![]() ![]() "For the very reason that somewhere no longer exists, it can be transformed into the ideal city, the city of one's dreams," wrote Aude de Tocqueville in her 2014 book Atlas of Lost Cities: A Travel Guide to Abandoned and Forsaken Destinations. Chisels rang out as artisans created the exquisite masterpieces around me, while grandiose kings paraded through wide avenues lined with statuary. In my mind's eye, throngs of worshippers carried bright offerings. ![]() But wandering through temple after temple, I slipped easily into imaginative reverie. ![]() It was my first day at Angkor, and I knew little of the city's history then. The trippy portraits swelled from towers and walls, each one with plump lips curved into an unnerving smile. Late afternoon sun cast long shadows across hundreds of stone faces carved into Bayon Temple as I scrambled deeper into the 12th Century shrine at the heart of Cambodia's sprawling Angkor site. ![]()
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