The Crumbling Walls of Beng Mealea - To the Ruins of Angkor Part 1 [ GX7 ]

This is one side of the outer wall of Beng Mealea, the first stop on my tour of the ruins of the lost Angkor civilization in Cambodia.




Beng Mealea, which lies about an hour drive to the NE from Siem Reap, was about the perfect place to stop on my tour of the ruins. First of all, because of how deceptively small it is, and second, because it is a good way to get your brain into the mindset of both the pilgrim and the explorer.

You are the pilgrim because just seeing these sites is very much a religious experience - religious in that it lets you touch holy sites from a lost civilization, but also in the very pure, real religious feel you get from such direct contact with the visceral forces of nature.

You are also the explorer because the only real way to get around Beng Mealea is to go under, over, and through. Thanks to a guide I was able to find my way through small holes and paths that let me see deeper inside the massive temple complex.

When you first arrive the ruins appear to only be a long broken wall, poking out of the forest, but go around the end of the wall and into a corridor and you come out on the other side, inside a massive courtyard.




Trees grow up straight out of the walls of the temple.




Unlike some other temples I'll talk about later, little work has been done to restore Beng Mealea - the idea was to preserve the site as is with work done only to stop further collapse.




This picture shows what would've been a tunnel just wide enough for two people to walk down that's now completely filled in with debris and trees growing directly out of the walls on either side.




Here's another section of wall with some kind of chamber sticking out.

And at last we come to an outer wall. This picture (below) gives a little of a feel of just how huge the place is.




If anyone has a chance to visit Siem Reap and the Angkor ruins, I highly recommend a visit to this temple, despite it being quite far from town and the major sites.





Beng Mealea was built sometime in the 12th century. Beyond that not much is known, only that it is huge and that some of the structural features in it are shared with other temples made around the same time. It features Hindu as well as Buddhist icons and carvings.




The picture (second one above) shows just how much space there can be in between inner and outer walls, and this picture above is one I took from on top of a walkway of the ruins in the main courtyard.




It is a strange feeling walking through a place like this. Voices from the far past call out and tell of their lost world. But can we even understand? At least we can be there to listen and witness.

This post will be continued with more on my trip to Cambodia. So check back tomorrow for the next post. For more info on this wonderful temple, check out the Wikipedia entry: Beng Mealea. I have only posted a few of my pictures I took here, but I will post more on Flickr over the coming days.