The Tomb Raider Temple

I gotta say, I've never been interested in watching any of the Tomb Raider movies, until we went to Ta Prohm Temple, which is best know for being featured in the 2001 original Tomb Raider movie.  

Even though the temple is visually stunning, I still can't quite summon the enthusiasm to watch the movie.  

(Me to Google:) So, who played Lara Croft in the original Tomb Raider movie?  (Google to me:) Angelina Jolie.  (Me to self:) It's on Amazon Prime.  $3.89 seems expensive.  Wait, who played Lara Croft in that one?  Angelina Jolie?  I think I can come up with $3.89 just by searching my couch cushions.  Now, how do I sell the idea of watching this movie to Carol?"  (Me to Carol:) We gotta watch this movie this weekend since we were just there!  Wait, you say Angelina Jolie is in it?  I had no idea!  Well, we still gotta watch it!

So after Angkor Wat (the temple, not the entire complex), we went to another temple in the complex.  The Ta Prohm temple is known as "The Tomb Raider" temple and its coolness quotient is through the roof.  This temple has been a UNESCO World Heritage since 1992.  If you are going to Siam Reap, include it on your list of temples to visit.

(Editor: You shouldn't be judging whether something is or is not is cool.  Writer: Well. . .ouch!)

Building started in 1186 (that's 838 years ago for the people who are bad at math), and originally known as Rajavihara (Monastery of the King), Ta Prohm was a Buddhist temple dedicated to the mother of Jayavarman VII. It is one of the few temples in the Angkor region where an inscription provides information about the temple’s dependents and inhabitants. Almost 80,000 people were required to maintain or attend at the temple, among them more than 2700 officials and 615 dancers.

Does Angelina Jolie dance in the movie?  EICTWIARBM: Glen! (As you've probably realized, EICTWIARBM, means Editor In Chief, To Whom I Am Related By Marriage -- she doesn't interject often, but when the EICTWIARBM does, I pretty much had it coming.)

Anyhow, the temple is, as Ben Affleck would say on Dunkin commercial (I love that Super Bowl ad) "wicked cool."  (Hey, I wonder if I can get "Glengelina" trending?  EICTWIARBM: Uh, no.)

The temple itself is relatively small, with tight courtyards, towers, and narrow walkways.  The whole thing feels jumbled, as the roots of trees  have taken over large chunks of the temple.  It really feels like you've gone back in time, primarily because you have.  

Of the root system strangling the temple, there is a famed Crocodile Tree, and of. course, the Tomb Raider tree, where Lara Croft picked a jasmine flower.  A reason the tree roots are growing throughout the temple is that it was built without mortar, and, as Jeff Goldblum tells us, "life finds a way."