I had been chatting with these same two guys about an hour earlier.  They were both originally from Battambang in the southwest part of Cambodia and now lived at one of the wats in Siem Reap.  We waved back.  It's little things like this, you know, that make you feel at home in a far away strange world.

The province of Siem Reap was one of the last strongholds of the Khmer Rouge (who used Angkor Wat as an ammunitions dump) and it's really only been about six or seven years since their demise.  So although it was comforting to know we could visit the ruins without having to worry about being blown to bits by landmines or grenade launchers, we were reluctant to stray off any of the paths through the jungle.

Every temple we visited was unique and different.  Design and construction of the different builds here went on from the early ninth century until about the middle of the 13th century.  After this time, the Khmer empire fell into decline, and was conquered by the Siamese.

The stone towers and huge trees provided comforting shade.  It's hard to explain sometimes how these old archeological sites generate such fascination. Certainly their "oldness", touching an ancient and strange civilization who've left behind more riddles than answers.  We were often in awe of the work that went into the creation of such a place, the intricate craftsmanship, not to mention hauling all those blocks of stone around.

Some temples stood out more than others, of course.  One of our favourites was Ta Prohm, where tree roots wound around stone walls and doorways, pushing them out of place over the years.  Several other temples had been similarly entwined, but the arboreal damage had been so extensive that the trees had been cut back.

 

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