angkor wat in cambodia, most of you are aware, is the largest hindu temple in the world. it is no longer an active hindu temple, though: the eight-armed vishnu has been reconceived as the buddha, and he is worshipped by buddhists there; moreover, the temple itself is more of a national monument than a religious structure now, although some of the immense bas-reliefs, from the mahabharata in particular are extraordinary. one depicting the kurukshetra battlefield is my favorite. another great one is one on the death of bali, brother of sugriva.

last year, when i went to angkor wat, i made three mistakes:

1. didn't manage to get to the national museum in phnom penh

2. didn't bring a good enough digital camera (mine was an old 2 megapixel camera) even though (see 3) i transited through bangkok and could have bought a new camera there. i'm kicking myself