The Temples of Angkor

The morning following what could only be described as the bus ride from hell, we put our trust in the tuk-tuk, a small, open-air cart pulled by a motobike to transfer our battered and weakened selves to the Temples of Angkor. However, in all honesty, after the bus ride, being scammed, and knowing a bit of Cambodia’s turbulent history, our optimism had turned weary and I think it is fair to say that we were not really sure what to expect. Landmines and a country torn to shreds through communism, war, and disruption illuminated itself like a 1000 watt bulb through the ravaged towns, despite efforts of repair merely acting as thin fabric covering the scars of the tattered country.  Needless to say, my expectations for temples lay, as most do, with my previous perceptions. From the very first temple, Bayon, I realized how wrong I was… theTemples of Angkor revealed themselves as islands in a sea of torment and anguish.The most famous of the temples is Angkor Wat, the central and most extravagant of the temples dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu, and built by Jayavarman II. Every inch of Angkor is covered with intricate, beautiful bas-relief carvings while the temple itself is surrounded by a moat 570 feet wide and about four miles long…and vicious, snicker-eating monkeys. 

Perhaps the most stunning part of the Angkor temples is, in my opinion, Ta Prohm. While all spectacular, this temple bares its unique characteristics acquired only with age. Giant silk cottonwood and strangler fig trees enveloping the ruins emerge in, around, and on top of the temples while toppled bricks, denoting the condition of the relatively un-restored temple, lay about the jungle arena.