At Wat Phou - the Mountain Monastery

I made my way down South to walk through the ancient ruins of Wat Phou: being in person at a location, without having certainty that my physical presence will inspire or influence my imagination of the evolutionary story of our civilization. Visiting a World Heritage Site allows me, beside the fact of acknowledgement by a global community about the significance of a particular place to mankind, to add the possibility of making myself a picture from different angles and perspectives. It's not about theory, nor a case study, but rather the power of the momentum that authentic experiences unleash.

In fact, I decided for that reason to visit instead of the "must-see" site of Angkor Wat in Cambodia two locations that receive less package tour visitors, Ayutthaya in Thailand - next on my way back to Bangkok - and Wat Phou. 

The day I was walking through the remains of the latter and sitting under the shady trees overgrowing the loose reassembled stone blocks indeed took me on a journey of thoughts of mystery and fairytales - just as in former childhood days.

On the more scientific level I could imagine a research project that comes up with a 3D model of the site that supports projections how life may have been some 1500 years ago. It appears to me most of the present arrangement of original stone blocks only serves to give a provisional idea of structure and dimensions. In addition it looks like the physical reconstruction initiatives with donor support from India and Italy came to a halt. I imagine that is an "endless" and expensive undertaking. Wake up UNESCO, in my opinion a World Heritage Site deserves an up-to-date presentation, using the advantages of new digital and educational technologies.

Link to more pictures of the trips around Champasak Province:
Wat Phou - the Mountain Monestary
Champasak - once a capital of an ancient kingdom
Easy Rider - a road trip to the highlands of the Bolaven Plateau