Sure Travel Journey Vol 4.4 Spring 2018 | Page 55

STJ 4.4
VISIONS
SPECIAL PHOTO
ISSUE
A H O L I DAY I N C A M B O D I A
OBIE OBERHOLZER TRAVELS TO CAMBODIA TO SEE, TASTE AND BE
Left: Initially constructed as a Hindu temple, Angkor Wat is the largest religious site on Earth.
ALL PHOTOS © OBIE OBERHOLZER
“
This page: The smaller, tucked away temples of Angkor Wat, devoid of throbbing crowds.
If there are
two words that
reverberate all over
Cambodia, they
are ‘Angkor’ and
‘Wat’. The ancient
temple complex
cloaks everything:
it’s all around and
everywhere
“
CAMBODIA PART I: ANGKOR WAT
If there are two words that reverberate
all over Cambodia, they are “Angkor” and
“Wat”. The ancient temple complex cloaks
everything: it’s all around, up and down, in
your face and everywhere. It’s on the flag,
a multitude of logos, bank notes, emblems
and some golden liquid that many people
pour down their throats.
“Ankor” means capital city in Khmer and
refers to the empire that existed from the
9th to the 15th centuries, situated north of
today’s modern city of Siem Reap. “Wat”
is a Hindu or Buddhist Temple, often called
a pagoda. This complex of more than 70
separate temples lies in an area of jungle
some 400 square kilometres, now a Unicef
World Heritage Site. The whole place is of
such magnificence and grandeur that it is
almost impossible for modern civilisation
to comprehend. It is the largest religious
site on Earth, and one of th