Posted by
grouser (Ludlow, United Kingdom) on 5 March 2011 in Architecture and Portfolio.

The centre of the main Temple complex at Angkor. It is surrounded by a huge corridor with beautiful carved reliefs depicting scenes from Hindu mythology.
I notice in the guide book that there are stern injunctions to stick to well trodden paths and on no account to stray from them. Cambodia is the most heavily mined country in the world, with the longest minefield, laid by the Vietnamese along the border from the gulf of Thailand up to Laos. Pol Pot also laid many mines calling them his 'perfect soldiers'. Despite official denials there is strong evidence to indicate that expertise in mine-laying was supplied by the SAS under Margaret Thatcher's Government to the Sihanouk Pol Pot coalition. One of the features of visiting the temples are the land mine bands, mutilated victims trying to retain their independance and earn a living for their families in a country with little or no social provision.