Ta Prohm Temple

So many things have been said about Ta Prohm temple but this is the comment that best sums it up for me:"If Angkor Wat, the Bayon and other temples are testimony to the genius of the ancient Khmers, Ta Prohm reminds us equally of the aweome fecundity and power of the jungle" (Lonely Planet Cambodia)

Siem Reap is the northern city home to the Great Angkor Wat Temple, the most popular destination for tourists in Cambodia. People usually know about Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom which are the well known temples rather than the many smaller gorgeous temples around the area. I was particularly impressed by the temple called Ta Prohm or Tree - Strangled Temple. This temple is 800 years old and has lots of enormous beautiful trees, a great example of nature and manmade structure as one. The tree roots twisting around and on top of these temples look like the tentacles of a giant sleeping octopus. This unique appearance of the temple attracts thousands of tourists every year even though the weather isn't that pleasant throughout the year, averaging 34 degrees. Interesingly, Tom Raider, the 2001 film starring Angelina Jolie helped to spread the world about this amazing feat of architecture.

About a hundred meters walk from the beautiful entrance you can see the first temple with a large front quadrangle surrounded by several tall trees reaching to the sky. Walking through this temple complex is exciting, with trees and roots blending into the temples at every turn. It's like an enormous sculpture. The camera was working overtime!