I plan on updating my Picasa Web album with pictures from today’s visit. My initial thoughts are:

Wow.

One day is just enough time to realize that one day is not enough time.

In reading the history of Angkor Wat, it’s apparent that there are a lot of misconceptions about the temples being “lost”. On the other hand, it’s also clear from visiting the site that it’d be easy to “lose” a temple or two. The jungle is so thick and dense that you could be three feet from a temple structure and not know that it’s there. Angkor Wat itself involved excavating thousands of cubic meters of dirt just to uncover the original temple site. When you see the clear land in the photos, realize that it’s land that was cleared and is kept clear–it used to be incredibly dense jungle. One guide suggested that if maintenance work were halted, the temples would be completely overgrown in 20-30 years.

Archeological work on the temples has been going on for over 100 years now. Much has been done but so much more remains to do.

More pictures when I get better net connectivity!