Beng Mealea is off the beaten track for temple hoppers in Cambodia. Though not as distant as Banteay Chhmar, it is far off by Cambodian standards to put off all but the most enthusiastic travellers. It is often described as the Indiana Jones temple due to the fact that it has not been restored and has been 'preserved' in the state in which it was first found. From Siem Reap, it is at least an hour drive on a bumpy and dusty road. We had to reach it from Kbal Spean and hence our route was longer and more dusty. We completed Kbal Spean at around 11am and had lunch in one of the shacks at the base of the hill there and then set out for Beng Mealea at around midday.
A large part of the road is just a dirt track and by the time we reached the gates of Beng Mealea, we were covered in red dust. On top of it, the sun was merciless, temperatures reached around 40 and the humidity was unbearable. I had great expectations from this temple and at the first sight I knew that I won't be disappointed.
The first sight of Beng Mealea. The south gates of the main temple after the naga lined causeway.
A close up of the ruins at the south gate. Look at the holes in the stones. With sticks inserted in them, they were used to transport, grind and polish the stones. Also notice that the edges of the stones are sharp and accurate. This precise cutting and the sharp edges made it possible to construct the imposing temples without using mortar.
An isolated carving showing the Samudramanthan - churning of the milk ocean.
Scenes from the battle - not between men but between stone and trees. Nature is a merciless adversary and nothing stands in its way.
As we moved into the interior of the temple, its magnitude began to unfold. In most places, the stones were wobbly and we had to take great care while walking on them.We came across a dark corridor at the ground level. We saw it from the top of one of the gates to the inner Gopuram. It was quite a scramble down to reach it.
Entrance to the corridor. The place was dark and damp. After the blindingly bright sun outside, it took us some time to get used to the darkness inside. Till our eyes got adjusted to the dark, we savoured the relatively cooler temperatures inside. Slowly the details began to emerge.We must have been the first visitors to this part of the temple in a long time, as evident from the thick cobwebs. Now, this was what I had come here. When I read this temple for the first time, my impression was that we'd have to cut through undergrowth, hacking trees to find our ways but seeing the wooden walkways, I was a bit disappointed. However, the cobwebs brought back the feeling of euphoria. I stood still, looking at the fallen stones outside trying to wonder what the scene would have been in the heydays of the temple.
I could almost feel the priests in their ritual orange robes walking down the corridor :)
At the end of the corridor, we emerged into the inner sanctum of the temple. The door at the other end was blocked by stones but the window above provided an exit. We had to scramble up a few feet to reach the geographic heart of the temple.
The heart of the temple or rather what remains of it. Once this small structure would have had the idol of deity who was worshiped here.We explored the temple for one more hour. The wooden walkways made our progress easier at places and allowed us to avoid the precariously balanced stones.
Throughout our 2 hour stay in the temple, we encountered a fewer than 20 tourists. Huge crowds of people can turn an awe-inspiring place like the Angkor Wat into a circus (something that we would find out the coming days). On the first day, we went to Banteay Srei, Kbal Spean and Beng Mealea, and in all we encountered less than 50 foreigners! The afternoon at Preah Khan and Beng Mealea, were the second most dramatic experiences of this trip (first being alone on the top level of the Bayon).
We finally emerged from the ruins, tired but thoroughly satisfied. We also took a few pictures of our 'pretty faces' for Ms Bae, who was taking care of all the paper work for us back in Korea!
Dima's obsession with Naga, made me pose with this Naga near the causeway of Beng Mealea.By the end of the trip, our tuk-tuk driver had learnt a hard lesson. Probably, never before he had encountered tourists energetic and enthusiastic to the point of being merciless on themselves and their tuk-tuk drivers. We had started sharp at 5am and even after 11 hours we were still going strong. We were sorry by the look on his face but since we were paying him enough, I didn't give a damn! After all, he was earning the money and we the experience. On top of that, he himself signed up for this long and arduous trip by tuk-tuk.
We ended our day after a visit to Bakong, at around 6pm. It was a 13 hour long day of temple hopping in unbearable heat and humidity and hardly any food! But we had covered the more distant temples off the beaten tourist trail and were ready for the 'Grand Masters' of Khmer architecture, the next day.
However, in terms of enjoyment and fulfillment of our 'mission', no other day compares to the first one. It was a total success and much more than what I had hoped for when I woke up that morning, when the stars were still bright and the weather still cool.
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