A day spent at the Angkor away Temples of Siem Reap is a day not easily forgotten. At least not for me, the resident social worker tag-a-long on the Cambodia maymester trip. The day started with an early morning ‘tuk-tuk’ ride to the temples, the cool breeze of dawn waking us up as we steadily see the shift in our surroundings from urban to rural. As the area became more lush, so our excitement grew. Fighting the quiet crowds, we crossed a floating bridge to one of the most awe-inspiring structures many of us had ever seen: the ancient Angkor temples.

Hindu temples started popping up in the area around the 9th century. These temples sat scattered in the jungle of what was then an expansive and thriving kingdom. As riches grew, the ruling dynasty’s desire for grandeur did as well and in the 12th century the famed Angkor Wat temple was constructed. Towering 65km high, the empire utilized 5,000 elephants and an innumerable amount of manpower to drags lavastone and sandstone for hundreds of miles, completing what we now know as Angkor Wat in a shocking 37 years.

Throughout the years (and from what I could decipher through our tour guide’s thick accent) the temple was altered several times in the following centuries as the Cambodian empire shifted from Hinduism to Buddhism and back again several times. Later Thailand took over and the temples scattered through the jungle, including grand Angkor Wat, were lost for hundreds of years as land shifted hands and rulers came and went. The earth had all but reclaimed the temple’s for themselves when in the 1800s the Cambodian king in power sought them out and re-discovered them.

Now the temples stand as a proud reminder of the glorious ancestry of the Cambodian people. Descendants not of poverty but of great wealth and success. Descendants of artists and architects, of mathematicians and philosophers. Pictures won’t do it justice thought I will attempt to include a few. As you walk through the cavernous stone rooms and restored courtyards, the smell of incense wafts around you. The hot air of the outside is contrasted by the moist cool of the sandstone hallways. Your fingers trace the etchings of ancient Khmer inscriptions and Hindu folklore. It is a truly magical and enchanting place.