The Gods' Toybox

The various temple complexes in Cambodia, in and around the Angkor Wat complex are the Gods' toybox of temples. The Gods', not having been brought up very well, don't put their toys back very well, scattering them nearer or further away from the toybox depending on their whim. They also don't look after their toys very well - some have been slammed down; some twisted and broken while being played with; and some more or less whole.

Angkor Wat and other surrounding temple complexes (and they stretch, as far as I could tell, virtually all the way across Cambodia) is like no other place on earth. It is the only place I have been where a painted or drawn picture, even if one of the mass produced tourist souvenirs, is likely to contain more truth than all but the very best of photographs. The place is about atmosphere rather than detail, and even with the millions of tourists that go there, there are resonances of the atmosphere very evident.

Here are less truthful images of some of the contents of the toybox.