This Is Why You Travel ...

    One of the anticipated highlights of our trip was coming to Cambodia to visit the Angkor Wat ancient ruins.  We've been doing that for a couple days now and have been thrilled with what we've seen.

    In short, Angkor Wat is astounding!  We've traveled a fair amount and seen a lot of things, but this has to be among the very best historical sites that planet earth has to offer.  Upon seeing it for the first time, we were speechless, it is absolutely mind boggling!

This structure is actually taller than a forty storey building

    For starters, the scale of this place is massive, it's really an ancient city.  It goes on for miles. It was buried in the jungle for centuries, and was re-discovered around 1600 by a Portuguese monk who wrote: "It is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe with a pen, particularly since it is like no other buildings in the world.  It has towers and decorations and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of." 

    It is far larger than we expected and is spread throughout the jungle on several large sites.  Many have been restored to a great extent, but many more are just as they were discovered, almost enveloped by the jungle.  The feeling as you walk through is of complete amazement and fascination.

    Another French explorer who laid eyes on it had this to say: "These temples would rival that of Solomon, as though erected by an ancient Michaelangelo, and would take an honorable place among our finest buildings, they are grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome."

    So I am using quotes from historical figures to describe this historical place, because frankly I can't find the right words other than incredible, unbelieveable, stupefying, fantastic, etc.  

    Part of what makes it so magical is that it was concealed by the jungle and still has that Indiana Jones mystical quality about it.  Every turn contains another amazing view, and it covers many, many square miles.  

    Pictures just don't do it justice.  Like the Grand Canyon, it's more of a feel.  The grandeur and size of the buildings is amazing, and the detail and design elements are intricate, creative, artistic, and unique.

    

We travel around by tuk-tuk, a open three wheeled transportion device (sort of like a modern day rickshaw) that allows one to take in the scenery and absorb the environment ... and enjoy the warm, sunny weather.

This is a view of the causeway across a large moat entering one of the main temples.

 It's been two days of non-stop touring and walking and looking, and we have another couple days here.  I hope we can fit it all in.  Look for more postings on this segment of our trip.

This is me (oh really?) overlooking one of the main temples from up inside a giant tower