28 Affairs as well as domestic and foreign media, but it seemed impossible. I am not sure from where I heard about it, but at precisely that moment I came to know that the Japanese news agency (Nihon Denpa News) was planning on covering Angkor Wat, and so it came about that I was to accompany them as an archaeological expert. I thus came to meet Mr. Pich Keo once again after a lapse of 12 years, and we thereupon promptly got involved in probing the damaged state of the monuments. What lay before us were ruins of Angkor Wat, that had been left forsaken all through the political turmoil and civil war. We investigated 16 major archaeological sites but they all remained buried within the overlapping forests of the tropical jungle, for 1980 was a period when the civil war between the four factions was in full swing. If daily maintenance were neglected, tropical ruins cannot be easily restored to their original state. At times tiny buds and roots of trees found among the ruins get in between the stones and grow, eventually moving the masonry and destroying it. Also, lichens on sandstone surfaces accelerate the deterioration of objects such as sculptures. Furthermore, drainage within the ruins is also a vital factor. An excess of rainwater soaking into the ground, will wash away the earth and sand beneath the foundation and stonework. As a result of this the ground sinks, and stone buildings weighing tens of tons collapse. After a careful investigation of the site for about two weeks, I realized that the work of restoration required to be done in order to return it to its original state, would not be easy. During the civil war, the monuments appear to have been used as shelters by villagers of the nearby vicinity, or as places of rest for the sick and wounded soldiers of the four factions. That was a truth I was able to substantiate, but there was no man-made destruction of the ruins. Nevertheless though, the Pol Pot regime blew up modern Buddhist temples and forced monks to return to secular life, the ostensible reason being that they were villains who had exploited people in the name of religion. Yet, within the Phnom Penh National Museum, which happened to be closed,
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