As I got out of the tuk-tuk1）， the darkness that surrounded us didn't seem quite so eerie2）. With the amount of people around my sister and I， you would never guess it was five in the morning. All of these people， just like us， were here to see one thing， Angkor Wat.

Everyone stood facing the same direction； what hid behind the darkness was the majestic temple that we had travelled to Siem Reap， Cambodia， for. We waited for the sun to begin to rise and reveal the sandstone blocks with the outline of the immensely detailed lotus-bud towers. We stood in awe， and despite the hoards of3） people that surrounded us， all trying to get the best photo of the famed temple， nothing could take away from the beauty of Angkor Wat.

Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire， which flourished in the 9th to 15th centuries. A Khmer rebellion in 1431 caused the population of Angkor to migrate south to Longvek. Today， this archaeological park houses Angkor Wat， Cambodia's most iconic temple， as well as the remains of several other monuments and temples.

The archaeological park itself stretches approximately 400 km2 and is one of the most important archaeological sites of Southeast Asia. Visiting the grounds is definitely a must-do when travelling to Cambodia， but you'll notice that it's an ongoing disagreement between people on how much time you should allocate for your visit.

On my visit， we spent one day there， but we met people along our travels that were coming to the area from anywhere from a day to a week. This is entirely dependent on you and your interests， but I found one day to be enough to see what we wanted to see.

In our day at Angkor， we saw some five buildings， which included three of the most popular ones—Angkor Wat， Bayon， and Ta Prohm.

1861年1月，法國生物學(xué)家亨利·穆奧到柬埔寨尋找熱帶動(dòng)物，卻在原始森林中發(fā)現(xiàn)宏偉驚人的古廟遺跡，那就是被稱為“世界七大奇跡之一”的吳哥窟。至此，被熱帶雨林掩藏了400多年的吳哥建筑群終于重見天日。吳哥窟遺址群的建筑均以巨石堆砌而成，精美的浮雕無處不在，無論從外形還是空間構(gòu)造均堪稱建筑史上的奇跡。而其歷史故事、宗教背景和差點(diǎn)被森林掩埋的經(jīng)歷也為其增添了神秘濃厚的文化色彩。所以如果你去柬埔寨，一定要去吳哥窟走一遭，如此才會(huì)不枉此行。

當(dāng)我從突突車上下來時(shí)，籠罩著我們的黑暗似乎已不再那么恐怖。看看我和姐姐周圍的人數(shù)之多，你一定想不到這是凌晨五點(diǎn)鐘。所有這些人都同我們一樣，來此只為了參觀一樣?xùn)|西——吳哥窟。

大家都面朝同一個(gè)方向站著。夜幕后藏著的便是那座宏偉的廟宇，正是為它，我們來到了柬埔寨暹粒市。我們等待著太陽冉冉升起，勾勒出那座砂巖建筑所擁有的精致絕倫的蓮花寶塔輪廓。我們滿懷敬畏地站著，盡管周圍人群熙攘，大家都爭相捕捉這座名剎的最美鏡頭，但沒有什么能夠奪走吳哥窟的壯美。

吳哥曾是高棉王朝的首都，9～15世紀(jì)是高棉王朝的鼎盛時(shí)期。1431年，高棉族的一場叛亂迫使吳哥的居民南遷至洛韋。如今，這個(gè)考古遺址公園擁有吳哥窟這一柬埔寨最具標(biāo)志性的廟宇，以及其他幾處古跡和寺廟的遺跡。

這個(gè)考古遺址公園占地約400平方公里，是東南亞最重要的考古遺址之一。來此參觀絕對(duì)是柬埔寨之旅必不可少的一個(gè)行程，但你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)人們對(duì)于應(yīng)該花多少時(shí)間參觀這里總是意見不一。

在我的吳哥之旅中，我們在這里待了一天，不過途中我們遇到了許多到這里來參觀的人，他們來自世界各地，花在這里的時(shí)間從一天到一周不等。這完全取決于你個(gè)人以及你的興趣所在，不過我發(fā)現(xiàn)一天的時(shí)間足夠參觀我們想看的了。endprint

我們在吳哥游覽的那一天，共參觀了五處建筑，其中包括三個(gè)最受歡迎的景點(diǎn)——吳哥窟、巴戎寺和塔普倫寺。

◎ By Lauren Marinigh 譯 / 馮聰

1. tuk-tuk： 突突車，可以載客的小三輪

2. eerie [???ri] adj. 怪異的；可怕的

3. hoards of： 成堆的

4. premises [?prem?s?z] n. [復(fù)]土地，場所

5. mundane [m?n?de?n] adj. 平凡的；世俗的

6. bodhisattva： [梵語]菩薩

7. compassion [k?m?p??n] n. 憐憫；同情

8. the elements： [復(fù)]天氣；（尤指）風(fēng)雨

9. pinch [p?nt?] vt. 擰；捏

Discovery

探索之旅

Although after visiting Angkor Wat， the other buildings on the premises4） won't quite compare， Bayon is pretty impressive in its own way. This temple has 216 faces carved into it and holds carvings that hold combinations of mythological， historical， and mundane5） scenes and timelines.

Bayon was built in the late 12th， early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII， and the similarity of the faces on the temple compared to other statues of the king has led many to believe that the 216 faces represent Jayavarman VII himself. Others say the faces belong to the bodhisattva6） ofcompassion7）， Avalokitesvara or Lokesvara.

