Hello and welcome. I will be your guide today to the magnificent temple of Ta Som, built in the 12th century by the Cambodian (or Khmer) King Jayavarman the Seventh in honor of his father. Who I guess was named "Som" because the guidebook says "Ta Som" means "The ancestor Som." While Daddy Som's temple in no way rivals Angkor Wat, the temple Jaya the Seventh built to honor himself, it was the first one I visited on Day One of my trip to Angkor and so it holds a special place in my heart. It also houses what was once a dancing school for temple dancers ... Ta Som doubled as a temple and a religious university. Later you will see a beauteous photo of me in said dancing school, although it looked more like a wall-less, roof-less pile of rocks. Behind me you can see one of the many giant temple-eating trees that have been gobbling up Angkor temples for the past 1,000 years.