I Explored the Ancient Temples of CAMBODIA

For centuries deep in the jungles of Cambodia there has been a battle between ancient religious architecture and the nature that is slowly consuming it. I'm exploring some of the most iconic ancient ruins that exist today and being somewhere like this just ignites my curiosity because how could a civilization a thousand years ago have built something so complex and if they went to all of this effort then why was it left for the jungle to reclaim? That is exactly what I'm here to find out. Only since 1907 have we known much that was worth knowing about wondrous Angkor. We now know thanks to scientific discoveries that this main temple here at Angkor Wat is only a small fraction of what used to be a much larger sophisticated empire that was once thriving here. Between the 9th and 13th centuries this area of Southeast Asia was ruled by the once powerful Khmer Empire. With Angkor Wat as their capital they controlled a huge population of people and trade routes. Although the demise of the Khmer Empire has long been thought of as a mystery, scientific research points to their complex and fragile irrigation system having collapsed after a lack of maintenance and intense monsoon rains. Contrary to popular beliefs about the lost city, the areas surrounding the temple were never completely abandoned since there have been local villages living here throughout history. That being said, Angkor Wat was seen in a new light after a French naturalist named Henri Mouhot was exploring the jungle in 1860 and stumbled across the temples nearly by accident. Alright so Henri Mouhot may have not necessarily discovered this place but he did play an important role in shaping its history. He was basically the first person to write about this and make drawings of it from a western perspective and when his work made it back to Europe it started a frenzy. Archaeologists, photographers, and explorers all started traveling to Cambodia in search of adventure as well as the answers to some of the mysteries about this place. Angkor Wat was the largest religious monument ever constructed stretching across an estimated 400 acres of land in the heart of Cambodia. Angkor was originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu before it was later converted to Buddhism which you can still see being practiced on the temple grounds today. We can only imagine how grand and ornate these temples were in their prime but with the help of modern technology we can see virtual renderings of this once great kingdom before it fell into disrepair and vanished into the jungle. Wandering around the main temple grounds here at Angkor Wat and the first few drops of rain just started coming down. There is a storm rolling in and honestly pretty excited to see this place in the rain because it's so quiet and peaceful especially as the tourists are starting to trickle out of here but I think we're gonna stay around a while and see what it's like here in the rain. Wow I vastly underestimated how magical this place is in the rain just look at that. I've never seen anything quite quite like it and I've got to say this is already definitely top five maybe even top three crazy travel life experiences because this is just so peaceful and serene and now because of the rain again we basically have this place entirely to ourselves. You could spend days or even weeks exploring the regions surrounding Siem Reap. There are so many more temples than just what you can find on the main grounds of Angkor Wat and one thing to keep in mind when you're traveling around these places is wow it gets hot. I'm absolutely dripping sweat here and it just makes you think about the conditions in which these temples were constructed. It was either during the intense heat and humidity of the dry season or during the absolute downpour of the monsoon season. When visiting you can really feel how much love and respect the Cambodian people have for these temples and sacred places. They are so well cared for. You can tell how much is being invested in the preservation of the temples as well as how much the lands are being taken care of. I've never seen a piece of trash laying around in any of the different temples that I've visited. There are locals usually watching some of the different top destinations to make sure that the tourists are being respectful, not climbing on things that they shouldn't be, and overall it just feels like such a joy to see these places being taken care of by the stewards of the land, the local Cambodian people. Exploring Angkor Wat has been the trip of a lifetime. Thank you for joining me on this adventure across Cambodia. Don't forget to subscribe and also let me know in the comments where you think I should travel next. But until that time comes, let's push our limits.