Weighing Angkor

If there's one thing you're guaranteed to see in South-East Asia almost as much as the expectant look on a tuk-tuk driver's face as you approach, it's temples. Thailand, Laos, Cambodia; all binded by the commonality of faith and all massive fans of these dazzlingly bright structures you see everywhere. Consisting of golden effigies and narrative etches on the walls, you're usually no more than rubbing distance of a Buddha's belly wherever you land in this continent.

To be honest, and I strive to be as much as possible, I had been feeling a little templed out of late. On my first day in Bangkok I was ferried from one temple to the next throughout the entire day and even at that early stage I felt like - OK, I get it: big Buddha, small Buddha, sad Buddha, happy Buddha, pensive Buddha, vengeful Buddha, gold, frankincense, myrrh (no myrrh) monks, candles; frankly there's not that much to choose between any of them. But as this predictable preamble may have had you guessing, that all changed in Siam Reap.

Granted, the temples around here are a bit older than the others - erring on the side of crumbling ancient ruins - but not since Peru's magnificent Machu Picchu have I witnessed a site so intoxicating and just plain wondrous as the millennium-old temples at Angkor Wat. As one of the only must-see stops on my tour, my expectations of the infamous tourist trap couldn't have been higher. Big brother Richard wrote in an email to me recently that, aside from Norwich, the archeological find was the most beautiful place he'd ever been to and I'd have to agree with him. Apart from the Norwich bit. The chimpanzee's masturbatorium of Prince of Wales Road on a Friday night is truly a marvel to behold - just don't forget your football rattle if the locals start to get curious and grabby. Loud noises confuse them.

But I digress, I've spent the last two days making my way around the 400-square kilometre site, taking in as much as I possibly could and around every corner there was always a new reason to make my gob get all smacked. On the first day, along with a lovely Scottish couple I'd been stalking for a few days, I hired a mountain bike to really get the feel of the place. The feel, incidentally, was hot - at 35 degrees plus. Angkor Wat is actually the name of the main temple of the many treasures in the park and also the first one you come across when entering. Despite the dogged tenacity of the too-numerous-to-count vendors that swarm and badger before you've even had a chance to pull up and the thousands of gawking foreigners, there's something so unique and hypnotic about the building that you could almost feel alone there.

A paradoxical notion, for sure, but looking up at the dark, decaying towers and the blackened walls that strike a murky fork of lightning into the surrounding lake's reflection, you can't help but feel completely dumbfounded. It's an experience which eradicates sound and thought until it's just you and Angkor and, for me, that's the magic of the place. Somewhere that's so utterly inundated which can simultaneously detach you from its contemporary chaos to a time before tuk-tuks. It only happens for a moment - but it's euphoric. (Fucking hell, calm down! But it is good though)

After Angkor Wat comes so much more -The Terrace of the Elephants, The Terrace of The Leper King, the many faces of Angkor Thom, the list goes on and on and never lets you down. There have been many restorative efforts over the years that continue today, but the occasional blue and green tarpaulin of modernity never impedes upon the natural symbiosis of jungle roots, swamps and archaic construction that make up the site. Straight out of Tomb Raider (literally; it was filmed here a decade ago) it's a trip which leaves you breathless at every turn. On the second day we relented to the call of the tuk-tuk and bounced around the outer circle taking in more and more amazing views until the sunset cast its orangey throw over the scene, signalling the end of the day. Temples will never be the same again after this. Go and see it. It's electrifying.

Sorry if that was a little on the pretentious side, but if there's anything makes you gush romantically it should be this. Thanks to my boy Billy for the comment on the last post - vintage stuff, Bill. Only you have the ability to make science as dark as that. I love you. Off to Vietnam in a couple of days now, but I don't expect you to know about it; you weren't there, man.