The giant smiling faces of Angkor - Revisited

This is a new version of an earlier post, with the image reworked in photoshop. Bayon is one of my favourite temple in the region of Angkor. To be fully appreciated, it needs to be visited early in the morning for two main reasons: the place turns into a zoo when the large operators bring their hord of tourists by bus loads (from 9AM onwards)... and the light just after sunrise is just amazing creating moving shadows between the smiling giants.

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Bayon Temple

Black & white variation...

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Phnom Bakheng Temple

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Prasat Bram - Koh Ker

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Ta Som

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Ta Prohm

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Detail - Beng Mealea Temple

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Prasat Bram - Koh Ker

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Ta Prohm

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Ta Prohm

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Ta Prohm

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Ta Som

Strangler fig tree is a common name for a number of tropical and sub tropical plant species. These plants begin their life growing on another tree or object, when their seeds, often bird dispersed, germinate in crevices atop other trees. These seedlings grow their roots downwards and envelop the host while also growing upward to reach into the sunlight zone above the canopy.

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Kapok Tree

Two main species of trees are seen growing within the Angkor ruins: the kapok tree and the strangler fig tree.

Also called Java Kapok, Silk Cotton and Ceiba, the kapok tree grows to 60 - 70m tall. It has a very substantial trunk of up to 3m in diameter with buttresses. Its branches are sometimes covered by large robust thorns.

While Cambodian find the tree mostly useless as it is too soft for construction, the fibre obtained from its seed pods is light, buoyant and resistant to water. It was used to be employed as an alternative filler in mattresses, stuffed toys as well as for insulation and in life jackets.

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Prasat Kravan

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Prasat Bram - Koh Ker

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Pre Rup - The Guardian

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Ta Prohm - Missing roof over a tower

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Koh Ker, detail

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Ta Prom

I was just watching a replay of Lara Croft - Tomb Raiders and recognised this particular area as Angelina Jolie was following a little girl through the temple to find a side entrance to the secret chambers...

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Ta Som, Eastern Gopura

To follow is a black & white series depicting how trees took over the temples after they had been disused, forgotten and recovered by a dense tropical forest.