Cambodia — Temples of Siem Reap — Summary

A spiritually underwhelming experience

September 2015

OK, I will admit that the temples around Siem Reap, such as Angkor Wat (អង្គរវត្ត) and Angkor Thom (អង្គរធំ) are stunning and marvels of architecture and craftsmanship, but on the whole, they left me cold and completely unmoved.

Cambodia — Day 1: Angkor Wat Temple (អង្គរវត្ត), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia — the buildings — (part 1 of 2)

Angkor Wat Temple (អង្គរវត្ត), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia — the buildings — (part 1 of 2)

Nick's WanderingsNick Morris

Cambodia — Day 1: Angkor Wat Temple (អង្គរវត្ត), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia — the carvings (part 2 of 2)

Angkor Wat Temple (អង្គរវត្ត), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia — the carvings

Nick's WanderingsNick Morris

Cambodia — Day 1: Angkor Thom (អង្គរធំ), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia

Angkor Thom (អង្គរធំ), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia

Nick's WanderingsNick Morris

Don't get me wrong. The size, grandeur, stunning craftsmanship, and skill of the builders blew me away. I found the sculptures breathtaking.

Cambodia — Angkor National Museum, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Angkor National Museum, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Nick's WanderingsNick Morris

I even marvelled at the bricklaying and struggled to comprehend the effort to build the lakes, moats and waterways, but in terms of a spiritual experience, they did nothing for me.

Cambodia — Day 3: Preah Khan (ប្រាសាទព្រះខ័ន), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia — part 1 of 2

Day 3: Preah Khan (ប្រាសាទព្រះខ័ន), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia

Nick's WanderingsNick Morris

Cambodia — Day 3: Preah Khan (ប្រាសាទព្រះខ័ន), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia — part 2 of 2

Preah Khan (ប្រាសាទព្រះខ័ន), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia

Nick's WanderingsNick Morris

Friends told me to take some time at the temples to reflect and contemplate. All I wanted to do, particularly at the more busy and popular sites, was get out of there as quickly as possible.

Of the temples, my favourites were the smaller ones, such as Pre Rup (ប្រែរូប) and Preah Khan (ប្រាសាទព្រះខ័ន), that I visited on days 2 and 3 of my tour. I also liked Angkor Thom (អង្គរធំ), but that was because I was impressed with the social engineering and vision of the site and not any religious experience.

Cambodia — Day 2: Pre Rup (ប្រែរូប), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia

Pre Rup (ប្រែរូប), Angkor Archaeological Park, Angkor, Cambodia

Nick's WanderingsNick Morris

I had a more 'spiritual' experience looking at Lake Thetis’s stromatolites and later wandering around Western Australia’s Pinnacles than at the temples.

Australia — Stromatolites and Lake Thetis, Cervantes, WA 6511, Australia

Stromatolites and Lake Thetis, Cervantes, WA 6511, Australia - Looking back to where it all began

Nick's WanderingsNick Morris

Australia — Pinnacles Desert, Nambung National Park, Cervantes, WA 6511, Australia

Pinnacles Desert, Nambung National Park, Cervantes, WA 6511, Australia

Nick's WanderingsNick Morris