As Good As It Goetz Dispatches From A Road Warrior's Trek Around The Globe...

Ancient Playgrounds

CAMBODIA | Thursday, 12 April 2007 | Views [943]

As a little kid, I could take a bunch of cardboard boxes into my backyard, construct myself a makeshift fort, and be completely content to spend the bulk of a day crawling around the maze of narrow passages I’d created imagining they were elaborate fortresses and majestic palaces. Some twenty-five years removed from cardboard fort construction, not to mention halfway around the world, I found myself an adult substitute to again realize those childhood fantasies in the jungles of northern Cambodia.

A dozen centuries or so ago, the Khmer people constructed my adult playground in the form of hundreds of Angkor temples and palaces spread out over a few hundred square miles in the northwestern corner of the country. But, the myriad of vast complexes were nearly lost to the world after the Khmer civilization was overrun by invading Siamese armies and the area was subsequently abandoned for hundreds of years. In the ensuing centuries, most of the structures all but succumbed to the surrounding jungle which sought to devour the impressive edifices altogether.

Thankfully the ruins were rediscovered about 150 years ago and the treasures that lay beneath the thick layer of overgrowth were unearthed so that millions of visitors like myself could rekindle a piece of their distant youth (yeah, I’m sure that’s just what the Khmer civilization and current caretakers had in mind). Many of the structures remain in much the same shape as when they were (re)discovered, which is usually a mix of crumbling disarray amidst enduring examples of former grandeur still tenuously coexisting with the aggressive surrounding foliage. While some are undergoing restoration efforts, virtually none are restricted from being able to climb on, in, or around them to your heart’s content. It’s the perfect otherworldly playground for a thirtysomething adult, trading cardboard fortresses for elaborately constructed ancient temples and palaces.

While Angkor Wat may be the best known complex by name, the jungle ravaged ruins of Ta Phrom are among the best known images from the area. They remain pretty much in the same state in which they were discovered, with mammoth trees and their wild tangle of trunk-like roots asserting their dominance over, and on, much of the remaining complex. It provided the perfect environment to stir those memories of backyard fortresses with it’s eerie, but tantalizing, atmosphere and inviting surroundings.

For the better part of two hours I reverted to my eight-year-old self as I crawled in, around and over the compelling ruins which seemed purpose built for such endeavors. I explored the web of narrow, dank passageways that sometimes required me to crawl under or over fallen stone blocks that once served as a walls or part of a roof. I climbed inside the trunks of the immense trees that could devour five people my size, or just a small Angkor temple, without issue. I scrambled over and under the massive roots that could easily pass for trees themselves and stared in awe at the tangled web of roots that entwined themselves with temple walls and roof lines. I all but donned a fedora and whip to do my best Indiana Jones impression as I explored the wondrous lost world of the Khmer/Angkor empire.

The setting sun finally signaled that my playtime had come to an end and like a kid who treasures recess more than learning multiplication tables (that‘d be me), I left wishing that I could have just one more chance to climb around the mysterious and captivating ruins. But, I still managed to leave fully content at having enjoyed the many hours I did get to spend amidst the extraordinary constructs of the ancient Khmer dynasty. They were obviously, and thankfully, far beyond the simple cardboard fabrications of my youth, but proved to be equally adept - and more age appropriate - at capturing my imagination.

Tags: Adventures