The complex at Angkor Wat has at least 72 temples.  The small country of Cambodia has a couple thousand. Our guide would have been glad to show us all of them  “Less is more” I told him so we explored Angkor Wat and Ta Proehm, the so called “Tomb Raider” temple since it was made famous either by the show Lara Croft, tomb raider, or the movie, Temple of Doom –having seen neither I am not sure which. It was an example of the jungle reclaiming architecture with huge trees sprouting from the ruins and tree roots curling down around them.  We stopped briefly at the Bayon Temple,  (Temple of Faces) and, the next day, at Banteay Srei, known for its pink limestone.

Ankgor Wat was stunning – truly magnificent- the largest religious structure in the world.  The wall carvings depict Hindu myths,  the architectural design is in line with the winter solstice — the position of the sun carefully calculated so at sunrise it would be moving over and between the temple towers culminating at the main tower for the winter solstice.The upper level (our guide called it “entry to Heaven” although I am not sure that was its intent) had beautiful views of the surrounding countryside, showed the mixture of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths in its idolatry, and was permeated with spirituality. Ta Proehm was a lesson in humility — natural forces move in quickly when manmade projects are deserted.  The other two were neat but there are only so many temples one can absorb in a few days.

A word about Siem Riep– we loved it.  Our hotel, a small 48 room hotel, was not only luxurious but elegant with displays of artwork throughout.   The management sent me birthday acknowledgements, as did the restaurant where we had dinner the night of my fete.

Across the river and connected to our side by many beautifully lit bridges was a riotous, tumultuous, night market with a zillion restaurants of all flavors, stalls selling handicrafts, and general chaos. We rolled in late the first night and ended up with dinner in that area at a Greek restaurant  playing Cuban music – we couldn’t figure it out.

Our guide also arranged for us to go to the Phare one evening, an acrobatic show with a narrative line about a young man returning to his home village for a day.  We took a tuk-tuk over and back and it was terrific.  How do they manage such perfect splits mid-air?