The Baphuon jigsaw puzzle and the King's Sleeping Tower
18 February 2011
I got to sneak into the Baphuon - the world's largest jigsaw puzzle. The French archaeologists took apart the ruin to reinforce the failing foundation, laying out more than 2 million stones around the temple. Only then the unthinkable happened - Murphy's Law in action - Pol Pot's regime. And every piece of record of where the stones fit has been destroyed. Only now, by literally drawing and measuring every stone, and then computer-matching them, were the archaeologists able to resume the rebuilding of the great Baphuon...and they are still working on it. But it's magnificent even as it is, overlooking much of Angkor Thom.