On gods, and the trees strangling them

For our last day in Cambodia, we rose early to go to Angkor, the country's proud district of temples, towers and shrines. First was sunrise at Angkor Wat, one of the most famous landmarks in the world (it's even on the Cambodian flag, and counted as a 'Travel Wonder of the World'). The word 'ma-hoosive' is thrown around a lot these days, but believe me when I say that this temple is MA-HOOSIVE, and surrounded by all kinds of lesser tombs and structures, as well as a gigantic moat. Arriving early meant that there were huge sections which were entirely devoid of people, which was well worth getting out of bed for. Everywhere in this place there is something to be amazed by - you'll be hopping through a stone corridor and suddenly discover inscriptions in the walls, or incredibly long and intricate murals, or the huge amount of carved female figures covering the entire complex, each of which is unique. On arrival we separated, a camera each, and eventually found each other around four hours later (like I said, ma-hoosive).



For the rest of the day we traveled around beautiful Angkor to see the seemingly endless temples - there always seemed to be something astounding in any direction. There are so many that it's easy to get one all to yourself, so despite the heat I soon got accustomed to running and jumping all over the rubble and ruins, and climbing the frighteningly steep (and tall) tower steps. It felt like I was in a video game, in particular the video game 'Ico', and if anyone has played then they'll understand how amazing this place is. This probably wasn't the architects' intention, but video games and religion are pretty much the same thing anyway.



Some philosopher (I forget who) once said something along the lines of 'it's impossible to imagine a tree so tall that God could not create it, therefore God must exist as the most awesome power'. Well. He obviously never went to Angkor. Some of the temples are overshadowed - in every sense - by the trees growing alongside, within or on top of them. These trees tower to impossible heights, and their tentacle-like roots wrap themselves around entire walls or insinuate themselves into the stones of steps - literally crushing these monuments to rubble. Could it be a sign of the nihilism at the heart of the universe? Nature's disregard for the efforts of man? Or just bad gardening? Whatever the answer, Buddha's face is everywhere in the walls, always smiling, eyes always closed.



P.S. We're in Bangkok now.