Ta Som

This guide to Ta Som in Siem Reap traces the decade-long standoff between a strangler fig and the conservators racing to keep this Bayon-style gate from being pulled apart by its own roots. It follows the temple's abandonment after clearing crews walked away in the 1930s, and the Cambodian team that arrived in 1999 carrying methods tested nearby at Preah Khan. By 2007 they could finally reach the gopura from all four sides, piecing its north fronton back together from sandstone salvaged at their feet.