Around and around Angkor Wat.

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The sun in sneaky today, dashing behind clouds and casting deepening shadows across the ocean stretched out before me. I’m sitting on a balcony overlooking the gulf of Thailand, a broad body of water that cradles the southern coat of Asia and meets the South China Sea to the east. We came down to Sihanoukville to escape the oppressive heat of interior Cambodia and catch some tropical breezes before hurrying across the Vietnam border.

Teaching ended much too quickly. I was sad to leave the children whom I had grown so attached to. I don’t know what sort of impact we had on the kids or what their futures hold for them. Knowing that many will grow up peddling products at the temples or working in the country’s thriving sex industry is difficult. We did have a wonderful time though and left with many well wishes for our future.

We spent three long days touring Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. Once the capital city of the Khmer Empire during the 9th and 12th centuries C.E., the ancient city now lies in ruins and sprawls across a large portion of north-western Cambodia. Angkor literally translates to “capital city” or “holy city.” The crippled remains represent a time when the Khmer kings and military had incredible wealth and a strong dominance over much of South-East Asia. Many of the temples are so vast and spread out that it requires several days to thoroughly absorb the history and amazing details. We opted to buy the three day pass and began at 5 a.m., peddling furiously on our bikes to catch the sunrise behind Angkor Wat. Although the entire land area is referred to as “Angkor Wat,” the actual Angkor is just one temple amid many, many others. Liz played tour guide and we explored the closest dozen or so that we were able to reach on bike. Thirteen hours, twenty-five miles, and 700 plus steps later, we returned, exhausted but happy with the day’s sight-seeing.

My favorites were Ta Prohm and Bayon, both of which lie several kilometers away from the central station of Angkok Wat, a benefit because they were far from the well trodden path and less touristy. Ta Prohm was constructed as a Buddhist monastery and had control of over 3000 villages at one time. Now the complex is covered in jungle overgrowth of massive, twisting roots and dense vegetation. I tried to pretend I was Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider, but I don’t think I quite have her athletic abilities.

Bayon reminded me of the Labyrinth for those of you who remember the movie with David Bowie. The towering temple has 37 stone pillars, each topped with carved faces pointing in a cardinal direction. I felt that there were hundreds of eyes watching my every move and wondered just what those eyes might have seen in the past couple of centuries. If only they could talk! When the sun reached it’s highest point, it was much too hot to meander around the crumbling walls so we sat in the shade of the uppermost levels and watched the activity below.

We hired a driver for the following day ad began again at 5 a.m. to catch another beautiful sunrise. Tom carted us around for the majority of the day, taking us to many of the outerlying temples. We finished the day back at the main Angkor complex, eager to watch the sunset and capture the amazing reflections in the moat surrounding the temple. I got too absorbed with following some monks around and spent much of my time hiding behind stone pillars and sneaking through windows, trying to get their pictures. My sleuthlike techniques failed and I was caught. Fortunately, they were good natured and engaged me in conversation about Bush and the Chicago Bulls. We also had a trying time staying ahead of the hordes of Japanese tourists. If they got in front of us, we would wait forever while they snapped endless numbers of pictures. However, they did think that the three of us were pretty neat. Several times, we were all dragged over and placed directly in the middle of a smiling, chattering group of excited Japanese sight-seers.

The best time to tour the temples was during the early morning hours when the ruins were totally deserted, allowing the vibrations of jungle noises and parrot squawks to echo through the skeletal remains. It was enjoyable to sit in the middle of the ruins and try to imagine how life existed there so many years ago. Building these magnificent temples was quite an accomplishment and it was simply mind boggling to wander around and observe their creativity and artistic abilities.

Three weeks flew by, leaving us only six days to tour quickly through Phnom Penh, spend a few days at the beach, and head into Ho Chi Minh City. Phnom Penh, the capital city, sits along the MeKong and many guesthouses offer fabulous sunsets across the water. We stayed at “Happy” guesthouse, complete with pool tables and several decks built across the water. Since time was short, we hired a driver for a city tour so we could see some museums and the more popular tourist attractions.


Our first stop was the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. During the Khmer Rouge takeover, under the leadership of Pol Pot, thousands of Cambodians were exterminated and thrown into the mass graves of Choeung Ek. Many of them were tortured, including women and children, and bludgeoned to death or simply died of disease or starvation. More than 8000 remains of the unfortunate victims have been exhumed from their graves and their skulls are on display in the memorial on the property. You are still able to see the large pits where the bodies were buried, a very disturbing sight.

Our next stop was the Tuol Sleng museum where in 1975 the sight was taken over by Pol Pot and turned into S-21, the largest torture center in Cambodia. During the onset of S-21 an estimated 100 victims were killed daily. The museum is set up much like it was in the 1970’s. Many of the leg irons, torture devices, and holding cells are in their original state, left untouched since the dark days of the Khmer Rouge. A photographic display shows images of the many victims, pictures taken with their hands tied behind their backs and numbers thrown around their necks. I’ll never forget the sad, haunted looks in the children’s eyes, staring from behind the glass panels. An estimated 2,000 children were killed during Pol Pot’s regime. Other prisoners were composed of workers, teachers, technicians, students, professionals, ministers, and diplomats. Many were killed simply because they were intellectual, wore glasses, or spoke a foreign language. The regime branded them as “parasites” and thought that they may go against Pol Pot’s plan for a Maoist, agrarian society. How anyone could think that a little, eight year old girl could possibly be a government parasite is difficult to understand. The whole exhibit was incredibly moving and we left with heavy hearts. I'm very glad that we had a chance to see the monuments and learn more about what happened during the Khmer Rouge takeover.

Tomorrow we are going snorkling near some of the outer islands off of Sihanoukville. The tourist season is low and we are able to barter for prices with almost anything. The rainy season has also started and we have been experiencing daily rain storms. I have yet to learn that I must carry my umbrella with me everywhere, but, thankfully the storms are usually short and I'm never stuck anywhere for long.

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