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Published: January 19th 2008
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Monday. January 7. Day 14. Siem Reap. We have two and one-half days to see the wonders of the area. Since the temples at the Angkor Wat World Heritage Site are spread out over miles and include dozens of ruins from simple towers to complex cities, we obviously aren’t going to see it all. So it’s temples on the run. This is why I’ve been avoiding elevators in favor of stairs: the marathon temple tour.
How the other 1%!l(MISSING)ive. On the way to the Angkor Wat site, we pass some beautiful new two-story houses in yellows and blues built right next to homes that are barely huts. New housing developments are springing up everywhere, a sign of the new prosperity as tourists invade from all over the world. We stop to get our ID passes at the gate—each one of us photographed--and are instructed that we must keep these IDs with us at all times. We will be checked often and if we don’t have them are subject to a $200 fine. According to our tour guide, the Vietnamese are “managing” the park now and charging the $40 admission fee (which is good for three days and covers the entire
park and all the ruins—totally worth it). It is their payment for having rescued the Cambodians from themselves and Pol Pot’s killing fields. Other sources say about 30%!o(MISSING)f revenues is plowed back into restoration. Since the Vietnamese are building several 5-star hotels in Siem Reap, I suspect they’re around for the foreseeable future.
Wat a lot of ruins. First stop, the temples that are part of what is called the Roluos group. It is early, but the humidity has us sweating before we even exert ourselves. With highs hovering around 90 degrees in the day time (dropping to about 70 at night), we need plenty of water to keep going. These are the most ancient temples of the Angkor dating from about 877 A.D.
Preah Ko, is a crumbling group of orange-colored sandstone towers, massive preservation efforts in evidence. A single set of five or six stairs leads up to a platform, on which sits the temple guarded by lions. All that remains of the temple are several lean towers shaped like pyramids toward the top.
BaKong, the largest of the Rolous temples and remarkably well preserved, is dedicated to the god Shiva. We are able to climb
the stairs, which are arranged in six terraces with six to ten steps going up to each terrace. The porous stone combined with the humid air creates a perfect environment for lichen to grow and it’s everywhere on all the temples and even on the buildings in town. The stones often appear to have been splashed with black paint--especially vivid against the pink sandstone. The carvings are delicate stories carved into the stone in intricate detail. It’s like looking back in time.
As always children swarm over us when we stop, pleading with us to buy their wares. Our tour leader asks that we not give the children money and suggests we stop at an orphanage where we can buy goods the children there are actually making. It turns out to be a good choice.
Khmer Art Carving skin. The children pound out small holes in precut leather which is in the shape of an elephant or god or other form. The holes of varying size create delicate lace-like patterns. Once you buy a product, the name of the child who made it is recorded to give him or her credit and then he or she is called to take
a picture with you. While we shop, four of the boys put on a shadow-puppet show. I have been hoping to see this ancient art since I arrived in Asia so I’m especially pleased. This play is about two farmers and their water buffalo which get into a fight. The boys do the voices as well as handle the puppets. Cute. I peak in the back and see the mats where the children sleep laid out on a platform. It doesn’t look too comfortable, but I bet it beats the heck out of sleeping on the ground with spiders and snakes for company. Yes, it’s sad. It’s heart wrenching. In a country with no social services that I could ascertain, kids who don’t have a family or an orphanage to call home, are on their own to survive.
And yet another temple. The last of the Rolous temples is LoLei with its bright orange-pink ruins, tufts of grass clinging to crevices in its walls. Nearby this temple, we walk by monks just finishing lunch in their communal dining area. We stroll through the monastery, past monks just finishing lunch, past bright-orange robes hanging over fencing, past monks resting on a
Orphanage
Orphans pound lacy patterns into lion and elephant images made from animal skins. bench. We walk on past a field with grazing cows to a nearby village. There are a variety of living conditions in this village of maybe 20 homes. Dogs run everywhere (a common sight in both Cambodia and Thailand), children play--some play pool on a table located under one of the stilt houses, people lounge in hammocks under the houses to avoid the midday sun. A water pump, like something out of the old West, stands near the center of the village. There is one really nice two-story house: huge glass doors dominate the first floor and wood paneling dominates the top floor. Nearby this home stands a very small hut.
Onwards. After lunch at Phnom Srey Restaurant where we have a really good Cambodian meal in an open-air dining room, we drive to the next stops: built in about 970 AD, Banteay Srei, the city of women, is a beautiful temple, featuring delicate rich-pink sandstone carvings. The top of its buildings look like a series of heavily-ornate crowns. And I’m thrilled to see Sanskrit writing on a large panel maybe ten-feet tall. Perhaps it’s the English teacher in me, but I love ancient writing.
Banteay Samre, built a bit
later about 1150 AD, is dedicated to Vishnu and features carvings that relate the stories of that god.
At the top. Our last stop for the day is Pre Rup, built about 960 AD, where we climb the ruins to watch the sun set. The stairs are very steep (as they have been at all the stops) and these steps seem particularly high and narrow in depth. You can’t get your whole foot on the step without turning it sideways. This actually wasn’t built with comfort in mind, of course, but probably served as a crematorium. While we visitors watch the sun drop, I sit at the top and chat with a young Californian who is traveling around the world. Living where he can. Working where he can. He says he’ll go back home in debt, and that doesn’t seem to bother him in the least. Ah, youth. The sun glows brightly before disappearing; it is still light when I make my way down the steps. What a remarkable day. Remarkable.
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Dale
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This day in Cambodia
It was a full day for sure! I remember our tour director commenting how "BEUUUTIFULLLLL" the carvings of the women at the temple were/are. Nice full lips, hips, and bosoms! He had all of the ladies in the group pose for a picture there. Everybody was supposed to hold their hands a certain way, mimicing the carved ladies, the different poses signifying: "Married", "Virgin", and something else that I don't remember. Only about 1/3 of the women in our group mimiced the carvings, the rest just smiled.