It’s still hard to believe that it’s been 6 months that I’ve been traveling through Asia. I am still feeling the effects that I talked about in my last blog, wanting time to recover from such wonderful heart connections. Thought I’d at least write something since it’s been a week or so… I started this blog a few days ago… so if my timing is off… please forgive me.
I’ve now arrived in Phenom Penh last night and will be touring around and getting educated on the Khamer Rouge and the genocide that took place here between 1975-1979. I have no idea of the quantity of bombing the USA did on Cambodia in secret during the Vietnam war. Over a half of a million tons of TNT dropped. WTF!?! I don’t remember this being talked about in history class in high school.
Cambodia was not on my to-do or places to go list. After finishing my time short in Nepal, I had some extra time on my hands and wanted to see more of Asia. Hearing all the wonderful things about Angkor Wat in Siem Reap and doing some homework about Cambodia… the Khmer Rouge communist party and the Killing Fields in the 1970’s and Angkor, the capitol of the Angkor Empire, a UNESCO historical site, I decided to make Cambodia a stop.
It’s been a hit here so far in Siem Reap. Definitely a heavy touristy destination with thousands of people gathering each day at 5am at Angkor Wat temple for the bucket list sunrise over the temple towers. Of course, I had to do that too, right?! The ancient and historic monuments here are breathtaking and a once in a lifetime and must-see experience.
I’m amazed at how these temples have physically withstood the test of time over 8 or 9 centuries through wars and climate changes. I’m even more amazed at how they let the thousands of people step onto the sandstone structures. You can see where the temples have been torn apart during wartime and how difficult it must have been to move all those heavy rocks around all by hand.
The foundation behind the easily carved sandstone exteriors are made of laterite. Laterite is mined while it is below the water table, so it is wet and soft. Upon exposure to air it gradually hardens as the moisture between the flat clay particles evaporates and the larger iron salts lock into a rigid lattice structure and become resistant to atmospheric conditions. Hence the long-standing ability of the buildings.
I’ve managed to strategize my time visiting all of the temples over the course of the 3-day ticket I purchased. It’s so jammed packed with people every day and on my first day after getting a late start, the 100F temperatures and beginning with the most popular spot, Angkor Wat and moving along to Angkor Thom I knew I needed a different strategy for my second day. I started with the 5am sunrise and then immediately moved to the lesser traveled temples before the midday heat. Then I took a break, had lunch and went back to Angkor Thom in the afternoon before they closed at 530pm. That seemed to work for me. I still need to plan my 3rd and final day tomorrow.
Here’s a cool panorama I took the other day. http://m.360.io/wACy4S
I’m most enthralled with Angkor Thom. Inside there is a temple called Bayon temple. It was the last temple to be built as a Mahayana Buddhist shrine dedicated to the Buddha, though a great number of minor and local deities were also encompassed. There are 216 similar gigantic faces on the temple’s towers to other statues of the king has led many scholars to the conclusion that the faces are representations of Jayavarman VII himself. Others have said that the faces belong to the bodhisattva of compassion called Avalokitesvara or Lokesvara. I’d like to believe the latter. One of my plans is to go back there and play the Rockwell – Michael Jackson song, Somebody’s Watching Me.
Another bit of historical trivia… these temples were created in the 11th century in the Hindu tradition dedicated to the God Vishnu. About the 14th century they were converted to Buddhist temples and a lot of the Hindu gods were carved away and replaced with Buddha. In order to support a lot of the Hindu population, there are Hindu artifacts left in the temples to support them. To this day you will find both Hindu and Buddhist artifacts left in the temples. This was a familiar thing I’ve experienced in Kochi, India at St. George church. Where there was a small Shiva shrine in the church acknowledging the Hindu faith dwarfing with the ginormous Jesus shrine. I still find it almost enlightening that centuries ago people acknowledged each other and their beliefs and practices instead of just making their practices illegal.
Siam Reap is also a hip little town with quite the nightlife all along pub street and the night markets. Since the town is loaded with travelers and tourists like me and they cater to their every westernized perceived need. There is no lack for good coffee, mostly of the Arabica variety as they export most of the Cambodian coffee to reap the financial gain as Arabica coffee is cheaper. There is even a local brew pub, one of eight in Cambodia here in Siem Reap.
On my last day in Siem Reap I was invited to go up into the hills of Phnom Kulen National Park. I might write more about it later… in the meantime I want to get this posted for now…
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