Angkor Wat

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There is nothing that I can say about Angkor Wat that would even begin to convey its magnitude or the awe and amazement that you will feel when you go there. It is the largest temple in the world. Just Angkor Wat alone covers over 70 acres, and including the numerous outlying temples the area covers several square miles. It was built in just 30 years in the early 12^th Century. It has been estimated that at that time there were over 1 million people living here, at the same time as there were approximately 50 thousand living in London.

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Lily and I arrived late into Siem Reap. We had planned to arrive about 5pm, but we missed our flight due to a late connection from Krabi. Earlier that morning we had taken a long boat from Rei Lei to Krabi and then caught a flight to Bangkok. We were rebooked on to a later flight to Siem Reap and so after chillin for a few hours at the airport we were off. Kelsey and Erick had urged us to first see Angkor Wat at day break and I am so glad we took their advice. Early to bed, we were up at 4:30am for the tuk-tuk ride for the few kilometers to the temple. When I first arrived in Bangkok I thought the drivers were bad and the tuk-tuks were a reason to make sure your insurance policy was in full force. What a neophyte. In Cambodia, the tuk-tuks are literally a 2 wheeled cart clipped on to the seat post of a motor scooter. The driver gets to wear the helmet. Lily and I got exchange glances of amazement as he navigated through intersections, red lights, left hand turns, and across potholes large enough to stop a tank with nary a concern and certainly no though of stopping or seeing whom the other drivers might be think had the right of way. His motto was ‘Carry on and all will be fine’. On some level I came to agree. After all we were headed to the largest temple in the world before dawn, what could go wrong?

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Both of us wanted to walk in far enough to loose the smallish crowd of other tourists that had gathered at what was clearly the best photo opportunity spot to capture the sunrise and the magnitude of the structure. I wasn’t interested in photo ops. I wanted to head in, find a quite spot, sit for awhile and prepare to be amazed. After about a ½ hour the first light of dawn started to come up and I could begin to see what was around me, the size and scale, and the millions of carvings in the sand stone walls. Every surface perfectly carved to tell their history and their dedication. I walked around for an hour or so in a daze, awed at the size and scope of place. The amount of work and the quality of workmanship. The love and the devotion that was still evident in those walls.

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After a while Lily and I headed back to the guesthouse for breakfast and a shower and met up with the guide that we had hired for the day. He was in his late 20s and had recently graduated from the University in Phenom Phen with a degree in Anthropology. He proudly told us how he was the first of his family to attend college. That he had grown up in the country, the oldest of 7 children, born to farmers. His dad had over 30 head of cattle and also grew rice and of course vegetables for his family. Although his father thought it foolish, he always knew that he was interested in the history of his Country and against his father’s wishes he went to Phenom Phen to live with a distant relative while he completed his studies. The best part of the day was watching his pride and enthusiasm as he showed us various different temples and explained their individual history. He admonished Lil to continue her studies and to do what she loved. Several times throughout the day he quizzed her on details of what we had seen to make sure that she was paying attention and learning from what he had told us. Near the end of the day, when Lil and I were both tired, hot and sweaty from climbing up and down over the temples we had seen, he took us off into the woods around back towards what looked like a small dirt covered hill about 8 feet high and 30 feet long. Here he proudly showed us was where he had done his original field research uncovering the secrets of the past and carefully documenting them for future generations.