At the beginning of this month of ministry my squad found ourselves in a bit of a conundrum. Our Thai Visas ran out on April 11 but our ministry sites wouldn’t be ready for us until April 17 because of the Khmer New Year so the fifty of us got to enjoy something unheard of on the World Race for the 4 days in between, a vacation.
When we pulled up to our guesthouse in Siem Reap I couldn’t help but feel De Ja Vu, it was literally the same guesthouse I stayed in when I visited Siem Reap 2 years ago. They even had a sign hung up to welcome us.
When you get down to it Siem Reap is known for one thing and one thing only, Angkor. An ancient complex of temples dating from the 9th to 15th century AD (or CE if you want to be politically correct), and interestingly enough it was also one of the largest pre-industrial cities the collapsed due to of course, war.
Now I’m not a huge fan of temples, for obvious reasons, but, being a History geek, the architectural history of Angkor is magical to me, I even wrote a thesis on it in college.
So, although it was as hot as the surface of the sun, we braved the heat for a few hours and ventured out for a photo shoot among the ruins.
(I’m still so amazed that you can just climb up on the ruins!)
Isn’t it just so cool? I feel so lucky. As a child looking through my fathers National Geographics I never thought I’d get to go to Angkor once let alone twice and I think three times would be a little to much, so I’m pretty content for now…
…and I’m so excited to show you the gorgeous part of Cambodia that I call home this month amidst the rice paddies of Kampong Speu, but that’s coming later!
