Nature and History are Woven Together and Guess Who Wins?

One of the most impressive things about our visit to the Angkor Wat ruins in Cambodia is how time has affected the condition of these ancient structures.  In view of the fact that they were built over a thousand years ago, and then abandoned, nature has a way of reclaiming what was once jungle and forest.

Part of what makes this place enchanting is the way that nature has entwined itself into the fabric of these buildings.  In other words, if you wait long enough, nature is gonna make a comeback.  

Perhaps one of our favorite things (among many) about the Angkor Wat ruins is how trees and other plants have grown up, in, and around these once magnificent buildings.  It gives us all a view of how time marches on, and empires crumble, and ... ashes to ashes ...?
The forces of nature should not be lightly dismissed.  A building that took a thousand slaves one hundred years to build can, over time, be humbled by a single tree.  

We saw repeated examples of this.  The climate and conditions in Cambodia favor spectacular botanical growth of an almost infinite variety - trees of legendary heights - orchids you can only dream of - and with that, nothing can stand in its way.

And we're not talking about apple trees in your backyard, these are massive, almost gigantic, trees reaching 200 feet into the sky, trying to top their competitors (other tall tropical trees) to compete for the sunlight.
Which begs the question ... what is greater?  Man, and his endless empires (which always end?)  Or ... who really created all this?