International Travel Adventure

Have you ever wanted to just travel back in time? We’ve all seen it accomplished in the Michael J. Fox movie series Back To The Future. Many have even seen how it can actually be done, in Somewhere In Time, with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve. (When I tried it, though, the results were less than spectacular – perhaps because I was concentrating on Jane Seymour instead of the performer she played in the movie…?) With today’s technology, however, it is possible to travel back in time, albeit with a bit of expense involved.

Yes, expense – that of the price of a plane ticket (for most of us) to Phnom Penh in Southeast Asia. The first destination would be Siem Reap, Cambodia. This northwest part of Cambodia is where you will find the roughly forty square mile area of Angkor. Once the capital of the Khmer Empire (approximately 800 A.D. – 1200 A.D.), it was abandoned in 1431 A.D. following the Khmer kingdom’s conquest. The ancient temples and monuments are among the world’s premier architectural sites. The highlight, Angkor Wat temple, was built at the beginning of the twelfth century by King Suryavarman, taking 25,000 workers over thirty-seven years to complete.

Rediscovery by the outside world waited over 400 years - until 1860; that is when French botanist Henri Mahout happened upon it, deep in the jungle. Dedication to the Hindu god Vishnu is made apparent by the many exquisite statues, carvings, and bas-reliefs found throughout. It is fortified by a moat that is 570 feet wide. Nearby is also the lesser-known Angkor Thom, another fortified city in which stands the Bayon, the last great temple built in the Angkor area. Upon arrival, one is struck by the light and shadow play of the towers amidst the steamy jungle and undergrowth, evoking an atmosphere of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

For those wishing to travel back in time to the twelfth century, there is the twentieth century Grand Hotel Angkor. With its fourteen acres of gorgeous gardens, state-of-the-art spa, and recently restored 1930s colonial splendor, it makes the perfect home base from which to step into the past.

Next post will show the way to even more remote times, for even greater travel adventure!

If you’re still unsure of anything about your next international travel - and you want it to be cheaper, safer, and more adventurous, get my free “Smart Tips Handbook” available exclusively to Registered Readers! Click the link below.

International Travel Adventure

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 12:25 pm and is filed under Travel Ideas, Travel Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.