Pretty okay ride, not much traffic. Passed a mosque<\/em> on the way down there, if you would believe it. Dunno why it\u2019s stuck out in the boondocks here? Perhaps the rents are more affordable.<\/p>\n Arriving to Phnom Krom before 8:00 in the morning, it was already broiling hot (well\u2026okay, maybe only baking<\/em> hot; didn\u2019t get to broiling \u2018til later), and there were a lot of steps to climb up.<\/p>\n But I achieved the top of the stairway, and, la-di-da, all set to continue on up the path to the top; and all of the suddenly: ticket-checker man! Dammit! Lucky thing those damned Khmers never put up a temple at the bottom of the ocean, or the ticket-checkers\u2019d be sited there<\/em> as well.<\/p>\n Thus ended my tour of Phnom Krom. Oh, well; the view from here was pretty nice.<\/p>\n Riding back into town, I stopped at a modern temple just the other side of the river. Who\u2019d have guessed that a temple set in a small little village area would turn out to be possibly the Great Poobah of them all? But, wow, this one\u2019s got some of everything.<\/p>\n Buncha great sculptures out front,\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026including several chicken-boys\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026Naga with loops-the-loop in their bodies\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026a three-headed golden elephant\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026and griffins and white elephant heading off to battle (I guess).<\/p>\n Who\u2019d dare ask for more? Well, ask or no, the fun had only just begun. The murals of the secondary temple (really ought to do a little bit of study to learn the proper terminology of these places) are just so knock-your-socks-off terrifico! The craftsmanship isn\u2019t quite<\/em> up to the level of the Bakong temple \u2013 but it\u2019s close; and there are so many<\/em> of them, touching such a wide variety of topics.<\/p>\n What a sight!<\/p>\n I really like that so many of them prominently feature different animals from the same we\u2019re used to seeing. Here, for example, a beautiful goat.<\/p>\n In many of the scenarios, as well, birds on the wing have been placed into the background; a welcomed touch.<\/p>\n Some pretty good laughs in here too. I mean, probably there\u2019s something I\u2019m missing in these, not knowing the Buddhist iconography nor the stories being depicted. But, taken out of context, a skeleton sitting in at worship ceremony\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026and a levitating monk flashing the devil-horns symbol (and right in the Big Guy\u2019s presence, no less!)\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026is some knee-slapping goodness!<\/p>\n Moving on to the (gorgeous) office building\u2026<\/p>\n \u2026a somewhat freaky mountain composed of melted-off candle-wax.<\/p>\n Okay, now<\/em>, on to the main temple. The outdoor three-D murals, some of \u2018em, have this kind of washed\/faded effect. Pretty together.<\/p>\n But check how high the ceiling is. Dang.<\/p>\n Inside, the murals are somehow not quite as thrilling as those in the secondary temple\u2026oh, hang on\u2026okay, just had a look at a site<\/a>; and I do believe that what I\u2019ve been calling the \u201csecondary temple\u201d lo these months is in point of fact the Ordination Hall. So, anyways, they not quite<\/em> as great, but they\u2019re still pretty great.<\/p>\n A fair amount of space is given over to monk portraiture. Famous monks in Cambodian history, p\u2019rhaps?<\/p>\n Interestingly, one of these is a faceless monk. \u201cEverymonk\u201d, maybe; the monk inside us all. (Well factually, I must confess: a life of asceticism on the grounds of some of these beautiful spaces has its allure. At the end of the day, though, I don\u2019t think I could handle the religion bullshit.)<\/p>\n The height of the ceiling makes for some rather tall murals; not to mention, well, it\u2019s just kinda cool craning one\u2019s neck to see all the way up there.<\/p>\n![\"mosque\"](\"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/mosque.jpg\" "\\"mosque\\"")
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