For more than a decade the spectacular and isolated ruins of Angkor have enticed the buccaneers of travel willing to undertake a risky adventure into Cambodia's remote northwest.
The isolation of the area was thanks to the murderous Khmer Rouge who kept everybody out of the 120k㎡ area for more than 25 years.
Land mines and mass graves inundated the site and jungles reclaimed many of the fabled ninth to 12th century temples.
But a transition to peace in the 1990s allowed the monks to return, and with them came archaeologists, scholars and wanderers.
Now new roads, hotels, burgeoning airlines and a Hollywood flick are ending the fabled temples' era as a frontier destination.
Tourist numbers are set to soar and business is ready to cash-up, despite the global tourism crunch that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes in the US.
"Of course this breaks my heart but just because we were among those first to return here doesn't mean we can say the next person can't come," said Nick Rogers, publisher of the periodical Angkor zen guide.
The push is already underway with the recent completion of Route Six, which links Angkor through nearby Siem Reap to the Thai border at Poipet.
What was once a back-jarring 12-hour ride in the back of a pick-up truck is being replaced by a smooth journey in air-conditioned buses capable of delivering 1,000 tourists a day in under three hours.
"A lot has already changed but it is still the early days as this is just the tip of the iceberg," said Rogers, who has lived in Cambodia for 11 years. "Can you imagine what the next 10 years are going to be like?"
The government expects tourists numbers to double to about 350,000 by the end of next year. Between 25 and 35 percent growth is expected in 2003 when the government will launch "Visit Cambodia Year."
By 2008 more than 850,000 people are expected to flock through Angkor's gates each year and French company Groupe Vinci was awarded the right to construct the Siem Reap airport in early September.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has said the airport would be capable of handling 900,000 tourists a year once completed, through long-haul Airbus 340s and Boeing 747s.
In Siem Reap nine hotels with about 900 rooms are under construction. The number of rooms is expected to double from the current 1,785 to 3,500 by 2005 and an additional 1,000 rooms will be added by 2010.
A new college to train 300 students a year for the Angkor hotel industry is due to open in January.
"It will not be a remote place anymore, we have to admit that," Cambodian tourism minister Veng Sereyvuth said.
Government and business leaders in Angkor had reported a drop in tourism immediately after the suicide strikes in New York and Washington, a fall in line with the global impact on tourism in the aftermath of the attacks.
But according to a survey by The Cambodian Daily newspaper, numbers are starting to pick up with wealthy Asians diverting their holidays to the Angkor ruins from destinations in the US and Europe.
And despite the collapse of national carrier Royal Air Cambodge, an open skies agreement with Thailand has witnessed the rise of Bangkok Airways which is profiting off the back of Angkor investments.
Veng Sereyvuth said while the numbers at Angkor were recovering from Sept. 11, managing the hordes while protecting the temples was the immediate problem.
"The heritage and protection of the temples, local customs and culture is not negotiable and the numbers of people going through will erode the ancient stones so they have to come in a measured way," he said.
"There are millions who want to experience Angkor and sustainable tourist development has two sides. Custom and culture will be touched but the economic benefit will be enormous."
Tourists have already left their mark in the ruins.
In the largest monument -- Angkor Wat -- one couple has declared their love by climbing the 65m central tower and carving their initials in the 12th century stone that was built to symbolize Mount Meru, home of the gods in Hindu mythology.
It's a sore point with people like Rogers who says the movie Tomb Raider starring actress Angelina Jolie as archaeologist heroine Lara Croft, has added cache and glitter to Angkor.
Tomb Raider, still prominent on the video rental and VCD circuit, visually provides the unparalleled splendor of Angkor that Rogers fears will disappear among the tourists.
"There are some very sharp people in the government who are trying to do it right but there's the big money factor as well," Rogers said.
"The wild west days are nearly over but what can we do when it will happen anyway? My message is: see the temples while they're still there."
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