Angkor What?

Waking up at 4:30 this morning, a few friends and I arrived at Angkor Wat, the largest temple in the world, at 5:30, a few minutes before sunrise. Unfortunately, the skies were partly overcast, and we didn't get to see the spectacular sunrise we were hoping to see. But being at this ancient, magnificent temple at dusk had a very special feel to it, and we were all happy we made it out early. The enormous Angkor Temple complex spans many square kilometers, and archaeologists and history buffs could spend days on end exploring all of the sites. But we were content with seeing the major temples, and were able despite our lack of a proper nights sleep to see them all by 2 PM.

The various temples have been converted from Buddhist to Hindu and back over the last 9 or so centuries, but one constant remaining is all of the phallic symbolism found throughout all of the temples. And yes, I'm 25 years old, but with the accent and choice of dirty words our tour guide (who went by the name Robin Hood) used, we still felt bashful and giggled. After exploring Angkor Wat, we continued to Bayon, which was probably my favorite of all of the temples. The 54 towers of the temples each contain 4 stone faces, with each direction's (N,S,E,W) smiling face symbolizing sympathy, compassion, kindness, and equality. We then briefly saw Baphuon, which unfortunately has been under construction for the last many decades, interrupted by the coming to power of the Khmer Rouge, and so much of it was off-limits. After seeing, and climbing up very steep steps (symbolizing the difficult ascent to heaven) to a few more temples, we finished our tour at Angkor Thom. Despite it's sheer beauty, with the roots of the enormous tree roots growing over and through the temple walls, I believe many tourists (mostly Asians for some reason) visit it simply because it is the filming location of 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.' But it is no surprise that they chose such a mystical temple to film the movie, and after being in Cambodia for only a few days, I wholeheartedly understand how she fell in love with the country, and her desire to adopt a child (or 10) from here. Mom, Dad, please don't be upset if I come home +1. Just kidding.

I've now seen most of the major attractions in Cambodia, but have no desire to leave just yet. I have no doubts I'll find something productive to fill my time, even if that just means reading through a few $3 photocopied books sold by children on the streets. What can I say? At that price, I can't afford not to read them!