Angkor Wat Slideshow

Angkor Wat

I'm running out of steam writing up our Cambodia trip, so will let the photos of Angkor Wat largely speak for themselves. You should be able to click on the slideshow which will then bring up a new page with an option to view the photos in Full Screen.

One of the distinguishing features of Angkor Wat are the carved stone murals of finely detailed representations of battles and mythic tales that stretch for hundreds of meters on the outer walls.

The fourth photo shows bullet holes from when the Khmer Rouge used Angkor Wat as a stronghold and fought government troops positioned across the moat.

Slideshow

Angkor Thom - The Great City

We wandered through the remains of Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom under the watchful gaze of 216 giant stone faces.  It was unsettling to be in the midst of such an alien culture.  Angkor Thom seemed a surreal movie set, not a city that was once home to tens of thousands of people.  We tried to imagine how the tradespeople and farmers felt who walked there ten centuries before, watched over by these same omnipresent faces.

Angkor Thom, "great city", was the last major capital city of the Khmer empire before it went into decline.  Daily life and epic battles are depicted on long bas-relief carvings.  A mother gives birth and navies clash, bringing stories from a thousand years ago into the present.

We bought a guidebook for Alexa and she was entranced by the details.  We paused to have our photo taken with Apsara dancers in costume (for a $1 charge).  Our guide encouraged us to take photos mimicking a kiss on the lips of one of the giant faces.  Cheesy but still entertaining after a long trek up the temple steps.

the south entrance into the city

demons guarded to right side of the bridge, soldiers the other side

many of the heads were looted by Thai soldiers in battles hundreds of years ago, and some found their way to museums in Bangkok.  This is a replica.

midwife

naval battle

reading the guidebook to try to figure out what the mural was about

near the pinnacle of the tower in the center of the city

the king's bath

the spot where the king would watch processions and elephant races

by Nat and Lynn

Ta Prohm - the Tomb Raider temple

Our first day in Siem Reap we visited Ta Prohm temple in the morning.  It's located not far from the big temple of Angkor Wat.

Ta Prohm temple is known as the Tomb Raider temple, because a scene where Angelina Jolie falls through a portal was filmed as the temple.  Ta Prohm also has one of the most iconic spots in the Angkor complex - a towering tree growing atop the temple with its massive roots cascading over the temple walls.

Ta Prohm is popular with tourists because it retains the feeling of being freshly discovered in the jungle, with trees growing throughout the temple, moss covered stones, and is still half-crumbled in its partially restored state.

restoration work in progress

The temple switched back and forth between Buddhist and Hindu depending on the religion of the then-current king. This was originally an image of the Buddha transformed into an image of a Hindu wise man.

Recently restored corridor.  Quite the jigsaw puzzle for the restorers figuring out where all the fallen stone blocks belong.

The "crocodile tree" swallowing another tree and the Tomb Raider portal

Swarms of tourists at the portal

Maimed and blind musicians playing for tips.  The musician in the center has a prosthetic leg beside him.

On the road to Battambang and Siem Reap

From Phnom Penh we went to Siem Reap, the town that serves tourists going to nearby Angkor Wat. But we didn't fly straight there.

We drove there through the Cambodian countryside.  We headed northwest from Phnom Penh along the west bank of the Mekong and Tonle Sap lake, stopping for an overnight at the provincial capital of Battambang.  We then crossed the Mekong and continued on into Siem Reap.

We found our driver through Google.  His web site listed many testimonials from previous clients.  I liked that he was a savvy Internet marketer, and his nickname, "Black Rambo", suggested he had a sense of humor.  A quick call and we arranged for a morning pick-up at a rate nearly half that for arranging a driver through the hotel.

He arrived early the next morning with a van and another guy to do the driving.  Rambo's role, as the English-speaker, was apparently to facilitate the trip and to act as our guide.

Battambang was less than 200 miles from Phnom Penh, but the narrow road used by tractor-driven carts and other slow-moving vehicles and the stretches where the road was heavily pot-holed limited our speed to around 30 mph.  We passed through rural areas dotted with simple one-room wooden shacks.  Cows and water buffalo grazed beside the road. Heavily laden trucks and motorcycles streamed in either direction.  A favorite means of transportation was a mini-tractor rigged to pull a long wooden cart.  Occasionally the view would open up and we'd see immense rice fields extending to the horizon.

local transportation

transporting a big drum with cymbals tied to the back

one of the hundreds of Cambodian People's Party signs that lined the roads

this group of cows was herded by a little boy

Family life was often out in the open.  Raggedy kids played and bathed in yards that bordered the road.  Adults gathered to socialize or lounge about.

Rambo told us that we were approaching a small town where we would have lunch.  I pulled out my phone to take advantage of its data plan to see if I could research dining options.  From the van I bounced electrons off of server farms located halfway around the world to read reviews of the handful of restaurants in the town ahead and even pulled up a pdf of the bi-lingual Khmer/English menu of the top-rated restaurant.  The immense gulf between the shacks without running water or electricity that we were driving past and the miraculous technology of the information age in the palm of my hand boggled my mind.

