T e king parades through town on an
Giant tree roots surround you. It’s not hard to imagine them reaching out and grabbing you. T ese strangler figs twist and climb. T ey snake over, under, and around the Asian temple. T ey split walls and crush stone. Overhead, birds squawk. Insects shriek.
Monkeys swing in the trees. T e jungle is trying to swallow up what’s leſt of the ancient city of Angkor. Once, nearly a million people lived here.
T ey built the biggest city in the world. T en they leſt . T eir civilization seemed to vanish.
What doomed this city? To find out, jump 700 years back in time.
T ere’s no jungle now. Instead, flat rice paddies stretch as far as you can see. T e sun beats down. Water buff aloes pull
plows. T e farmers get the paddies ready for planting. Soon, water will flood them. T en a new crop of rice can grow. T e people here eat the rice. T ey also use
it as money. T ey trade it for the things they need. So the farmers are hoping for a good year. T ey hope to harvest rice three or even four times this year. Success depends on having just the right amount of water. T at’s why Angkor has a complex water
system. Canals crisscross the city. Dams control the flow. Big pools store water. T e city can survive even when it doesn’t rain much. As you watch the farmers, you suddenly
hear music. It’s coming from the center of the city. T at’s where the king of Angkor lives. He’s leſt his palace.
22 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER
elephant with tusks covered in gold. Soldiers go before him. Women with lighted candles follow him. Banners wave in the air. As he passes, you kneel and touch the ground with your forehead. If you don’t, you could be arrested. Later that night, explosions shake the
city. Bright, colorful lights fill the sky. T ese fireworks celebrate the recent, good harvest. Little do you know, it’s one of the city’s last
celebrations. Starting in 1362, it barely rains. T is drought lasts 30 years. Even the city’s water system can’t keep the water flowing.
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