Like a small boy wraps his arms possessively around his new puppy, so do the massive fig and silk-cotton trees wrap their roots around the majestic temple of Ta Prohm.

As the empire put it's resources into building, it's neighboring country, Siam (now Thailand), began successive attacks, finally culminating in the sacking of Angkor in 1432 . It's believed the complex network of reservoirs and canals built to sustain the population of approximately 1 million also contributed to Angkors downfall. The canals began to silk up from erosion and deforestation. One large reservoir broke and two droughts took their toll. After the defeat by the Siam Navy, Angkor moved their capitol to Phnom Penh, abandoning centuries of buildings to the Cambodian jungles.

Relocating a million inhabitants and inventory must have been an awesome challenge. The Angkorian era had lasted from 802 to 1432. The Kingdom of Cambodia was one of the most powerful civilizations on the planet during this time.

Over the next few centuries the Angkor Area, including Angkor Wat and all the other temples were claimed by the jungle. Cutting through the jungle in the later 16th century, a Khmer king and his entourage stumbled on the ruins, as did some Spanish traders years later. But, not until the 19th century, when the French "rediscovered" the area, did any action begin to restore the area .

Angkor Wat was not overtaken by the jungle as heavily as many temples were because of the large moat surrounding it. But, other temples were buried beneath the jungle. One temple in particular, Ta Prohm, was discovered covered with massive trees and jungle foliage.

The French had colonized Cambodia and, on rediscovering the temple, Ta Prohm, in 1860, decided not to conduct a full-scale restoration of the temple. The decision was made due to the fact that giant trees were so merged with ancient walls that eventually they became whole. The trees actually got their start in the silt and moss that collected on top of the temples.The dirt and undergrowth was cleared just enough to access the temple, but the trees were left as they were found, with their roots spreading over stones and probing walls. Their branches spread a canopy over the structures. Ta Prohm, unlike the other temples, was largely left to the grip of the living jungle. So now, we can see this wonder of nature and man made creation as it became entwined after centuries of abandonment.

Both Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones Temple of Doom were filmed here. In the central sanctuary is the "Tomb Raider Tree", where Angelina Jolie picked a jasmine flower and was sucked beneath the earth.

The original building of Ta Prohm began in 1186 AD . The temple walls were decorated with precious stones and beautiful music played as the halls filled with dancing.

There is a rare inscription at Ta Prohm, written in stone and still in place. It says there were 79,365 people to maintain the temple. Also there were 18 great priests, 2,740 officials, 2,202 assistants and 615 dancers.

Among the property belonging to the temple was a set of golden dishes weighing more than 1100 pounds, 35 diamonds, 40,620 pearls, 4,540 precious stones, 876 veils from China, 512 silk beds and 523 parasols. I read where often the numbers like this were exaggerated to make the king look better, it still must have been quite a temple.

This temple was both large and wealthy. It included 260 statues of gods, 36 towers, and 566 groups of residences.

Some areas of the temple are impassable and others are accessible only by narrow dark passages . If you are not with a guide you are advised to follow the plan with a map to avoid getting lost.

Ta Prohm temple also includes an "Echo Chamber". The locals believe the echo chamber was a place to remove their worries and also for healing mental or physical illnesses, or just to relieve their tensions. You go into the room that has 3 walls and stand with your back against one of the outside walls. You then thump your chest over your heart seven times (7 days of week). Then you hear the echo of your chest thumping in the chamber.

Vines, some as wide as an oak tree, split massive stones in two and spill over the temple walls. Creeping plants and moss grow freely over the ruins.

Even though it's in extreme ruin, it is still possible to explore many of the towers and courtyards. The hallways are very narrow and underneath growing foliage, you can find some beautiful bas-reliefs (stone etchings) . There are piles of carved stones in many of the corridors, making them impassible.

The Wats in the Angkor area are usually a few miles apart. Each one was built with its own character and design. The king at the time wanted it built to represent his reign.

Antonio and I have been riding since 5 a.m. It is now early afternoon and we are continuing our bicycle trip through the Angkor Park area, having wandered off on the 'dangerous road' earlier in the day..

There are many temples and I took so many pictures that time restricts me from labelling each one according to the temple they were taken at. In many of the temples you would need to climb the narrow stairs on hands and knees because of the incline and the narrowness of the steps. But, on some, a new stairway with handrails had been built over part of the original steps. The original stairs are still there, but the new ones with the handrails make it easier for us 21st century humans to climb to the top.

Looking up at the ceilings, I am amazed at how they are constructed . The roof comes to a point and the huge blocks come together in a point, each side supporting the other. I got a good photo or two of this.

In one photo you will see some blocks on the ground. These are stones that have fallen from the temple and will be replaced. The temples continue to deteriorate, and the huge stones must be replaced. The stones on the ground are large but by no means are they the biggest in the make-up of the temples. Just amazing how these things were built with just human effort.