The Internet had its limits though.  The restaurant I sought had moved and we weren't able to locate it.  Instead we had a tasty lunch at a Chinese/Cambodian diner that Rambo knew about.  We learned more about Rambo Bona's background.  He is 27 years old with a four-year old daughter and a three week old son.  He belongs to an ethnic minority that inhabits the mountainous area in the far northeast of Cambodia.  His family was too poor to care for him so at the age of seven, with the help of the charity WorldVision, he was taken to Phnom Penh to live in an orphanage operated by an Australian charity where he learned some English.  When he left the orphanage at 18, he was given use of a tuk-tuk to earn a living.  One day, while he was napping in his tuk-tuk, he was awakened by an American who wanted a ride.  They talked, and the American, Mr Kiet (Keith?), from Washington DC, offered to help him.  They talked about Rambo's goals and how to run a business.  We weren't clear how much help Mr. Kiet provided, but after a few years, and with $5,000 in savings, Rambo was able to buy an old beat-up car, and start his business as a driver.  Mr. Kiet advised him to make sure he treated his customers well, and if so, his business would thrive.  Rambo now has the car and a decent van.  Mr. Kiet also paid for Rambo's wedding, the expense of which in Cambodia is the responsibility of the groom.

with Rambo Bona at lunch

Leaving the Chinese/Cambodian diner I noticed in the distance a large man, clearly a Westerner, heading toward us along an otherwise deserted dusty side street.  Curious about what he was doing there, I lingered, not getting into the van, until he reached me.  I greeted him with "I didn't expect to see you here."  "Why not?" he replied.   Ron is an Australian who frequently stays in the town to visit a nearby school that he supports.  He also sponsors the university education for the young woman who is the head of the school.  He suggested that we stop at the school and have a look, promising that we'd receive a warm welcome.

So we stopped at the Sustainable Cambodia school for a brief visit.  We met the head of the school and the English teacher who both spoke excellent English and the newly arrived volunteer teachers from Denmark and the U.S.  We visited the well stocked library that was funded by an Australian Rotary group.  The girls gave some of their colored pencils to the school kids, who ran about in their school uniforms.  Though it was a short visit, it gave us a glimpse of how well meaning people from Australia and other developed countries are making a difference.

the library

Cambodia often gives the impression that it is the subject of a giant experiment undertaken by the world's foundations and NGOs to see if they can rescue Cambodia and through their efforts raise its standard of living, healthcare, education, infrastructure, and overall quality of life.

Most of the functions that one would expect to be the responsibility of local government seem to be in the hands of the NGOs.  Throughout our trip, we passed one school after another, each one sponsored by a different group.  Hospitals were donated by well-meaning families.  NGOs ran restaurants staffed by street kids so that they could learn job skills.  Everywhere we turned there was another NGO supporting another project.

I wonder what the ruling Cambodia People's Party thinks of this.  I was surprised to learn that the leader of Cambodia for most of the past 25 years was a member of the Khmer Rouge.  He is Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge junior officer who fled to Vietnam to escape internal purges and who, after assisting the Vietnamese in overthrowing Pol Pot, was rewarded with a leadership position in the new Cambodian government.  Even though he lost the first open elections in the early 90s, he refused to step down and eventually entered into a power-sharing arrangement with the family of Prince Sihanouk.  He then consolidated his power and has been the sole prime minister since 1998.  While everyday life has been getting better for Cambodians they are still led by a ruthless ex-Khmer Rouge with an atrocious human rights record and a penchant for corruption.

I suppose the CPP doesn't mind turning over many government functions to the NGOs.  The NGOs are doing the hard work of actually delivering needed services, and helping to grow the economy.  The CPP stays in power, continues to make fortunes through corruption, and continues to sell off the natural resources of Cambodia to the highest bidder, often to Chinese companies.

Is this an example of the law of unintended consequences?  If the NGOs weren't in Cambodia, would the Cambodians have gotten so fed up with the lack of help from their government that they would have overthrown it and installed a more democratic and responsive one instead?  Are the NGOs helping keep the CPP in power?  A week in Cambodia doesn't give me any answer, and I wouldn't wish more misery on the Cambodians by depriving them of the help provided by the NGOs.  I expect that the presence of the NGOs is an enormous net positive, but I wonder, as do others.

We arrived at our hotel, Battambang Resort, just as it began to rain.  Battambang Resort is a few miles outside of Battambang in the middle of empty fields and farms.  It is only a few months old, started by a Dutch expat and his Cambodian wife.  He had met his wife during the several years he worked as an administrator at a school in Siem Reap, before growing tired of the hustle and bustle of that booming tourist town and deciding to run his own hotel in the countryside instead.

a cart full of monks putting up their umbrellas as the rain began to fall just as we reached Battambang Resort

After unwinding and unpacking, we headed into Battambang for dinner.  We chose the Gecko Cafe.  It is also a social enterprise.  It hires impoverished young women, pays them an above average wage, and teaches them job skills.  The menu had short bios of all of the cooks and waitresses.  Many are supporting extended families from their wages from the restaurant.  Our waitress was using her wages to attend the local Build Bright University.  The food was delicious and the restaurant has an open kitchen where you could watch your meals being made.  The staff even let Charlotte sprinkle the cheese on her pasta dish and carry it to the table.

on the balcony

in the kitchen

Battambang is known for its local circus troupe and for a bamboo railroad.  The circus was canceled due to the mourning period for King Sihanouk and the steady rain nixed the bamboo railroad.  So the next morning, with nothing much to see around the Battambang area, we decided to just push on to Siem Reap.

The drive to Siem Reap took us further into the countryside.  I kept entertained by looking at the great variety of heavily laden vehicles on the road and the scenes of local life that we could glimpse through the window.

We stopped briefly at a crossroads town to pick up some water.  It seemed a fairly sleepy town, though construction and demolition were going on near the store where we bought the water.

a little school van.  Steve Jobs would have been proud to see that Apple's logo is associated with education even in rural Cambodia, or he might have been unhappy about the trademark infringement

our actual driver, a patient, quiet guy - at least when we're around

one of the very popular mini-tractor driven carts

After a bit more driving we pulled into Siem Reap.  It shocked us with its billboards advertising golf resorts, countless big tour buses, and every variety of restaurant.  We were glad to reach our hotel, the stylish Heritage Suites, and take a break from the road.