The Baphuon jigsaw puzzle and the King's Sleeping Tower

I got to sneak into the Baphuon - the world's largest jigsaw puzzle.
The French archaeologists took apart the ruin to reinforce the failing
foundation, laying out more than 2 million stones around the temple.
Only then the unthinkable happened - Murphy's Law in action - Pol
Pot's regime. And every piece of record of where the stones fit has
been destroyed. Only now, by literally drawing and measuring every
stone, and then computer-matching them, were the archaeologists able
to resume the rebuilding of the great Baphuon...and they are still
working on it. But it's magnificent even as it is, overlooking much of
Angkor Thom.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
05/24/2013 Tonsai Beach, Thailand Home, Sweet Home!  Photo credit:  www.lederhosening.com I come out onto my patio and see a root of a banyan tree wiggle. Wait. That's no root. That's an iguana camouflaging as one – humbly looking for breakfast. A big one. Craggy karst rocks pierce the horizon in Pandora-esque starkness. The sky is crochet with a white-to-lilac cumulus nimbus, the temperature gently hovering around the “just perfect” mark. A hammock rocks gently under a leafy tree in the winds of the Andaman, as the milky-turquoise steamy waves sing a hymn to this paradise. In that hammock no more than a few metres from the shore, lays a blond girl clad in diaphanous raw silk holding a furry black cat. She is me. Azure butterflies sprinkle themselves like oversized confetti throughout the jungle. The bull frogs vibrate the jungle with moans that would put most peacocks in heat to shame. The cicadas cast their hypnotic spell over the fecund forest on the s...
Read more

My Jjimjilbanging Seoul

Image
01.28.2013 Seoul, South Korea My Jjimjilbanging Seoul Korea is a busy place. The work hours are long and vacations are short for most locals. A 12 hour work day is customary. A five-day a year vacation – a norm. The kids are not exempt from this working frenzy – an average child attends 4 after-school academies, making “Johnny a dull boy.” Yet, no complaint is to be heard. Neither from an adult nor from a child. To a question “How do you do it?” a frequent response is “oh, it's just my job...” while the kids just shrug their shoulders as if it hasn't even occurred for them to question this state of affairs. Truly, a a curious way of acceptance. However, I believe, there is one “escape hatch” that helps Koreans brave the freezing winters and intense working conditions in this tiny, densely-populated country. The Jjimjilbangs, a Korean spin on the Roman Baths, and Oncheon – jjimjilbangs built on the natural hot springs, of which there are over 400 in Korea. If...
Read more

True Colours of Utah

Image
11.29.2012 Crystallizing Utah Utah is many things....and amazing fall colours are its hallmark. Bear Creek canyon near Mt. Nebo, UT, was my daily "stomping ground" for a few months. The trails there are steep, the air - fresh, and the colours - breathtaking. See for yourself! Ascending Mt. Nebo Our heroic Cat has multiplied yet again. Behold - left to right - Charcoal, Peach, Felty, Tigra. Our furry "Utah fruit" two months later.
Read more