Another Road Trip

Yesterday was Monday and we took another road trip; this time with Dang's mom and another little sister, whose partner drove us a couple hours to the south-east to Phimai historical park.

This was another thousand years-old ruin, very similar designs and features to the fist one we visited on the mountain last week. Apparently there are several more similar temple ruins in the area and they all were part of a system of way-stations for pious travelers on the way to the big one in what is now Cambodia. Yes, this particular park had a visitor center and some English brocures and that explains why I seem to know at least something about what I was looking at.

I'd have to say this one ruin was in worse shape than the first one I visited. I suppose that's because this one had been in decay it until restoration began in the mid 1960's. Also it's not at the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere, but was in fact in the middle of a town with a large river nearby so I'm sure it's been subject to countless floods over the ages.

Still, I had a blast walking around taking pictures -- in a decent pair of shoes this time. It wasn't fun hiking up that mountain in flip-flops; I tell you what.

Passing through levels until we "get it"

I almost feel like I'm beginning to grok the metaphor of passing through the doorways inside of doorways of the rooms-within-rooms on the journey approaching the main sanctuary of each temple.

But alas, I'm really just a tourist snapping pictures. Dang tells me I should stop and say hello, and ask permission of the deities, before pulling the trigger, but I'm going to take the pictures anyway because they never seem to answer back. Yes, I'm still asking despite the dearth of replies, but I'm not making a big show of it.