The world's largest religious building， a UNESCO World Heritage site， and a Wonder of the World， this is the temple that first comes to mind when people think of Cambodia or Angkor. Angkor Wat was constructed in the 12th century as a Hindu temple for the Khmer Empire and gradually transformed into a Buddhist temple. Since this is the best-preserved and largest temple in the park， it is the only one that has remained a significant religious centre.

Sunrise or sunset visits seem to be popular when visiting Angkor Wat， and expect that no matter how early or late you go， there will be a ton of people. A trick is to try to get a spot along the sides of the lake， this way it'll be a bit more peaceful since everyone wants to stand in the centre. As soon as the sun rises， get yourself into the building. Many people will stand around waiting， and taking photos outside， which means that you'll have the complex almost entirely to yourself until people begin to head in.

Bayon

巴戎寺

Angkor Wat

盡管參觀完吳哥窟后，該地的其他建筑都會(huì)相形見絀，但巴戎寺卻仍以其獨(dú)到之處令人印象深刻。這座寺廟中雕刻著216張面孔，還有各種浮雕，內(nèi)容涵蓋神話場景、歷史場景、百姓的世俗生活和歷史年表。

巴戎寺建于12世紀(jì)末13世紀(jì)初，是信仰大乘佛教的國王阇耶跋摩七世的官方國寺。寺廟中雕刻的這些面孔與國王的其他雕像十分相似，使得很多人認(rèn)為這些面孔刻畫的是阇耶跋摩七世本人。也有人說這些面容是大慈大悲觀世音菩薩的。

吳哥窟

當(dāng)人們想到柬埔寨或者吳哥時(shí)，就會(huì)想到這座廟宇，它是世界上最大的宗教建筑，被聯(lián)合國教科文組織列入世界遺產(chǎn)，同時(shí)也是世界奇跡之一。吳哥窟建于12世紀(jì)，原是高棉王朝的印度教寺廟，后漸漸轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)榉鸾趟聫R。它是吳哥遺址群中最大的、保存最完好的一座寺廟，因此也是唯一一直有重要地位的宗教中心。endprint

日出或日落時(shí)參觀吳哥窟似乎都非常受歡迎，所以你要做好心理準(zhǔn)備——無論你去得多么早或多么晚，那里都會(huì)人山人海的。竅門就是盡量沿著湖的兩側(cè)找個(gè)位置，這樣一來還能稍微多點(diǎn)安寧——因?yàn)榇蠹叶枷胝驹谥虚g。太陽一升起，就趕緊進(jìn)入建筑內(nèi)。很多人會(huì)站在那里等著，而且還會(huì)在外面拍照，這就意味著在人們開始進(jìn)入這座建筑群之前你幾乎可以完全獨(dú)享它。

Visiting the temples of Angkor will be one of your highlights from any trip to Southeast Asia. It's a site that will make you feel like you need to pinch9） yourself because it's hard to believe a place so majestic exists in the world. Whether you're in Cambodia for a day， or a year， make sure to take some time to give Angkor the visit it deserves.

游覽吳哥的廟宇將成為你任意一次東南亞之旅的精彩環(huán)節(jié)之一。在這個(gè)地方，你會(huì)想要捏一下自己，因?yàn)槟愫喼辈桓蚁嘈攀郎暇褂腥绱撕陚サ慕ㄖo論你在柬埔寨待一天或是一年，請你一定要花些時(shí)間參觀值得一游的吳哥。

You may recognize this temple from the movies Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones. Ta Prohm doesn't much resembles its friends Bayon and Angkor Wat， as the temple has been entirely left to the elements8） and is taken over by nature. This temple is in the same condition in which it was found and as you walk through it you may feel like you're in a secret garden. Trees and their roots are growing from every which angle of the rubble， and its UNESCO World Heritage status has made it one of the most visited complexes in the region.

Jayavarman VII constructed Ta Prohm （then known as Rajavihara） in honour of his family， and records show that the site was once home to more than 12，500 people， with an additional 800，000 people in the surrounding villages who worked to provide services and supplies. After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 17th century， Ta Prohm was abandoned and neglected. In the early 21st century when efforts were made to conserve and restore the temples of Angkor， it was decided to leave Ta Prohm largely as it had been found.

Ta Prohm

塔普倫寺

也許你會(huì)在電影《古墓麗影》和《奪寶奇兵》中認(rèn)出這所寺廟。與它的同伴巴戎寺和吳哥窟不同，塔普倫寺一直以來任由日曬雨淋，已經(jīng)被大自然所侵占。這座廟宇仍然保持著它被發(fā)現(xiàn)時(shí)的原貌，行走在其中，你會(huì)覺得自己仿佛置身于一個(gè)秘密花園。樹木與其根莖從瓦礫的各個(gè)方向鉆出生長。作為聯(lián)合國教科文組織收錄的世界遺產(chǎn)，塔普倫寺也成了這一地區(qū)最常被光顧的寺廟群之一。

阇耶跋摩七世為紀(jì)念其家人而修建了塔普倫寺，當(dāng)時(shí)它被稱為皇家寺院。據(jù)記載，該遺址曾經(jīng)是超過12500人的住所，其外圍的各個(gè)村莊還居住著80萬人，為寺廟提供服務(wù)和生活物資。17世紀(jì)高棉王朝衰落后，塔普倫寺便被廢棄和遺忘。21世紀(jì)初，人們開始保護(hù)和修復(fù)吳哥地區(qū)的寺廟，在那時(shí)決定讓塔普倫寺盡量保持它被發(fā)現(xiàn)時(shí)的原貌。endprint