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Published: February 11th 2011
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Flying into Siem Reap makes one wonder if there is a city there at all. Until you reach the airport there are only farms and local houses. Driving into the city where the hotels are located it appears that the town was built solely for the tourist. It was after we drove out a ways to see some of the further temples did we see local villages.
Once meeting our guide at the airport we headed directly to Angkor Wat. The translation of its name means “royal city that is a monastery”. The temple was built from 1113 to 1150 by king Suryavarman II and was dedicated to the Hindu religion. The original name was Bra Bishnulok or Vrah Vishnuloka, the “Sacred Abode of Vishnu”. In the 13th century the Khmer empire embraced Buddhism and Angkor Wat was transformed from a Vishnuite sanctuary into a Buddhist wat or monastery and given a new name. Angkor Wat is the largest and most famous of the temples in Angkor City. We toured for a couple of hours on the three different levels. Later that night we went to the Angkor Mondial Restaurant for dinner and a show of local music and
Angkor Wat and Pond
The picture would have been better if they were not working on the temple but we liked to see that they are maintaining them. dance. We took a Tuk Tuk or a motorbike with a covered cart on the back as our taxi. They do not have car taxis in Siem Reap, only these kinds of vehicles. For $4 we had a round trip ride and he even waited for us to eat dinner and watch the show.
Day 2 in Siem Reap took us to several more temples. There are many in what is known as “Angkor City” since each king during the Khmer empire from the 9th to the 13th century built at least one dedicated to worship. Some were built with both Hindu and Buddhist influences so the people of both faiths could worship together eliminating fighting between the two religions. Over time when a Buddhist faith took over a temple dedicated to only Hindu gods, they would add their statues and icons and worship around the Hindu objects. The Hindus, however, would destroy any Buddhist icons in a temple that they took over. We saw evidence of this in our visits. The Buddhists carvings would be chiseled out leaving only the Hindu ones.
Our tour today was the many structures of Angkor Thom. Built by
Carved Wall
Each side of the lower level had a full wall of carvings telling ancient stories. Udayadityavarman II, Angkor Thom or “the Great Capital” had a population of one million and within its walls housed the court, the priests, the high officials, and the bureaucrats, while some of the common people lived outside the fortifications. The center of Angkor Thom is the temple Bayon. The outer walls of Bayon have elaborate carvings telling the stories of everyday life, battles and victories. The temple was said to originally have 54 prasats or porticos with four faces each of Lokeshvara with features of Jayavarman VII. He was considered the “Compassionate Lord” who watched over and protected the Khmer people. Still recognized for this compassion his statue is located at the children’s hospital in Siem Reap where all children can heal for free. We walked by the temple Baphuon and the Royal Palace and then the guide and I took a break while Jason climbed up another set of steep stairs of the Phimeanakas temple. The Terrace of the Elephants is a great wall covered in carvings of elephants and served as the stage for the king to address the people. On the far end was the Terrace of the Leper King where the cremation of the royal family
took place. The last temple of the day was Ta Prohm. This temple is known not because of a unique style as it looks like many others but because of the Kapok trees that have invaded it.
After several hours of climbing the temples we went back to town for another yummy Cambodian lunch and then went to the Artisans d’Angkor workshop and store. The corporation was founded in 1992 to help young people find work in their home village by training them in various crafts. Some of the crafts include stone and wood carving, silk weaving and a new silver plating workshop. They have pioneered a new social policy in Cambodia by providing contracted pay and medical benefits. They currently employ 1000 people with 5% having disabilities and fully qualify as a fair trade company.
After a rest at the hotel, we took another tuk tuk ride with our guide for a sunset cruise on the Tonle Sap Lake. The government has contracted 300 boats for the cruise so each family gets to take a private ride. This is to ensure that as many boat owners as possible have nightly jobs. As we were cruising
through the canals we were startled by a little girl about 7 or 8 years old coming up behind us on our the boat. At first we couldn’t figure out where she came from because she wasn’t there when we left the dock. Apparently she had been dropped off by another boat selling beverages. We bought one drink from her and then she jumped back off and on to her boat. Did I mention we were cruising down the canal and not exactly going slow. I can’t imagine how dangerous this is for these children. I’m also not too sure if buying something was a good idea or not. You want to give her something for all of her effort getting on our boat but do we really want to support this practice?
Along the canal are two different kind of houses, floating that can move with the rising waters and permanent structures that wash away every rainy season. These look like they are built with whatever can be found. There are also floating markets for the residents to buy goods. Once leaving the canal and entering the lake there are villages inhabited solely of floating houses. The
inhabitants are actually Vietnamese and not Cambodians coming up from through the Mekong River from Vietnam. Once out in the lake we were dropped off at a restaurant/gift shop with viewing decks to watch the sunset. I don’t think they were actually serving food just bottled drinks. The villagers seemed to have perfected their begging skills. Mothers hang around in boats with their children asking for money. Some of the children have snakes and for a price you can take a picture of them. Sure we gave them a couple dollars. At least we got something for our money and they do have to feed the snake. There were children rowing around in metal dishpans asking for money too. It was all a bit much to think this is what they do every day for money. Right before sunset, the women all rowed off. The guide said it was dinner time and they left at this time everyday to feed the children.
After watching the sunset we went back into town for some dinner. The guide gave us another suggestion for a Khmer BBQ restaurant. The food was really good, service was incredibly slow. We had a German
Buddha
at the center of Angkor Wat couple share our table since the restaurant was really busy and talking to them help to pass the time waiting for service. We walked around the shops a little and then took our tuk tuk back to the hotel. We used the same driver from the night before and for five hours of service he only charged us $12. I wanted to tell him that he needed to work on his rates since Westerners would pay way more than that. Anyway, I didn’t say anything but Jason gave him a big tip.
On our last morning in Siem Reap we drove out a ways to the temple Banteay Srei. The temple was not built by a sovereign but by two wealthy brothers. The temple is small but it took the same time to complete as the larger ones due to the elaborate carvings. The quality of the sand stone was much better than in other areas which allowed for the intricate detail. On the way back to town we stopped to visit a local village and see how they live their daily life. There were a lot of people who came to see the foreigners but they were
very friendly. A farmer showed up as Jason was climbing a ladder on his palm tree. He didn’t seem to mind and just seemed curious. Some of the children spoke English they have learned in the part-time school so we could have a conversation with them. Some were just too shy though. After our visit we stopped at the East Mebon temple which was used for burials and drove by its sister temple, Pre Rup, used for cremations. Pre Rup has 37 steps to the top tower symbolizing the 37 stages of heaven. One more yummy Cambodian lunch (we really like this food!) then off to the airport to the next city on our journey, Phnom Penh.
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