Logo
Prev
Bookmark
Rotate
Print
Next
Contents
All Pages
Related Articles
Browse Issues
Help
Search
Home
'
National Geographic : 1964 Oct
Contents
included not only Cambodia but much of present-day Thailand, Laos, and Viet Nam. Not until 1432, after their enemies the Thai had sacked the capital, did the Khmer finally abandon Angkor. Today tourists land at nearby Siem Reap airport to take guided tours, swim in ancient reservoirs, watch Cambodian ballet, and buy gaudy miniatures of Angkor's sculptures. Impatient to see the ruins, I drove north ward from Siem Reap with my friend Lo Nguy, a young student of archeology work ing in the Office National de Tourisme. We stopped near the south gate of Angkor Thom, literally, "Great City." And great it was! A wide moat and wall outlined the pre cincts of the long-dead metropolis, a giant square two miles on each side.* We walked across the wide moat, choked with blossoming lotus. A few yards away a *See "Angkor, Jewel of the Jungle," by W. Robert Moore, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, April, 1960. Sundown silhouettes a sugar harvester near Kampot. Mornings and evenings he scrambles up rickety 50-foot poles to collect juice from flowers of toddy palms. Bamboo pails hang from his belt. 524
Links
Archive
1964 Nov
1964 Sep
Navigation
Previous Page
Next Page