Entry 9: On Higher Ground

Song of the Moment: Over the Pond by The Album Leaf

I told the driver that I wanted to cover as much ground as possible, and didn’t mind starting early. So at 6AM, I was already leaving the hotel to start my long awaited exploration of the mystical city of Siem Reap, Cambodia. I clearly made the right decision. 

I visited a total of eight temples in just one day.  The driver told me that people normally visit just TWO temples in one day. It’s either they’re too tired after two temples or they take so long to explore both. It didn’t take me so long to cover that many temples. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t able to scale the temples as much as I wanted to. I actually did... Absorbing the statues’ or the wall carvings’ energy as much as I could. I was moved by the way the morning light hit the smiling statues of the Bayon Temple. I climbed through almost 4-storeys of steep stairs at the Angkor Thom Temple. I bought little trinkets from children at the Ka Teo and Chao Say Tevoda Temple. I marveled at the aged roots of trees growing out of the Ta Phrom Temple. I touched the woman carvings in pink stone at the Banteay Srei Temple. And I touched the Bas reliefs and felt the energy of the walls inside the Angkor Wat. What a truly spiritual experience it was. 

I’m really glad that I was able to schedule my trip to Cambodia midway through my itinerary. It’s a good break from the cosmopolitan city lifestyle I’m generally used to. Plus, it was the perfect avenue to meditate on life and take in as much positive energy I could. There were moments when I found myself just sitting on the centuries-old rocks, closing my eyes, and imagining myself as part of the lost civilization. I told Enzo that I wouldn’t be surprised to know that I actually served in one of these temples in another life. (I particularly felt a strong connection with the Bayon Temple.) I would have believed it. 

Cambodia is one place I’ll definitely return to in this lifetime. I know that seeing the temples will no longer bring about the same kind of excitement as it did with the first visit, but the next visit will be an experience of deeper proportions. In my heart, I know that visiting Cambodia will always elicit a feeling of coming home.