We have been in Siem Reap, Cambodia for the past few days. Angkor Wat and a huge collection of other mind-boggling temples are a few kilometers out of town, so this is where the tourists stay. A combination of very hot and humid weather, a traffic accident which means power is rationed in the region and so we only have electricity from 6pm-midnight, and a lot of bicycling and sight seeing has precluded us from writing details yet. Today, for example, we woke up at 3AM to eat some breakfast and have coffee before cycling to Angkor Wat to see it at sunrise; we spent about 8 hours in total viewing temples before coming back to the guest house for a nap, then early dinner, and now bed at 8.

The most striking thing so far is that we know very little about the temples (e.g., we do not know why Angkor Wat faces west, rather than east), because, in addition to killing 10% of the population (monks, teachers, you name it), the Khmer Rouge government (under Pol Pot) also destroyed almost all historical artifacts, records, and about 7000 structures (temples). So you have the largest religious structure in the world, and a dozen or so other mind-boggling architectural marvels, and know almost nothing about them. Like, why they were abandoned.

— The Professor