Terrace of the Elephants

This guide to the Terrace of the Elephants in Siem Reap treats the carved wall in front of you like a locker room frozen mid-throw, wrestlers still gripping each other from a grandstand King Jayavarman the Seventh raised in the late twelfth century. It follows what the king watched from up here, armies marching home, polo on horseback, chariot races, all carved onto the same stone as a permanent replay. It also follows a team of researchers studying how the northern platform was built, wall inside wall. Look down at the parasol post-holes still cut into the stone at your feet.