What I can tell you is the following: they are old, they are massive and they are magnificent. They combine those three things to such an extent that they almost transcend any fantasy or mythology that could be created around them. These are the kind of grand structures that the creators of Tomb Raider aspire to imagine. This much can be assured, if by no other fact than one of temples was featured in the Tomb Raider movie. The crumbling authenticity of these archaic entities is genuinely breathtaking, the sheer degree of construction that must have taken place to create them all those years ago is staggering.
You might even say the sight is unforgettable.
The thing is, in Siem Reap, that statement could almost be taken as a challenge.
I was tired, I was weary but I was in good shape. It was 5 am, I had every right to be exhausted. You see part of the joy that comes with housing such a beautiful sight in a hot country is that you get to appreciate the natural splendour of a sunrise alongside the man made wonder of the ancient temples. This of course requires an early rise but I had been sensible the night before and was ready to face it.
The same could not be said of my companion. The man who had come to be affectionately known as Texas was basking with deep peace in somewhat of a festive coma following what was intended to be his one last drink on pub street around midnight. I couldn't tell you what time he eventually got in. Neither could he.
Upon realising that our tuk-tuk driver was ready to take us to temples and that our party was incomplete by one number, I feared the worst and set off to rouse our missing patron. Sure enough, upon finding his dorm I too found the man in question unfortunately lacking the requisite consciousness for such an undertaking. He shortly awoke with an expression that spoke of anger, incomprehension and sadness. Sadness that such a fate could have befallen him on this occasion. Sadness that his carefully laid plan, and indeed carefully set alarm had somehow failed him. Sadness that cool comfort of his bed and its surrounding dormitory were about to be parted from him and replaced sweat and exertion.
We had a matter of minutes to make it downstairs though so the time for lamenting had to wait. There would be another point to wonder why there were holes in his knees equivalent to the holes in his memory. He got up, walked in to the wall with all the confidence of a man expecting to walk through it, fixed himself together to the best of his capabilities and we set off.
The temples themselves did not disappoint in the slightest. Whereas the grand temples in Bangkok stand as testimony to the capabilities of human creativity in seeking worship, the Angkor Wat temples are something else. They defy not just construction but conception.
The overwhelming scale of the establishment is all encompassing. Any one of the temples by themselves could blow the average mind as it wanders through the intricate stone corridors and trapses up and down decrepit staircases which feel as if they could either crumble beneath you or slide inwards to reveal secret chambers full of golden idols. The fact that there are so many of them in one area, each one unique yet equally mesemerising, is beyond measure.
Did I take slight advantage of some of these ancient, sacred structures and pose for amusing photos that could be seen as disrespectful to the spiritual endeavour that they stand in monument to? Perhaps. Did i disregard pretty clear instructions not to straddle the balustrade in search of an inappropriate photo opportunity? Its possible. Really though it would be rude not to bring some of my juvenile western sensibilities to bare on this mystical eastern location. And besides, I didn't even know what a balustrade was before I straddled it. Doesn't mean I wouldn't do it again but at least ignorance can be a minor excuse.
I was still doing better than Texas regardless. After what he had consumed the night before, the term 'sweating buckets' was taking on a whole new meaning. Narrowly surviving the ride over as he swayed in and out of the speeding vehicle, he somehow managed to stagger and stumble through temple after temple, turning to small animals for support in his weaker moments. Cambodian dogs are just as undiscerning as the rest of the worlds canine population when it comes to getting a scratch behind the ears.
Overtime though, the majesty won through. The blur of experience gradually came in to focus as the swelter of the ever intensifying sun cooked away the previous nights marination. There is something undeniable about an accomplisment that is so literally monumental. He turned to me at one point and genuinely asked how we had even got there in the morning. It was a journey through darkness that had ultimately been illuminated by a glorious sunrise and revealed something that defied both imagination and inebriation.
We never did find out where the wounds in his knees came from. Pub street had claimed both his physical and mental fortitude. Angkor Wat had seen fit to redeem him however and the day won through.
Well I say that, really after arriving at the temples at 5am we were finished by 12 and went back to the hostel where he subsequently slept pretty much in to the following day. At least half the day won through, and as half days go, it ceratinly was one to (almost) remember.
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