Hilltop sanctuary

Come at dawn to Wat Phnom, sacred site at the center of Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. The temple sits atop a hill, said to be the only one in this soft sprawl of a city. At the edges, even in the early hours, motorbikes buzz on busy streets, and vendors hawk souvenirs.

But climb the narrow stone steps to the top, and a terrace, where a woman quietly sweeps. Through a doorway, candles burn and a man, wearing baggy pants and no shirt, he a bit of a Buddha himself, unrolls prayer mats beneath statues that do not flicker in the face of time.

TOM HAINES