Ancient Temples Face Modern Assault

"In the 10th century, this was a perfect creation, a structure built with mathematical and religious harmony and where the king and a few of his monks would come to worship," John H. Stubbs, the World Monuments Fund vice president for field projects, said as he surveyed the crowds on the temple summit.

"But now, look at this," he said. "It simply was not built for these thousands of people to be here at once. Tourism is a double-edged sword. We want everyone to appreciate the importance of Angkor's temples, but not like this."

The Cambodian government has come under fire over Angkor. Only a few local and foreign businesses appear to be benefiting from the economic boom generated by the ruins, by far Cambodia's largest tourist attraction.

The concession to run the admissions center -- which generates tens of millions of dollars a year that preservationists say is rarely pumped back into the site itself -- was granted to a politically connected company run by a powerful Cambodian businessman. Many of the street vendors who now peddle trinkets inside the park have come from the capital, Phnom Penh, rather than nearby villages.

As a result, the rural province surrounding Angkor remains the third-poorest in Cambodia, despite the opening of a string of five-star hotels and shopping arcades in the nearby town of Siem Reap, according to a study released in 2005 by the Cambodian Development Resource Institute.

"We are doing the best we can under the circumstances," said Chau Sun Kerya, tourism director at APSARA, the Cambodian government body in charge of Angkor. "Do we want to have a better plan for crowd control? Do we want more monitoring of the temples? Of course we do, but we simply don't have the funds to do it quickly."

But the government has found the means to push forward on initiatives designed to lure even greater numbers to the park. In recent weeks, authorities launched a pilot program with Korean tour operators for a nighttime "sound and light" show at Angkor Wat. There, massive spotlights and electrical cords run along the sides of the main temple, a structure so large that four St. Peter's Basilicas could fit inside its footprint. A Japanese tourism company has been granted rights to hold large, moonlit banquets inside the park grounds at $60 per person.

"Angkor has become a sort of cultural Disneyland," said Khin Po Thai, a longtime Angkor guide and preservation activist. "We are overwhelmed by the crowds we have now, but they are still trying to bring in more and more people. No one ever sees where the money goes. It certainly doesn't go back into preservation."

Without doubt, Angkor has had its share of good times and bad. The great King Jayavarman II began erecting his capital city here in A.D. 802, founding the Khmer Empire that held sway over what is now Cambodia, as well as much of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, from the 9th century to the 12th.

At its peak, the city boasted a population of more than 1 million, with part of its cultural importance stemming from a mixed religious influence that resulted in a magnificent diversity of stunningly intricate reliefs. Starting as a Hindu city, Angkor turned to Buddhism in later centuries. Its religious life always included a strong dose of animism as well.

After the city's final fall in the early 15th century, it descended into obscurity. Although glimpsed sporadically by foreign travelers and pilgrims in later years, it regained global attention only in 1864, with the publication of the French explorer Henri Mouhot's book "Travels in Siam, Cambodia and Laos," about his visits to the ruins.

The temples suffered during and after the communist Khmer Rouge era in the 1970s and '80s. But since the early 1990s, a growing campaign has been underway to restore the ruins. The massive preservation effort now involves archaeological teams from at least 12 countries.

"Our goal is to try to prolong the life of this incredible site for as long we possibly can," Stubbs said. "We understand the clear need to have tourists visit the temples, and of course we want them to see this great achievement by mankind. But we also need to understand that the real focus should be keeping them safe."