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The Bayon or Bayon Temple is the centre piece of Angkor Thom. Looking at the construct of the city itself, many believe that the Bayon represents Mount Meru of Hindu and Buddhist mythology and the surrounding walls and moat of Angkor Thom represents the surrounding mountains and oceans. To me, it was one heck of a monument and a kick ass place to play hide and seek (no disrespect to the religious).

Of the 50 or so towers originally, there are some 30 odd towers still standing, each adorned with the carving of four faces looking at the four winds. The faces are said to be that of the king who built the temple. One theory has it that it is a combination of the king’s features and that of Buddha. Regardless of whose features are depicted by the stone carvings, you can’t escape its serene smiling look once you’re within the temple walls. Everywhere you go and anywhere you turn, one of the faces will be looking down at you from above. A disconcerting feeling if you’re the paranoid sort.

As we approached Bayon, there was a little shrine out in front for people to worship at. Once again, Hyperhex got conned of his money for taking a photo of the nun(?) who was watching over the shrine. He made a little donation. While I love the place and the people, it was irritating that everything involved money and more specifically, people trying to pester or con you out of it.

Anyway, the outer walls along Bayon features some nifty carvings telling a tale of the war between the Khmer and Cham, and the ultimate victory of the king over the country’s enemies. Take note that you’re not to touch the reliefs upon pain of death. The earth will shake, open up and swallow you whole. Just kidding. The reason is simply because touching the reliefs would corrode away its surface. Some pieces of the wall have already disintegrate over time and you can see off colour patches where they have been replaced with fabricated bits. Its amazing that the carvings have survived the elements for as long as it did.

Most of the arched roofs have already collapsed. Inside, there were piles upon piles of blocks yet to be restored to their rightful place. As with most temples, the corridors were small and a little claustrophobic. Visitors are allowed to climb up to the roof of the temple and get up close and personal with the head carvings on the towers. We did just that and spent nearly an hour playing hide and seek around the main tower.

There’s this one particular window through which you can get a picture of you doing whatever you like to the face of the statue on the other side. Me, I gave it a noserub >.<

A photoshoot is never complete without the signature ‘jump’ photo. So while Dev and Hyperhex demonstrated their leaping skills, the rest of us lazed around, taking in the sun and catching our breaths. As we waited, I caught a photo of this cute kid up at the peak of Bayon. Don’t get any ideas.

Trivia
Sad but true. We don’t like to talk about it but child sex trade is very real. Paedophiles, perverts, and child sex tours exist (as illustrated by this NBC dateline article). It is hard to believe that a large percentage of the sex trade in Cambodia consists of children between the age of 5 and 12. A harsh reality indeed. Why do I include this bit of trivia here of all places? Because I would like to play my part in its prevention.