Ta Keo Temple

Ta Keo is an undecorated temple that had never been finished.  This was built by Jayavarman V and was dedicated to Shiva.  It was the first Angkorian monument built entirely out of sandstone.  Some people believe that the hard sandstone was impossible to carve and that explains the lack of decoration.  Another possible reason it was not finished is stated later in this post.

 Little did Ayla know when she started climbing what she would be up against further along the trail.

 

 This little Cambodian girl climbed up the hot steps barefoot.

 Ayla, the little reader, found more writing to check out.

My travel guide states that according to one of the inscriptions, Ta Keo was struck by lightning during construction. This may have been considered a bad omen and led to its abandonment.

The summit of the central tower is 50 meters high.   

Mike and Ayla headed up first.

We all worked up a sweat climbing all the stairs.  It was well worth it.  Our guide stated that the stairs were built to be very steep so not everyone would be able to make it to the top.  

Artem, Cassandra, Mike, and Emily at the top of the central tower.

The holes in the stones were put there for carrying the blocks to their final destination.

It was much easier to climb up than down.  We all had to go down backwards.  Mike and Emily played tag-team with Ayla just to be safe.

Now which one had the ball under it?