"Oh my Buddha"

Today we spent the day doing what people come to Siem Reap to do - visiting Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is really just one of over 60 temples in the Angkor UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's what remains of the Khmer empire, built up between the 9th and 15th centuries. It was re-discovered by the French in the 1800s and since then it has taken back from the jungle growth and restored by a handful of nations. Angkor Wat may be the most iconic temple, but Angkor Thom is more breathtaking. I can't wait to upload the photos. The huge stones were brought by boat down from the mountains and all of the temples are built without any kind of cement or nails to hold the structure together. It's amazing any of them are still standing. And it's not just stones - there are all of these stone detailed friezes and huge faces. Most of the temples are Buddhist, but there was a shift back to Hinduism at one point and some of the Buddha images were cut out of the stone. Other Buddha heads have been cut off and smuggled out, now sitting in some foreign museum somewhere.

If you go, get a guide. Without a doubt, it's worth the money. Otherwise, you're going to spend half your time at the temples with your nose in a guidebook trying to figure out what the heck everything means - or you'll miss the meanings all together. Our guide admitted he was hungover in the first 10 minutes. It was hilarious. He said it was his friend from out-of-town's b-day the night before. But he was a great guide nonetheless. Much better than I would have been hungover and traipsing around the temples in 90 degree weather. The heat is really exhausting, and those people who come for two days and do like 15 temples are insane. Anyway, along with the major sites, Sum also took us to the Ta Prohm Temple of Tomb Raider fame. On the pathway in, there was a huge spider - it's body alone was about three inches long - and was like "Oh my God!" because it was about to fall on this Dutch guy's head. Sum said "No, oh my Buddha." Ah, I love it. Maybe it'll catch on.