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(clover)
As soon as we got off our plane in Siem Reap Cambodia, we were blasted by heat. It seared down into the tops our our skulls and emanated up from the ground. There was no escaping it. From the airport we were picked up by little Cambodian man who would be our tuk tuk driver for the next few days. He called himself Bunthorn. Very nice guy. He looked serious most of the time but when you could get him to smile it lit up his whole face.
Right away Scott started asking Bun questions about the local language. Things like thank you and hello. He went a couple more steps and told us how to say no thank you, "day aw koon." We had no idea how we were going to have to say this during the following days.
Our guest house was really comfortable and outside of all the hustle in town. It would become our safe haven from the heat in the evenings after a long day of temple trekking.
On our first night in Cambodia Bun took us out to our first temple to view the sunset. Everyone else had the same
Takin a break.
Tiring job taking photo's of all of these temples.idea though. It was a circus. We ended up sitting on the back side of the temple chugging water and watching visitors clamper onto the temple via broken steps that we about four inches wide. It was entertaining. Old folks and small children alike.
For our first full day Bun took us to the main temple complex that most people know about called Angkor Wat. It was so big we wondered around it for two hours and we didn't even see every side of it. We took about a billion pictures.
What I learned is that no matter where you go, if there is a major attraction, anywhere in the world, there is going to be a huge tour bus of Chinese folks pouring out of it with their huge sun bonnets and white cotton gloves. Oh yah and those face masks that doctors wear. And don't forget the umbrellas. Not to be rude but they lookrd like a bunch of hypochondriacs. Piffle.
(Scott)
Walking through the temples is a bit like time travel. Some people stare at me oddly but when I mention this, but to me time time travel is all around us. Have
Story Time.
Hindu storytime of Vishnu. you ever visited an old empty playground where the weeds have reclaimed the soccer field or where the swings have become rusted chain wind chimes. Its so easy to stop for a moment to let your imagination fill in the air around you with voices and laughter. Almost as if you'd stepped back in time and could capture the exact moment with every sense. As I walked through the temples of ancient Cambodia something seemed to pull at my senses. Something oddly familiar and yet strangely new. How many laborers, how many guards, had leaned up against the shady enclosure to escape the languid heat as I was doing. Perhaps thousands, perhaps none.
What's especially luring about the Angkor temples is the vastness in which you are given a park pass to explore. We spent over 3 1/2 days exploring and left with the feeling that we could have easily spent another 3 days seeing much more. And as each day progressed we found less and less people while the ruins became more striking. Granted we marched around during the reign of the midday heat when most water drinking creatures would be hiding. But sometimes dealing with a bit
The linga temple.
Angor Thom area, temple with Hindu Lingas. of suffering is so worth it when you can find a quite moment among the ruins. Oh the temptation to nap away some hours within the cool recess of the stone passageways.
Cambodia is a practicing Theravada Buddhism country. The ruins of Angkor range in spectrum from Hindu to Mahayana Buddhism with some later Theravada Buddhist carvings added. One temple (you'll have to excuse my ignorance at forgetting the exact names since it does get confusing) was built half in honor to Buddha and half in Honor to Hindu beliefs. Curiously we found out that later on the Kings son set about having the Buddha images carved out to make the temple completely Hindu. It brought to mind the bullet holes we'd seen embedded into the stones the first night we arrived to view the sunset. The conflict of religion was just as much a reality for the ancient Cambodians as it is for us today.
For some reason or another my new pointy beard that Clover designed and maintains seemed to be an instant hit with the locals. Many of the little bargaining kids would stop to giggle and laugh or better yet stare wide eyed as
I walked past. On a couple of occasions I've even had little kids come running up with their fingers outstretched in hopes of touching my goatee. And yes, I've lowered myself down so they can get a feel. It's almost as If I have a lucky Buddha under my chin that only draws certain peoples attention. Or at least I hope so since everything so far has been amusing and light hearted. Granted one older man said I looked like the King of Nagas, which I'll take as a compliment. Better that then getting compared to a BackStreet boy I figure.
I loved sitting down to chat with the local kids. Something about the Cambodian people quickly draws you in as they take great delight when you speak just a tiny bit of their language. Hiking along a jungle trail to some ruins I stopped to smile at a little 5 year old boy who the local parents were encouraging to say "hello". Smiling for a bit, I brought my hands up together and said "Chum Reap Sul" and bowed my head, which brought a whole round of "ohhhs" and "ahhhs" from the locals as they giggled. As soon
as I attempted his language his face lit up in understanding and places his small plams together in greeting to back to me.
Sometimes while chatting with the kids we'd learn some very interesting things. Like they aren't allowed to really sell or push any items unless they have given the police a $2.00 bribe. Makes you stop and wonder for a little bit as you buy the random trinkets just how much money does make it back to the kid when it's all said and done. But like many other places in the world, Cambodia is very poor with Police and Teachers earning about $20-30 a month. The rub being, a dollar in Cambodia goes a long way. Thus you have a system where bribes and extra payments are the norm behind the scenes. We even found out that public school is free, but if you don't bribe the teacher you can find it very hard to attend school or will be getting very bad grades.
The local gas stations are really something else. As our tuk tuk would race down the road we'd see these little tables set up with large clear glass bottles containing a
golden honey colored liquid. At first I was thinking that moonshine must be in full production here and was a very big part of the culture. Alas, my alcohol fueled dreams came to end when I noticed a person on a bike pouring the liquid into his gas tank. I guess it makes sense, pull up, empty a small bottle into your motorbike and then go. No lines, no waiting, just prompt quick service. These gas stands are everywhere.
It's easy to get into a burned out temple mode state as you stumble about seeing so much in such a short time. Our cure for this was to find a shady location while we chugged lots of water. That and playing with the camera to make little videos which Clover hates (albeit she loves to giggle herself to sleep as she watches our videos late at night). Nothing like lounging about to not only refresh the brain but to give you that time perspective in which your able to absorb more of the location. Ta Prohm (tomb raider filmed there) is a hidden forest gem in which the temple is encased with tree shade. As you walk around it's
ruins you'll find rubble piles, blocked off passageways, and hidden little courtyards. And if you look just right you can image the tree roots dripping down over the walls like the fingers of a giants hand. Everywhere you look is the old and new bursting together. The forest seeking to reclaim the dormant area, the stones sitting complacent as they slowly erode away.
Angkor Wat and the numerous temples had instilled a sense of awe for the ancient Angkor people along with the local Cambodians themselves. Many of the kids selling things challenged us to name to the capital of Madagascar. If we could not, then we'd have to buy their trinket for a higher price, if we could then we'd get a "very good deal". Quite inventive little buggers, I'll give them that. (Antananarivo is the capital by the way.)
So feeling rather accomplished and delighted with our stay in Siem Reap and the Buddha hiding under my chin, we moved on to find out what else Cambodia had in store for us.
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