We hope that you will be join us once again, for another day out touring around the Angkor Archaeological Park with Theoun (Chan), our tour guide.
We started our 2nd tour day at Prasat Suor Prat, a group of 12, almost identical towers, square at the base with two upper floors. The sign post of the first 6 towers indicated that these 6 towers where the South towers.
These towers are on the opposite side of the road, facing the front of the “Terrace of the Leper King” and the “Terrace of the Elephants” and are separated by a roadway, 6 towers on either side of the roadway.
There was also a terrace, with very large windows, on the West side of the South towers.
The windows were so large that Richard and I could both stand upright quite comfortable with lots of room to spare, inside the window frame. It was also interesting to see that certain windows were open and others were closed off with pillars.
According to Theoun (Chan), certain windows were purposely left open to allow light and fresh air into this huge terrace. The terrace overlooks the parade grounds.
It was very interesting to see the contrast between the stones used to build the towers and the stone used to build the terrace.
I was also fascinated with the contrast between young trees sprouting out of an old tree stump in the ground. Also in comparison to the ancient stone tower in the background. An ancient civilization sharing the same space with new life that is only starting to grow.
Behind these two towers, there appears to have been a large pool fitted with laterite steps.
It is believed that these towers were built by King Jayavarman VII in the 12th century. The name translates as “The towers of the tight-rope dancers”.
Some say these towers were used to support a high wire which stretched between them and that tight rope dancers (also known as cord dancers), would entertain the king and his guests, who would be sitting and watching from the terraces.
Another legend talks about an ogress imprisoning 12 young wives of the King in these towers.
Most temples were built to face east or west. However, these towers are symmetrically arranged in a north-south fashion. Therefore, it’s unlikely that they were used as places of worship.
Another theory is that the towers were used as reception halls for visitors. From here, the visitors would have a great view of the terraces, where they would witness parades, games and festivals.
We crossed the road to the other six towers. The sign post indicated that these 6 towers were on the North side. There was also an information board explaining the recent restoration of the towers by the Japanese which was done to prevent one of the towers from collapsing.
This was the tower in danger of collapsing. In the background you can see the distance between the towers and the famous “Terraces”.
After visiting these towers, which are clearly seen from the roadway, our tour guide wanted to take us off road, into the jungle, to show us a small hidden temple and some restoration work which is currently underway.
So we hopped back on our tuk tuk and took off to find this small hidden temple.
See you there…..