Angkor - Day 1: Some Thoughts and Observations

More than anywhere else I've been, I was thinking it would be fabulous to be able to go back in time and see Angkor 800 years ago, when it was in its prime. - it must have been incredible. The ruins provide a tantalizing glimpse of what it was like, but the imagination can only fill in so many gaps. It was sad to see how many of the ruins had been looted, or simply fallen apart.

Due to the fact it now a major tourist destination, there is much restoration work being done, and consequently there are technical and theoretical issues that have to be addressed. One example of a technical issue: after the buildings were reclaimed by the jungle, trees started growing on top of them, and are now so entwined with the stone, it would be almost impossible to remove them in a number of cases. The theoretical aspect: even if you could remove the tree, should you? Some of the images of trees growing out of the stonework at Angkor Wat have become iconic in their own respect. Or with temples that were refurbished: Do you leave them to be Buddhist, or remove the later Buddha additions to show the temple as is was originally built, with its Hindu motifs?

One thing I noticed was that the Khmers did not know of the Roman Arch, or Vault. Rather, they precariously stacked stones closer together to close the roofs, mandating narrow halls and galleries. You cannot help but wonder how many of the stone roofed buildings would not have collapsed had they known of this architectural technique.

Also, the temple pyramids have staircases that are stupidly steep - typically 60 degrees or so. Between the intimidating angle of ascent and the crumbling, worn stairs, stairclimbing is an extreme sport here in Angkor. Loosing your footing at the top of these staircase would almost certainly be fatal. You can't help but think there must have been such accidents back then, and also wonder about how often such an accident happens today.

Also, I could not help but feel daunted by Hindu mythology (and I use mythology here in it's academic sense - a traditional sacred story, without any implications of its veracity). While Jewish mythology has its one god and its six days of creation, and Christian mythology has its holy trinity and its twelve apostles, and Buddhist philosophy has its four noble truths and its noble eightfold path, Hindu mythology has its bewildering plethora of gods each with numerous incarnations, its 37 heavens and its 32 hells. It is certainly a dense mythological landscape, and it takes much reading to learn to navigate it.