A Single Day Exploration Of The Cambodian Angkor Temples...

I thought I would do a single day exploration of the Cambodian Angkor temples, thinking it was just one or two piles of rocks I d be looking at, but I needed a three day pass to see all of them and I still don t think I spent enough time. The sun was beating down hard and climbing the insanely steep stairs of each temple was exhausting with the heavy camera equipment bag stuck to my sweat-soaked back. There is one hundred or so temples that were built between the ninth and fourteenth centuries and left for the jungle to swallow and for people to pilfer. Some of the temples have massive trees that have grown around and through the stone and now support some of the structures. It s fascinating to see the thick web of roots cascading down over the walls of the carved stones. Piles of rubble that used to be roofs lay everywhere and make me think, should I be walking under that unstable looking stone roof that hasn t collapsed yet? Some of the stone walls are leaning so far over that walk ing beside them is frightening. The movie Tomb Raider was filmed in one of the temples, a guide that works there told me, just before he asked for fifteen dollars for twenty minutes of showing me the best spots to take my pictures. After each drive to the next set of temples, I would climb out of the car and was greeted by numerous vendors, all coveting the valuable American notes I was hiding in my pockets. You need cold drink man?, come eat here, I know your driver, and you buy