Places where the faithful gather

I’ve visited both the spectacular and the simplest of places where the faithful gather.

A visit to Angkor Wat near Siem Reap in Cambodia is probably the place I will always remember.

The complex is huge and the construction history reminds me of the pyramids in Egypt.

Completed in 1110 A.D., the complex has many Hindu carvings in it, but sometime along the way it was taken over by the Buddhists.

The quarry where the stone came from is 50 miles away.

The earliest person to visit the site stated that it was more spectacular than anything in Rome.

In the more modern times, it was discovered partially hidden by the encroaching jungle by the Frenchman Henri Mouhot, who was collecting samples of butterflies.

Angkor wasn’t lost, just largely ignored. The complex is several times larger than Vatican City.

I was there and visited the Angkor complex before it became a destination tourist attraction.

I hired a bike taxi to take me to the site and was warned by some 10- to 12-year-olds that if I hired them to take me inside, they would keep me from the cobras that roamed the site at will. I chose to go it alone.

The temple is regularly used by Buddhists today.