One of the elephant sculptures which flank the staircases joining a series of terraces in the ...

One of the elephant sculptures which flank the staircases joining a series of terraces in the twelfth century temple complex of Angkor Thom, built by the Khmer king Jayavarman VII. Villagers from the region cycle past on a dirt road. Extensive clearing, restoration and archeological work since the beginning of the twentieth century by French and Cambodian scholars on many of the temples making up the sprawling 400 square kilometre Angkor site was almost nullified when the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia in 1975 and work ceased, scholars and craftsmen murdered, and the site used as a Khmer Rouge base. Vegetation again started growing over the site, stone carvings were looted for arms purchases or used for target practice. With the arrival of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), restoration projects were restarted, with much of the work funded internationally by UNESCO and countries including Australia, Japan and India.