Templed Out

Solitude at the Western Gate

This, Friends and Neighbors, is how one proudly displays a Codpiece

One image from the Elephant Terrace in Angkor Thom, the ancient city and center of the Khmer Empire.

Saturation. At least I knew it when it happened. After Angkor Wat, I cycled a dirt road to the West Gate of the ancient city of Angkor Thom. There i had my lunch of water and krolan, which I shared with a Cambodian kid. There was no one else there. Westerners generally do not use this gate. It was a wonderful bit of solitude that afforded the opportunity for reflection.

For the rest of the afternoon, I walked through the large loop of the Kings Palace area of Angkor Thom. As I climbed up and down the towers, trod the Elephant and Leper terraces, and threaded through the unending stream of more and yet more temples, I was done. There is more here than the human mind can take in.

I ended my Angkor explorations at just the right time. Any more and I would be overcome.

Trusty Rusty is back in the stables with the other, horrible rental bicycles. I am watching the sun sink from my rooftop terrace. Tomorrow I will take the boat from Siem Reap, across the Tonle Sap lake, and up a river to Battambang.

There is still so much more to be explored here at Angkor, but it will have to wait for another journey.