Monday 23 January 2012

Next Stop A Spot Of Lunch,

it was hungry work all of that walking,


so to a nearby restaurant we went,

we had a selection of five different dishes,

a beer for me,


soda for Jeff, the meal included chicken satay,


and a very nice chicken curry,

served in a coconut,

then to the South gate, we spotted this strangler vine, it grows over a normal tree using it as a support, then as its name implies it strangles it,


till just the strangler vine is left,


the gate has two lines of figures either side of the approach,


the right hand side,

at the end of the entrance there are three actually three entrances,

Mr. Johnny also pointed out to us that there is a Garuda bird set in the outer wall every 20 meters from this gate,

 

the Garuda is the king of birds and is known as the eternal sworn enemy of the Nāga serpent race and for feeding exclusively on snakes it is also associated with the sun's rays,


the main gateway,


Diana takes a rest,

all around us there are huge trees, although I could not get a picture of them there are flocks of green parrots who we could hear every so often,
of course nothing lasts forever,

but this tree was cut down because it was hollow inside and could have become dangerous,

unlike this one that was blown over,

unlike the UK where large trees are common many in Asia seldom reach their prime being used to make charcoal,

 

we approach the temple,

with silent sentries on guard,

 

although the roof here is fine,

here it has collapsed,

one of the doorways is being propped up,

cracks had appeared in the top frame member,

the corridor leads to an open courtyard,

then to another building,

with corridors at 90 degrees leading off of it,

almost to infinity, Diana in the far distance,


another place of worship, water would be added at the top of the stone that would be mounted here and it would run off at the side of the base,


Diana wanted to take a picture of me, so here it is,

unfortunately this temple needs a lot of TLC,

there are piles of worked stone everywhere,

as we make our way through another corridor,

one of the side passageways has been blocked by stone,

more worked stone lies around,

 

although the main passageways are cleared the smaller ones are used a depository for fallen stones,

 

we came across a shrine in the middle of the temple,

much of the top of this temple has collapsed,


but the base is still there,

as we made our through to the rear of the building,

more side passages were blocked off with stones waiting to be catalogued and hopefully replaced,

wood used to shore up a doorway,

as we went passed this point,

the ceiling in this room had collapsed,

but this one is intact,

and leads to a room with another shrine,


the next room also has its roof,

then to the outside,

the top of the outer door,

we took a short walk around the outside of the wall,

although there is no damaged caused by trees in the temple,


the wall has not been so lucky,

with a tree growing over it,

next through the gate on the other side of the complex,

the four headed statue at the end of the walkway,

looking back as we make our way to the mini bus,

the three arch ways,

are getting smaller,

in the distance,

then back to the mini bus for our next trip to the silk farm, speaking of farms this is how this farmer gets his pigs to market, three at a time,

we also spotted this family, it is not unusual to see three or even four people on a bike, but here there is six! look carefully, kid, adult, 3 kids, adult, message to Mum and Dad, you need a bigger bike!

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