Bayon Temple, the one with all the faces.

The weather was extremely beautiful! But also extremely, extremely hot. Hot enough that I drank approximately 12 bottles of water, but still managed to lose all my liquids and feel dehydrated. Let's just say, it was good that I was wearing black.

There's an elephant in the background of this picture. It's hard to spot. This isn't just a picture of a toilet sign. It walked right by our van, but it took a minute for me to get my camera out and ready to capture the elephant.

Here is a beautiful picture of the ground. I assumed that I had taken a picture of a bug or something. But, when I zoomed in, I realized it was just an accidental picture of the ground.

This bridge was really cool! Some of the Buddhas had been beheaded, but most of them were still headed.

The Tourist Police! I wonder if they were policing tourists or tourists were policing...

Our next stop was the Bayon Temple in Angkor, which was built in the 12th or 13th century. It was the official temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII. I just read this: "Following Jayavarman's death, it was modified and augmented by later Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings in accordance with their own religious preferences." Aka, the faces were defaced.

But seriously, how fantastically beautiful is that!?! So incredible.

You could still see a ton of the faces! It was soooo beautiful. It was my second favorite temple. My first favorite temple was Ta Prohm Temple, which will be my next blog.

It is unknown who the faces belong to. Some people think they are all the face of King Jayavarman, while others think they are symbols.

Various mythological creatures, stories and war-time events are depicted throughout the temple.

There are about 200 similar faces throughout the temple. As Maurice Glaize said, "Wherever one wanders, the faces of Lokesvara follow and dominate with their multiple presence."

I'd forgotten temporarily how amazing the temples were. I am remembering now that I look at these pictures again. Incredible.

Again, I love how the jungle is trying to recapture all of its land by taking over the temples. Ta Prohm has practically be retaken.

Those shoes...I forgot about those horrific bright pink shoes. I left them in Nepal after several years of wear and tear. My pinkie toes were definitely poking out of the mesh by the end.

There were hidden carvings of people/gods/mythical beings throughout all the towers and walls. Incroyable.

Here's another human person, clearly made of several pieces of stone, due to different coloring.

The perspective in this is intriguing.

 A small headed Buddha.

 More hidden figures.

 I am not sure what this is.

Clearly, some parts were slightly more restored than others.

 A Buddha at the entrance.

 Here are some more lions.

The same lion and a beheaded statue.