Angkor Wat revealed

Yes, we finally saw the grand-daddy (or sexy grand-daddy - since there are thousands of lingas about) of them all: ANGKOR WAT.

Okay, those who know me know I love little things, and Angkor Wat is anything but little - so I had to show you my favorite rendition -- an Angkor Wat cookie! Discovering this cookie was more bizarre than anything I have experienced. I walked into Madamsachiko's cookie place and was greeted by a chorus of Cambodians saying "Konichiwa!!!" Apparently I had arrived at the same time as a tour bus of Japanese, and these Cambodians had learned Japanese (as well as Korean). Koreans, which I believe is the ethnicity of Mrs. Sachiko, are the largest group of tourists to Cambodia, with the Chinese edging out Korea for the most destinations from Phnom Penh (to Shanghai, Beijing and Guangxi).

Now on to the real deal. Derek I hope will be publishing some of his amazing photos soon. It is hard to put into words the experience of Angkor. First, for those who were ignorant like me, Angkor Wat describes one of over 50 temples built by the Khmer rulers over their 500 year reign. The temples cover over 100 miles, so it is hard to comprehend the vastness.

I will start by describing only Angkor Wat, built in the early 1100s as a massive temple-mount to the Hindu god Vishnu. To be honest, when we drove up on a tuk tuk, I was a little underwhelmed. The entrance to Angkor was to my left, and all I saw was a line of dark stone with a 50 foot stone walkway. But Angkor Wat revealed herself in her mystical glory. Once through the gate, I felt like I had entered another world...the buildings pulsed with the beat of the jungle, amplified by screeching crickets. The conical towers pierced the sky, and I thought I saw the sea churning at the bas relief "Churning of the Sea of Milk." The bas relief describes a "Hindu myth in which Gods and humans cooperate to churn with a massive snake the primordial ocean in order to produce amrita, or the elixir of immortality" (from Art and Archeology).

Suffice it to say Angkor Wat is one of the MUST SEE experiences of a lifetime, to which I would add seeing the gorillas in the wild (March, 1994) and the Taj Majal (January, 2008).