Hindu temple, dedicated to Vishnu . It took roughly 38 years to build, starting in 1113 and was done with lots of elephants, thousands of men and a bamboo pulley system, maneuvering the giant blocks of lava stone for the base and sandstone, for the structure, all quarried from the surrounding area.