16 December 2017. Trip to Wat Phou

Wat Phou is the key destination for visitors to Champasak. It is a Khmer temple that predates Ankor Wat and on the way to it one goes through the 'old city' that is in truth probably of more interest to archeologists than tourists.

It was a pretty cycle ride on a wildly hot day, and the bridge reconstruction meant no detour for my bicycle.





The Wat Phu  complex is laid out on an almost perfectly accurate East-West line. First one walks past  two large lakes

and then enters the area that inexorably leads onwards and upwards to the temple.

First are large buildings on the left and right with intricate carvings.




Then, one carries on up steps that get increasingly steep until reaching the temple itself.





It is quite a special sight.

Again, the carvings were the feature that struck me most.




The Temple and indeed the complex are now Buddhist, with a huge festival each year.


Beyond the temple is the source of water that was piped into the temple and is nowadays collected by people forits presumed life-enhancing properties.



I also visited the museum on site which contained many incredible objects - many of the pre-ankoran (roughly 8th 9th centuries) period.

All told, I was there about five hours and cycled back past the fig tree Buddha.

 It was by now a howling wind unfortunately mean the cancellation of the outdoor theatre that I'd planned to go to in the evening.

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