The Smile of Khmer (Part Four)

We continue to move away from the city of Siem Reap, heading towards a mysterious place. This season is not the rainy season, the intense sunlight evaporates the scant water in the river channels, the trees by the road droop wearily, their leaves covered with dust. In the afternoon sunlight, Beng Mealea lies in a disordered and desolate beauty, asleep amidst the dense jungle overgrown with vines~ The Roluos group, engulfed by the surrounding villages, consists of Bakong, Lolei, and Preah Ko temples. Many of these ancient ruins have collapsed, and not far away, there are newly built temples that are splendid and magnificent. Monks in bright yellow robes move among them. Under the stairs of Bakong temple, many children from the village sing a melodious song in Chinese about handsome brothers and beautiful sisters. Our country's travel armies come and go in convoys, roaring in and out~ Finally, as the sunset falls, everything returns to calm. The dirt road through the village is deserted. In the oldest ruins of this country, I found the feeling I had as a youth sitting among the ruins of the Old Summer Palace, feigning sorrow.