Khmer civilisation flourished around the year 1100 and remains from the "Angkor civilisation" can be found in Cambodia, Thailand & Laos. The capital was situated in the Angkor area (230km2) for more than 500 years but was abandoned around 1400. Since 1907 specialists have tried to reconstruct and rebuild what nature has claimed, about 50 temples and monuments of which Angkor Wat is the most wellknown.
Same tree from "inside" and "outside" the temple
Roots creep through every crack like enormous snakes
Traffic on the road to Banteay Srei
After a few intense days there is a risk of tempel "burnout", but watching the sunset from the top of Angkor Wat is one of those things you should do.
I have a bit of a problem with heights, but ...I´ll give it a try
Moral support from some monks on the way up.
...and high
Yes, I finally managed to climb down again, much to the relief of the guards who wanted to get home.
During the rainy seasonwhen the waterlevel of the Mekong river rises, the Tonle Sap river changes direction.
The waterlevel of the lake will rise up to 10 metres and almost double it´s size.(from about 3 to 10-16 thousand km2.)
Almost 1 million people live on or by the lake.
Here the pigs have their own raft.
Cambodia is one of the worlds 20 poorest countries. Almost half of the population is under 20 years old and after 20 years of war with more than 2 million dead there are many orphans and handicapped children.
Krousar Thmey (which means "new family" in Khmer) is an unpolitical helporganisation which takes care of more than 700 children and supports another 2500 with education etc. It also participated in establishing ECPAT i Cambodia.
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