The Only Thing Missing Here is Angelina Jolie......

..... and if this photo looks famliar its because this is the entrance where Lara Croft in the movie Tomb Raiders supposedly fell into the tomb. In reality the dirt floor inside is only six inches below the doorsill but it made for a good movie.
The Ta Prohm Temple has created a real dilema for historians, archaeologists and naturalists here in Cambodia. The temple is being overrun and destroyed by the forest and features priceless and unusual carvings and statuary so for now the officials are trying to cut back the forest without destroying the trees and shore up the collapsing temple walls and what you get today is a tour through very, very ancient ruins in a surrealistic setting.

















It's not known how the Cambodian government is going to deal with this problem....there are far too many other problems and too little money. After a genocidial civil war that killed millions and a persistant landmine problem that maims and kills thousands of children and farmers every year, these temples unfortunately are not the first priority.
The nearby Banteay Srei Temple is very small but considered one of the most exquisite examples of intricate stonecarving to exist in Cambodia. It is considered a crown jewel in classical Khmer statuary and dates back to the 10th Century. The name Banteay Srei translates into "Citadel of Women" and the statues here are prominently those of female divinities set in recessed niches of the many towers.
As you walk around the small complex you are struck by the attention to detail. Entering the complex across the obligatory moat, you are literally forced to bend over at the waist (in effect, required to bow down) as you pass through the doorways and all the steps are so narrow that you are forced to walk up them sideways (thus never pointing your feet toward the gods). The following photos show just a few of the beautiful detailed features of the temple:





















On a more somber note, Ta Prohm and Banteay Srei temples are about 18 miles northeast of the town of Siem Reap where I spent the night. At these and other temples, there is always a band of men playing traditional Cambodian music (flute with the wooden xylophones). The music they create can be heard throughout the temples and lend a real sense of serenity and beauty for visitors. Unfortunately these musicians are missing hands and feet or are blind because of landmines. These two temples were, until recently, seldom visited by tourists because of the danger of landmines.
In 1975 the Khmer Rouge overthrew the government of Cambodia and began a campaign of relocating the people to the countryside and forcing them to work in forced labor camps. Landmines were literally sown across the countryside. As many as three million Cambodians were killed in ethnic cleansing that included many children. At the worst of the Khmer Rouge era an army of children as young as ten or twelve years old fought and died. Most of us have heard of the "Killing Fields of Cambodia" but we can't imagine the magnitude of the suffering it involved. This area I visited today was directly affected by both the landmines and the indiscriminate killing. Signs warning of mines are still posted on trees along the road we traveled today. There is a minefield museum--I didn't stop to visit but out front are many disabled mines, shells and cluster bombs. It is easy to blame the communists and Khmer Rouge for all this but the truth is many of these bombs and mines were dropped by the United States in a clandestine war against the Viet Cong in a campaign known as Operation Menu in the 1970s. Many of the shells still have "United States" markings on them.
And while seeing the maimed musicians outside the archaeological sites is bad enough, nothing prepares you for the maimed children that are selling books and postcards. But, as my guide told me, it gets worse because in many ways these children are the lucky ones because they are still alive. Almost weekly a child finds a landmine and doesn't recognize it and gets killed. And during the "killing fields" period many, many children were among the victims. At Siem Reap, in front of the Buddhist temple, is a shrine dedicated to the victims of the killing fields with skulls and bones displayed. Many of those skulls are those of children. It's impossible to remain complacent about the world problem of landmines and genocide after a visit here.