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I think I just made an accidental pilgrimage. Now back in Bangkok, the past four days are a blur, where Monday morning I bought a ticket to Cambodia and in the afternoon I was stepping off a plane in Siem Reap. I was in a place I never thought I'd be, seeing things previously known to me only through films, like the ending of Wong Kar Wai's In The Mood For Love.

August 5th: Accidental Pilgrimage

Esilbert
2006-01-19 13:38:08

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I think I just made an accidental pilgrimage. Now back in Bangkok, the past four days are a blur, where Monday morning I bought a ticket to Cambodia and in the afternoon I was stepping off a plane in Siem Reap. I was in a place I never thought I'd be, seeing things previously known to me only through films, like the ending of Wong Kar Wai's In The Mood For Love.

There I was, the next morning, as the outlines of ancient temple Angkor Wat rose like spears out of the pre-dawn darkness. How did I get there? Why was I crying? The roosters were crowing and the Cambodian tour guides were chatting and smoking indifferently as the tourists sat and watched the background lighten as the triumvirate towers of Angkor darkened temporarily before the rising of the sun.

And then a sudden slice of sunlight hit me in the eye, pointing, selecting me and I felt then my incredible luck; to have been able to do all of this, to travel and change my plans as I desired so I could witness this sunrise, these magical buildings. A moment later the light was slicing bits of the ruins, illuminating the carvings of the Apsaras, the celestial nymphs that adorn so many of the temples at Angkor.

I made my way slowly with Christine, my new friend and travel partner who I met at the peace organization conference I attended in Bangkok, to the monument. And as we approached the scale became more apparent. Angkor Wat is massive. Full of doorways, tiers, and an overwhelming number of steps, the Khmer people tried, when they built Angkor Wat, to represent the order and creation of the universe in this one temple. After climbing those steps, and getting the view from one of the three towers, you may even get a sense of the omniscience of the gods.

The structure of Angkor Wat makes each turn a surprise, with a discovery of a saffron draped Buddha, or a series of doorways within doorways. Outside the temple is ...