Angkor Wat in Siem Reap

Siem Reap reminds me of Chiang Mai in Thailand, because it is a small spiritual city with a lot to offer. This place is on the up and up! If Cambodia plays their cards right they can use the tourist interest in Angkor Wat to rebuild their economy and save the people from devastating poverty. I have spent the last unforgettable 3 days exploring the ancient jungle ruins of Angkor Wat. I decided to spiral from the outer most point into Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is composed of 256 temples.
Day 1: I commissioned a handsome young Cambodian man named Pari to be my motorbike driver and take me out to Kbal Spean. It was a long and gorgeous hike through the jungle to reach this small waterfall and ancient carvings. In the rock alongside the waterfall were carvings of Buddha, Shiva, Vshnu, Lakshmi, elephants, and lotus flowers. After that I visited a large ancient(dried up) pool with 4 opposing carved stone spouts, each one had a different face: 1 horse, 1 lion, 1 elephant, and 1 human face. In the center of the pool was a stone fountain with beautiful and elaborate carvings. I learned that this pool was rumored to cleanse away all sins of anyone who bathed in it. Supposedly, Las Vegas is building an Angkor Wat hotel and Casino and their pool design will be mirrored after this ancient site. The thought makes me want to gag, but people probably think that's cool, I dunno. :p
Anyway, then I stopped off at the Land mine museum. It is funded by the Ottawa group. Gotta love the Canadians for funding this much needed relief fund. There are still over 5 million active land mines strewn about the jungles of Cambodia, and the majority of victims are farmers and children. There is one man: Aki Ra(a Cambodian man with a Japanese name) who worked for the Khmer army and laid down thousands of land mines, and use to feel they were good, because they would protect him and provide food. Now he is aware of how devastating they are and has taken on the duty of removing these land mines. This Ottawa relief fund supports the efforts of him and his group while showcasing his altruistic work in this museum. It was really inspiring and educational.
The last stop of my Angkor tour for that day was Banteay Samre. I walked down a long dirt rd. while children offered me scarves. Scarves?!?!?! It's like 110 degrees out. Why don't they sell fans?! I asked them that, and they laughed at me! :p
I walked through vaulted temple rooms made of intricately carved stone and eventually I found the center. There I stumbled into a temple and met a lovely old man named Mahasra who lit incense and a candle and asked me to pray with him in front of a tomb to Buddha. I did, and it was a beautiful moment. He wrapped a red string around my right wrist and wished me good luck.
Day 2: Pari dropped me off on a beautiful bridge lined with semi-broken Buddha statues that led me to a gate and archway. I walked under a giant arch with 4 Buddha heads, each one facing a different direction. Preah Khan temple was at the end of a dirt rd., and on the rd. were 3 musicians playing traditional Khmer music. I arrived to the dilapidated temple. The base was overgrown with moss, many of the walls were broken due to the surrounding jungle imposing itself upon the ancient ruins, and the horizontal bas relief sculptures on every inch of the temples had my head whipping around in every direction while I soaked in the aesthetics. In the back was my favorite tree in Cambodia. It was growing through one of the rooms crushing it with its roots which sent its tendrils to plummet into the soil anywhere it could reach.
I then wandered through some smaller temples: Ta Som, East Mebon, and Pre Rup
Ta Som had a giant smiling buddha face on the front of the temple, and on the back was a giant tree growing through the rock that created a perfect doorway through the roots. East Mebon looked a little like some of the Mayan ruins I explored in Belize and the Yukon. It had 3 main rooms ascending up a tall stairway lined with lion sculptures. Inside the center room was a Buddha statue under a gold umbrella. Pre Rup means 'Turning the body,' it looked like East Mebon with the 3 towers sitting on a tall pyramid foundation of stone with a tall stairway, but the ground level had ruins of ancient cremation ovens. This is dated 12th century.
Day 3: I explored the temples of Angkor Thom which is a massive ruin site! This site is famous for its hundreds of smiling Buddha sculptures on the exterior temple walls. It is an impressive site. Outside is the Terrace of elephants, which is a long wall with hundreds of elephant carvings and sculptures leading towards or away from(depends your perspective) Angkor Thom. Pari then took me to Ta Prohm/The Tomb Raider temple. Here is the beautiful mossy temples completely being torn apart from the massive jungle trees. The carvings are mostly of Lakshmi and Buddha. This was a beautiful place to explore and take pictures! :)
...and last but not least..*drum roll*...Angkor Wat! Let me first say that I'm glad I saved this for last, because it is so massive and impressive, especially combined with Angkor Thom, that had I started with these temples I probably wouldn't have appreciated the other smaller temples as much for their individual charm. Angkor Wat would dwarf anything because it's so magnificent in size. It's a fortress! The rooms which attach to one another seem to go on for infinity, each room is a place of worship. I could have wandered the central courtyard around the central temple for days just gazing at the carvings. The carvings depicted ancient stories, which I tried to interpret, and then I checked my guide book for confirmation. hahaha! I was usually wrong, but it's fun to create your own interpretation.
In one of the interior corridors, as I was trying to find the exit to Angkor Wat, I saw the contrast of a monks cloth to the grey stone wall. It was beautiful. He saw me and invited me to sit with him. After conversing a short while he told me he had no property yet, but that was because he's in University, and that he would like me to be his girlfriend. He said that I should stop by his temple the following day and he would teach me meditation and the teachings of the Buddha in his room. Later when I told Pari about this he got upset, and said Monks are not allowed to touch a girl, make eye contact, or have a girlfriend! Shame on that naughty monk. His name is Rous, and he's sweet, but I did not go to his room for private instruction. hahahaha!
When I walked the long rd. of the West exit of Angkor Wat I asked many people to take my picture, because this is a famous phot-op, but alas no one could take a proper picture without it being crooked or having a finger in the way, so I had a good chuckle and had Pari take my back to the Jasmine GH for some R & R.
The last 3 nights I've had a very restless sleep. Every time I close my eyes I receive flashes of Angkor temples, movement through jungles, pictures of the carvings and sculptures pass through my mind, and it all feels like a whirlwind. It's very intense!

I will never forget this place, and it was worth the journey to come to Cambodia to see the Angkor temples and walk through the jungles. I feel I will reflect upon this place sporadically with adoration throughout my life. It was very special to me. :)

I will leave Cambodia in a few days, after I do some volunteer work, and I will return to Thailand.