How to See Angkor Wat

When my family came to visit in May, of course we had to do temples. I'd been holding off on it because I moved to Cambodia in October knowing they would come in May, and with other visitors later in the summer, so it only made sense.

Cambodians are intensely proud of Angkor Wat. Cambodia is the only country to have a architectural symbol of their flag, Angkor Wat. Several studies I've read about Cambodian ethnicity show that they consider Angkor Wat the symbol of Cambodia. There's no comparison in any other culture I've encountered. Angkor Wat is revered in the absolutist sense. It's not just a UNESCO World Heritage site, it isn't just the largest religious site in the world, it isn't just a very old 12th/13th century temple/palace. It's a symbolic cultural icon on a bygone era. Once upon a time, the Angkorian Kingdom ruled Cambodia and much of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. It was the Cambodia superpower of the 12th and 13th century, which eventually eroded due to an undiversified economy (too much rice), and over-centralized state, and deforestation (sound familiar?).

Since the decline of Angkor, Cambodia has been passed between Thailand and Vietnam, fell to France, self-destructed into the Khmer Rouge, more occupation, and finally fragile independence in 1991. Somewhat understandably, the Angkor period is idealized and held in astute reverence. In Western cultures, we look to the future for our hope and identity, they day when we will be superpowers. In many Asian cultures, they look to the past as a source of identity, the bygone days of super-states and super-cultures.

I wasn't sure what to expect. But I've seen the Great Wall of China, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Great Zimbabwe, the Axum Obliques and the Churches of Lalibela...so I was mildly skeptical. Until, I saw it. I was impressed at the size and the scale. It's impressive for it's age, and while preservation is inadequate, it's coming along slowly.

(Photo credits, Jon Nofziger, May 2011)

The most challenging aspect is the scale. You can't see it all in one day. Cambodia is just so hot, it drains you after only a few hours. There are so many people at the main Angkor Wat temple, it's obnoxious. Siem Reap over-markets on the temples, and this is also obnoxious.

The ruins of the Angkorian Temples are interesting, but I find the sociology behind them significantly more engaging. I've spent years in Eastern/Southern cultures, but I was educated at a liberal Western school where I learned to over-analyze identity. And because of this, I do look forward. However, as a global nomad, I can't shake my own past. That's my identity. It's not the glory-days, but my global nomadic past holds good times and great stories. While I look forward to a bright future, I live in the attitudes and stories formed around a global nomadic past. Is life a balance of past and future? I hardly know. I'll conclude only that the clash of cultures lives on, peripherally.