When I was in seventh grade I had this English teacher, Mrs. Kasiski, who made me keep a journal and a write a page every day. I thought it was torture. Playing Nintendo was much more fun. One night I was staring at a blank page as usual when a rare thing happened, an idea snuck into my skull. I dreamed of the day when nobody could make me write in a stupid journal. My journal entry would be to list the wild things I wanted to do in my life when I'm a "grown-up." I can't remember everything, but I still remember a few.
1. Sky diving
2. See lava from a volcano
3. Swim in the South China Sea (don't know where that came from)
4. Go see Angkor Wat
I can't even tell you where I'd heard about Angkor Wat. I was probably looking at a National Geographic and a picture caught my eye. Throughout this trip in Asia I've always had that list from seventh grade on my mind, with the hope to see Angkor Wat. With all of that expectation, you would thin that I might be disappointed. Not at all. It actually blew away my expectations.
Alright, enough sharing (you pansy) show the damn pictures.
This is a map of the Angkor area. Angkor Wat is just one of the dozens of buildings in the city.
For good info on the history check out this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor
If you like a picture try clicking on it to see the fullscreen version. Blogger allows this for some and not for others.
Ta Keo
This was probably my favorite of them all. This was the steepest and tallest of the buildings and from the top you could look over the whole jungle. Researchers believe that it was never finished. They think that it was struck by lightning and the Khmer people thought it was an ominous message from God. How they figured this out; I don't know.
The steps were very steep and only about 4 inches wide.
Strike a pose
Ta Prohm
This one is also my favorite in the vegetation category. The jungle comes right up to the edge of the structures and trees are growing all over. These are huge trees that took hundreds of years to grow, so they are a reminder of how unbelievably old the structures have to be.
In order to preserve these walls they've built wooden supports.
This shot is taken from inside of a spire while looking up. The blocks are arranged in such a way that their own weight keeps everything together. Am I the only one who is amazed by this? No beams, nails, or superglue. Its like a Jenga puzzle that hasn't fallen down for 800 years.
Prasat Kravan
Angkor Wat
This one is the big Daddy of them all. You might have seen pictures before. Walking down the pathway is great because as you get closer the anticipation builds. It keeps getting bigger and bigger and you start to realize the complexity of the carvings in the stone. I kept imagining the people who had walked the same path hundreds of years ago. Their jaws must have been on the floor.
To the left of the pathway this building has been reconstructed like a dinosaur skeleton. Where the pieces are missing they build replica blocks to complete the puzzle.
Nearly every surface is carved with pictures that tell the stories of Khmer history. In some places the preservation is damn impressive.
These carvings are the only information still around about the Khmer empire. Some pros spend all day trying to interpret the meanings in the pictures. 
In 1000 A.D. buildings weren't handicapped-accessible. A little bar was installed to help the tourists get down, but I still wonder how many people have gone tumbling down.
They seem even steeper looking down from the top.
Note the scaffolding in the background where archaeologists are carefully restoring the ruins. Also note in the foreground where some scumbags scratched their names into the ruins. If I had seen that happening I might just (oops) kick them off the ledge.
Hubba Hubba!
It's hard to imagine how the Khmer were able to design and build these towers without modern technology like AutoCad or even pencils. They had to be Einstein smart. I think they probably got help from aliens. I'll bet there is a secret portal somewhere in the ruins that can take us to their home planet. Name that movie: S____ G_____
This open space surrounds the main building. How did they mow the lawn back then?
This is at the north gate of the wall.
This is the view of Angkor Wat outside the eastern gate.
My first day was obviously incredible. I've got a bunch more photos to show so check back in soon to see days two and three.
-Thanks-
1 comment:
Pretty amazing pictures. Spent the past few days with insul8CO here in SD for a sales conference. He is very impressed with your blog. May be going half contract in July; interested in the other half? Keep up the great work.
Ron
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