Wonder: What Was It Like In SE Asia in 1100 AD? Angkor Wat Ancient Heritage Site

We walk in the Cambodian sun with hundreds of other tourists to wonder and listen and to try to imagine what in must have been like in the year 1100 when this place was  at the height of its glory.   The guide tells us about one hundred thousand laborers and hundreds of elephants who toiled in the quarries to carve out the big sandstone blocks and drag them in place.  The managerial savy and craftmanship had to be incredible to create the ornate temples that comprise the largest religious monument site in the world.      And, how did  they feed all those workers?   They dug out canals and huge water reservoirs and created an elaborate irrigation system connected to the Tonle Sap river and lake system.

The ruling class of Angkor seemed to alternate between Buddhism and Hinduism.