Angkor Trees

The temples at Angkor are hundreds of stone towers constructed between the 9th and 15th centuries by the kings of the Khmer empire. The temples, palaces, monuments, homes and other giant stone buildings were abandoned when it's builders were defeated by the invading Thais and these monuments were slowly and almost entirely reconquered by the surrounding jungles. The entire site was the world's largest preindustrial city, 8 times larger than it's closest competitor. The architecture, sculptures and sheer mass of these buildings is larger and much more vast than i could have ever imagined. Ross, Silvia and I spent 3 whole days traveling between the many sites in the complex. It's quite a sight and I was horribly sad to leave. What impressed me most was the buildings with gigantic trees still left over from the centuries when it was overrun by jungle. More often than not, these exaggerated trees are what hold the buildings together and removing them would cause the buildings to collapse. This is the one place I saw on this trip where I'm positive I'll return.

Ross and Silvia

more pictures of the biggest buildings coming soon :)