At one point I saw a young boy in monks robe sitting on one of the stairways. I see young boys, sometimes as young looking as 8 or 10 in monks robes. This confused me, so I asked around about it. In Thailand, I found out every boy must serve some time as a monk. I think it can be anytime in their life and for any lenght of time. Many boys will serve in the temple as a monk for 3 months and then go back to the regular society, some for only a few days and others for years. It seems to work about the same way in Cambodia .

We visited several more temples before the day was over. At one of the temple ruins, we saw a wedding getting ready to take place. They will have an awesome backdrop for their ceremony.

As we toured one of the temples, a boy met us at one spot and offered his tour service. They do this sometime and you are not obligated to accept. But, if you do, they expect a small tip when finished. 50 cents is suggested. I hired the 50 cent guide. Actually, he was pretty knowledgeable and gave us some good information. These kids don't work for anyone, they just show up and start trying to make some tip money on their own.

One of Antonios' goals was to get one of the cords the monks tie around your wrist when you go to them. It is supposed to get you good luck. He saw someone in the Ta Prohm temple giving them out. He went in while I waited outside and the person tied one on his wrist after his blessing. The man was not in monks robe, though, so I am not sure what his connection was .

As soon as Antonio came out a big bird made a dropping on the front of his shirt. My Portugese friend got very upset. Maybe, because the guy was not a monk is why things went wrong, he thought! instead of good luck maybe he was headed for bad luck? Later in the day this idea was enforced as we we confronted with the "mafia" situation.

After photographing the rest of the ruins, and especially the tree roots, we headed out the back of the complex. 

Rather than go back through the whole complex we had just come through to get out, Antonio suggested we walk around the walls back to our bikes, to avoid all the crowd inside. Since we both like hiking and biking, this seemed like a good idea.

We turned left and headed along the back wall. You will see a photo of it. There is a cow on one side of the trail and a couple of school kids ahead of Antonio .

We had misjudged the distance around the city walls and the walk seemed to never end. Finally, the kids turned off in the opposite direction for home, I guess. We turned left, finally, along the wall that should lead us to the paved road where we left our bikes.

As we made our turn up the side wall, there was no road. Only a small trail through the woods. We had come too far to turn back now, though, so we kept going, sure the bikes were not far away. We never saw anyone for about 45 minutes, then a motorbike came from the other direction. The guy stopped and said the park area would close in less than an hour and we must be out of the area or it could cause us a lot of trouble. He was being helpful, it seemed, and not aggresive, so we thanked him and he rode away down the wooded trail we had just come through. He was a park guard or something, but not in any type of uniform.

Thirty minutes later we are still walking in the woods . How big is this thing we're walking around? The sun is starting to drop and we are still in the woods. Then, another motorbike comes towards us. The guy tells us he is with the park but has no uniform or i.d. to show. He keeps saying, "You must trust me. The Police Mafia will find you here, and big trouble."

Before coming to Cambodia, I had read "If you ever need anything, do not go to the Police. They are not there to serve and protect."

Between Antonio and I we were able to understand most of his broken English. He wants us to get on his bike and ride out. No money, he says. We don't know whether to trust him or not. We think surely we are not far from the road. We want to just keep walking. He insists, "You must trust me, no charge".

Antonio and I discuss it between ourselves and decide to give him a try. It sounds odd, he wants to take us out on his bike but wants no money in exchange . But, we decide if he turns into the woods instead of straight down the wall, we will bail form the bike. We hope no friends are waiting along the way.

We ride for 20 minutes on that bike before we get to our road, then another 10 minutes to get to our bikes. We could not believe we were that far back in the woods. The guy let us off at our bikes and rode away. He stopped a little ways off at a drink stand to get something and we got our bikes. I looked at Antonio and we were surprised he was really just wanting to help us and not wanting money. How did he know we were there? Did the other biker call him? I walked down to where he was and paid him for bringing us out, really grateful he showed up and we took a chance with him.

Around noon we had wandered off onto a "dangerous road" and now almost got messed up with the police mafia. But, the day is not over.

Once on our bikes we head for Siem Reap . It's a long ride with many miles to go, and we will be riding well after dark. 

Just before dark we spot some monkeys playing in the woods along the river and road. We stopped and fed them some bananas we had bought earlier. They are wild and if they bite or scratch you, you will end up in the hospital getting rabies shots. They are not afraid though, and come close to us as we pitch our bananas to them.

The ride home is great. We arrive around 8 p.m. What a wonderful day riding around exploring one of the Wonders of the World.

Tomorrow we ride again.

(Note: I wanted to make clear as you read these Angkor entries that Angkor refers to the entire Temple area about the size of modern day New York City, Angkor Wat is just one Temple in the area that was populated by around 1 million people in its day. Also, these posts are coming a lot slower because my internet connection in Cambodia is often not available or very slow and makes it very very difficult to write and post the entries. Sign up for notifications if you haven't already).