One of the hottest viral trends, where people sprint, leap and crash around Cambodia’s historic Angkor Wat and other temple ruins in the Southeast Asian nation in a live recreation of a popular video game, has conservationists aghast, with several saying the race for views denigrates the almost 900-year-old sculptures and risks irreparable damage.
Short videos of visitors running down narrow stone pathways and vaulting over passageways — often overlayed with sounds from the popular Temple Run video game — have been making the rounds on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms. Some videos have received more than 2 million views and inspire copycat versions daily.
Simon Warrack, a conservationist who’s worked for three decades to preserve the nearly millenia-old ruins at Angkor, is troubled by the potential damage as well as the cultural and religious insensitivities being trampled on.
“You wouldn’t run through St. Peters in Rome or any western church — so why is it okay to do it in Cambodia,” said Warrack. “It’s not just potential damage to the stones by people bumping into them and falling or knocking things over — which is real — but it’s also damage to the spiritual and cultural value of the temples.”
Warrack said he’s spoken to Cambodian counterparts and officials overseeing the complex who share his concerns. “Angkor Wat is still deeply revered by the people,” he said. “Every stone is considered to contain the spirits of the ancestors.”
The episode highlights the challenge many historic sites face these days to balance increased tourism, sustainability and local life, particularly in a post-Covid world where revenge travel is still a thing. The trend also underscores the sway influencers and social media have in driving tourism.
Cambodia isn’t the only destination to see an uptick in bad behavior but whereas other hot spot tourist meccas including Indonesia and Spain have taken steps to tame unruly visitors — Indonesia deports the worst offenders — the authority that oversees the Angkor temple complex hasn’t issued any reprimands to discourage the viral trend. International visitors to Cambodia have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels and even some Cambodians themselves have said on social media that the trend is good for boosting much needed arrival numbers.
For many holiday seekers, social media is a top source of inspiration for travel, according to an American Express trends report. Nearly three in four Millennials and Gen Zs surveyed said they’ve participated in social media trends while on vacation, while around half said they want to show off their travels to impress their followers.
In the temple run challenge, many videos feature people in their 20s, some running in dresses and shawls. Angelina Dougherty, a Cambodian-American who was crowned Miss Pacific Asian American in a pageant last year, also joined the trend with a video of her and a friend running and leaping through the temple, similar to moves in the video game.
Source : https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/visit/tiktok-tourists-trample-angkor-wat-mimicking-temple-run-game/articleshow/112756216.cms
