By: Arnil Biswas &

A Journey Through An Samuel Lin Chen Wei

Y9N
Ancient Temple: Musings at
Angkor Wat

S weat poured through my head as we

were trekking through the hot and
humid temple complexes of the sprawling
Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia. I was
sipping my water bottle as my partner,
Samuel, panted heavily. Our backpacks
were too heavy for our weight, and as we
saw monks and fellow tourists clad in T-
shirts and digital cameras, calling forth the
attention of the temple's various towers.
Our tour guide followed us haplessly along
as he spent his breath explaining the
sights.

A s we explored deeper, we found

many interesting sights: the aged
inscriptions of various legends and
myths decorated the alleyways of what
was once an ancient temple, as our tour
guide aptly said. Monks dressed in orange
robes were located in and around the
façades of this once-thriving complex,
observing calmly at the hordes of tourists
coming in to observe. It was such a
mesmerising experience to look at and
ponder how the ancient Cambodians
managed to build such a massive structure, especially for the technology of their
time.
After leaving the temple, we felt an irresistible urge to return back, to once more re-
experience the calmness of the place. The temple we visited was not just like any
other temple—it was the largest temple on Earth. As the tuk-tuk carrying us out of
the complex and into the city, we couldn't stop thinking about that fact.