Ta Prohm is a 12th century temple located near Siem Reap, Cambodia that was originally built as a Mahayana Buddhist monastery dedicated to King Jayavarman VII’s mother. It has been abandoned and reclaimed by the jungle since the 15th century. The temple is known for the trees that have grown out of its walls and roots.
It was featured in the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider which has led to it being nicknamed the “Tomb Raider Temple”.
The layout includes multiple enclosures surrounding a central sanctuary. Carvings depict Buddhist scenes and deities, though many are now eroded.
Despite restoration efforts, parts of the temple are still being reclaimed by the surrounding forest.
Missing from these shots are the queues of tourists behind, waiting to take the same shots including the obligatory tourists with an iPad on a selfie stick more interested in looking at their iPad and posing than taking in the beauty and wonder of the surroundings.
Also missing is the pushy tour guide making up nonsense about the site’s history.
Sometimes it’s better that places like this become tourist traps with local monetary interest otherwise they end up getting vandalised or used to dump rubbish.
I only knew the above because I was one of those herds handing over dollars haha. Fully agree with you - although plenty of tourists scratch their names into the walls.