Tor/To Temple

Hello, and it's Mr. B, Forgotten Temples of Cambodia, and my backdrop today is Tor Temple, T-O-R. And it's all rather peaceful out here, it's very nice indeed. Now Tor, I've had a quick look around, doesn't really have much to offer. It's a very plain grouping of temples. These are 12th century ones, some of the earlier sort of style. But it's very confusing because there's three of them, and they just seem to have been plonked down. The symmetry isn't there, and we've got doorways facing doorways. Rather confusing, but there must have been a jolly good reason they didn't spend all this time to engineer these things, just because it was a whim, that's for sure. So it's a bit like a sort of dour lady sitting in the corner of a local disco or something. She's dressed rather plainly, she just has plain makeup, and her hair is done in a very sensible fashion that she probably picked up from her mother. So not the most exciting of temples, but a temple all the same, and one that demands our respect, and one that we need to put in our lovely bag of temples. So let's have a very brief walk around Tor, and see what it will say to us. And there is our trilogy of Tor. Now I feel, where shall we start? To the left or to the right? Let's start to the right. Yes, why not? And we can see they are chunky things, aren't they? They really are solid, chunky, strong temples. But it's an odd patterning with these two here, lock shoulder together, and then the third at the front. But, as I said, in the open are these early ones. Now then, inside we go. Having a sniff, see if we can smell bats. Oh, hello. Oh, well done. Well, chunky works. Look, he's still got all his roof. And I just jumped if the camera moved there, because a huge rat just went up the side and made me jump. Oh, Mr. Ratty, you little bugger. You've got your home in here. So he's chunky, he's strong, and he's got a chum who's a rat. Oh, there's another one. Can you see them? He's there. Can you see? It's Mr. Ratty's house. So basically, this temple is full of rats. And that kind of makes sense if people are bringing offerings in the way of food. So let's leave the ratties to themselves. And let's retreat and go and see the second one. Well, that's Mr. Ratty's house. So we come over to the second. And we've got this large stone here. I'd imagine there'd be... Oh, look, there you go. One doesn't have to imagine if one opens. All right, look, there's a second here. Now, they would have gone next to one another and formed, you know, a gateway, a doorway through to the second temple. Now, if there's rats in the other one, you know there's going to be rats in this one. So I'll give a loud cough to announce my arrival. And it's not just rats. We once had a dragon. Look, you can see his teeth. I mean, why they were so god-awful at stealing things is a mystery to me. Because all they've done is defaced it. They haven't really stolen anything. But, you know, it's not for us to reason why. Now then, it's time for that loud, loud cough. And hopefully that will know and a banging of the feet will let Mr. Rats know that we're coming in. Aha! We notice a difference with his brother. And that is he's open to the heavens. Look at that. Sparkling away like a precious jewel. And here we have the third in the set. Now I wonder if there's rats in here. And thinking about it, usually I encounter bats. A lot of bats. But hold on, I'm just gonna... Oh, golly, go. That is rather low down, to say the least. Yes, it got me wondering, you see. If there's rats, can they live happily with bats? Would the rats eat the bats? Who knows? And as we look up, we can see rather nicely he's between one and two. One is closed, two is more open. He's taken the middle road because he's sensible. And everything about these three says sensible, doesn't it? There's no ornate carvings. There's no real details. There is this plinth. Now let me put my shoe next to said plinth. There you go, to give you an idea as to scale. That is a comfortable shoe, if you're wondering exactly how big that shoe is. I believe that's a standard size. Now let's head out here, being careful. Because... Oh, gosh! Right. Yes, that's another knock on the head for Mr B. No wonder I'm continuously forgetting things. And let's have a look at the outside, the exterior of these. Because look, can you see anything of, you know, any detailing? There isn't. They are just solid, sensible, down-to-earth temples. There's the gentleman who sits next to you on the bus that has his tie on. Although it's a bloody hot day. And he finished work hours ago with his sensible briefcase, which has been polished, and his sensible polished shoes, and everything else. So these are the sensible ones. These are the civil servants of the world. The ones who work for the government, pushing paper around. They don't need the details. But they do certainly have their own charm, don't they? They really are. They're solid. They're strong. And they're home to a lovely family of little rats. Isn't that sweet? So there you go. That was Thor. Three little brothers sitting out here in the countryside. And although rather dour and rather sensible, they're still of interest. Because it's always a lovely drive to these things. And we did see a few elements, didn't we? And it's not always the case that one's going to be dazzled and impressed. But one is always going to meet something ancient. And that surely is worth a lovely day out. This has been Mr B for Forgotten Temples of Cambodia. If you have any questions, comments or queries, you know where you can stick them. And down below they go. Until next time, do take the very best of care.