Ankor What?

Provided by: Sarah Aves

Although thousands of people travel to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat every year, there are still many who do not even know about it. I was recently one of them until early last year. I first heard about Angkor Wat from one of my professors at Mount Royal University. I had mentioned that I was planning on going to Southeast Asia and he said that I couldn't miss Angkor Wat.

Provided by: Sarah Aves

Once I started to do my research I realized what an amazing place Angkor Wat is. Remember the scene in the first Tomb Raider where she walks through an amazing old temple where the trees have grown into it? I remember how cool I thought that was and how I wish there were things like that today. Well sure enough the scene in Tomb Raider was set in Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat is known as the lost city because a westerner rediscovered it in 1860, meanwhile Khmer's (specific group of Cambodians) have consistently used the ruins as a religious site over the centuries. Angkor Wat actually consists of many different temples. Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the area while every other temple looks different and has it's own name.

It is amazing to think about civilizations just disappearing and how monuments so tremendous could be forgotten. Today the temples have been worn down but considering they have lasted for over 500 years, they are still in pretty good shape. Just one more of the amazing wonders that the past has to offer us.