Temple of Doom

**Temple of Doom** is the second episode of Season 1 of Expedition Unknown.

## Plot Synopsis

Gates' travels to the remote and land-mine-riddled jungles of Cambodia to investigate the lost city of the Khmer Empire and search for a mystical relic that gave its god-king the power to incinerate his enemies more than 1,000 years ago.

## Historical Context

"It's 802 A.D in Southeast Asia and a mysterious ruler named Jayavarman II appears on the scene. Inscriptions say he founded a city in the mountain where he conducted a strange ritual. Supposedly, a mystical priest used spells and powerful magic to give a sacred stone artefact, known as a linga, the divine powers of the Hindu god Shiva. The king or anyone else who controlled the stone would have the ability to incinerate his enemies."

- Josh Gates

## Summary

Josh begins his journey in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Josh visits Tuol Svay Pray High School which became a detention centre during the era of the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge was a communist party that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and they forced Cambodians back into slavery and killed more than two million people.

After visiting the centre, Josh meets with Nick Ray, a journalist. They talk about the lost city of Mahendraparvata, the local legends that surround it, and how to get there. Josh is stopped on his way to Battambang by construction and travels on the bamboo railroad. Once in Battambang, Josh hikes up a remote mountain to see around a million bats fly out of their cave to feed for the night. Josh interviews an anonymous man who has information about the dig site around Mahendraparvata. He says looters have been targeting the sandstone statues and the linga stone, which the raiders believe has immense power.

Josh travels to Siem Reap by boat and once there he goes to the Cambodian Landmine Museum to meet Aki Ra, an expert on demining. Aki Ra has been clearing land mines from Cambodia for twenty years. Aki Ra was forced to become a Khmer Rouge child soldier at age ten and he was forced to lay thousands of landmines. His goal is to remove as many as possible. Josh, Aki Ra, and Aki Ra's crew detonate a landmine that they find and they teach Josh about how to avoid landmines for the most part.

Josh meets with John Miksic, an expert on the Khmer Empire. John believes that the linga stone that caused Jayavarman to possess the power of the God, Shiva, could still be up in the mountains around Mahendraparvata. Josh and John go by helicopter to a small village called Preah Ang Thom. There he visits an old temple that has a linga stone and yoni pedestal which is used for religious rituals. This is similar to the setup that Jayavarman II used to possess Shiva's power.

From there, Josh rents a motorbike and heads to the excavation site. He meets archaeologists, Chen Sian and Darif at the lost city of Mahendraparvata. They are researching in an area they believe to be Jayavarman's royal compound, that they found by using lidar. Josh meets Jean-Baptiste "J-B" Chevance who is the leading archaeologist at the site. J-B found the edge of a massive monastery in the ancient city that they are only beginning to uncover.

Pich offers to take Josh to a secret place that may be where Jayavarman's ritual took place. Once there, they head into an old cave where they find very old carvings that indicate the cave was used for rituals. They pass over an unstable bridge of sticks and find a gigantic stone yoni. At that point, they have to leave because the weather worsens. They head halfway down the mountain to Pich's house and stay there for the night.

## Final Words

"In truth, this country (Cambodia) has always been a puzzle to me, not because of the history, but because of the people who keep picking themselves up and dusting themselves off. They have adapted. They have endured. And they are, despite everything, filled with hope for the future. The story of Cambodia is still being written from both ends of the book. At this very moment on a heavily land-mind mountain, daring archaeologists are discovering the very first chapter."

- Josh Gates

## Notes & Trivia

* *This is where you can put notes and trivia, anything that is interesting or strange can be included here*

## Quotes

* "If civilisation were to collapse tomorrow my money would be on the Cambodians to get back on their feet. You think we would've figured this out in Los Angeles? No, we'd be curled up in the fetal position in front of Starbucks... wondering where our macchiato is going to come from."

* "Cambodian gas station fuel is in an old soda bottle. Feels like there's a little bit of potential for some dangerous confusion there, but, hey it works."

## Gallery

Photos shown in the slideshow are from Travel Channel's Temple of Doom slideshow. If you hover over the images, their exact image address will appear.

* Josh and JB Chevance look at the massive monastery spread out before themGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/17/f3/expedition-unknown-101-cambodia-ss-017.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584605028.jpeg
* A part of one of the temples at the ancient city dig siteGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/17/0b/expedition-unknown-101-cambodia-ss-002.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584609309.jpeg
* A photo of Angkor Wat built during the Khmer EmpireGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/17/64/expedition-unknown-101-cambodia-ss-016.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584609316.jpeg
* Josh cruises along the bamboo railroad in CambodiaGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/17/42/expedition-unknown-101-cambodia-ss-006.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584609240.jpeg
* Josh heads towards Siem Reap by way of Tonle Sap lakeGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/17/ae/expedition-unknown-101-cambodia-ss-004.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584604686.jpeg
* Josh treks through the forests on Phnom Kulen at nightGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/17/d4/expedition-unknown-101-cambodia-ss-009.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584605062.jpeg
* Josh jumps into a lake in CambodiaGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/17/89/expedition-unknown-101-cambodia-ss-010.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584604795.jpeg
* Josh interviews the anonymous antique dealerGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/17/2d/expedition-unknown-101-cambodia-ss-012.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584604807.jpeg
* A bird eye's view of the floating village on Tonle Sap lakeGo to https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/17/1c/expedition-unknown-101-cambodia-ss-013.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584604739.jpeg
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## References

1. ↑ https://travel.home.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/travel/fullset/2014/12/17/55/expedition-unknown-101-cambodia-ss-001.rend.hgtvcom.966.644.suffix/1491584609214.jpeg