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Published: February 11th 2006
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Angkor Wat
view of the large temple complex of Angkor Wat from across the moat. It's Friday, February 10 and there is a lot to share about my last two days in Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor. I've seen some amazing temples and had a few insightful and interesting conversations with foreigners and locals alike.
What are the temples of Angkor? As a brief background, the temples of Angkor are a group of temples built from the 9th to 12th centuries by the Khmers. Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer Empire, the strongest empire in southeast Asia for hundreds of years. At its peak, Angkor is believed to have had a population of 1 million people.
In 1431, the Thais partially destroyed Angkor and the Khmer court relocated to Phnom Penh. The temples were left to the elements and became overgrown by jungle.
In the 16th century, the Khmer royalty restored the main temple, Angkor Wat, to be used by Buddhist monks. The rest of the temples, however, remained neglected.
In the 1860's, the temples became known to the rest of the world through the publication of a book by a French explorer who had "discovered" them (though not the first to "discover" the temples, he was the
Ta Phrom
I'm in a doorway of the temple of Ta Phrom where a portion of Tomb Raider was filmed. one that brought attention to them). Within the last 100 years, most of the temples in the area have been cleared of jungle and the structures at least partially restored (in large part due to the French). Considering the unstable government during especially the 70's, 80's, and 90's, however, tourism has been spotty. That began to change though starting in 1998 when the brutal leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, died. Although the negative impact of the Khmer Rouge on the Cambodian people continues to this day, tourism in the temples of Angkor and the nearby city of Siem Reap is booming.
From my limited observations in Siem Reap, there is a hope for the future, especially in the young. Contrasting this is the extreme poverty and the maimed (from land mines) painfully apparent.
On my first day exploring the temples, I hired a guide. Although most do not hire a guide to take them through the temples and explain the structures, carvings, history, etc., I thought it would be a valuable experience not just for my understanding of the temples, but for my understanding of its people. I really enjoyed getting to know Nak. Here's a
Nak
My tour guide on Thursday, Nak, smiling before climbing up some more stairs. little bit of info about Nak's life story:
Nak is 25 years old and is from a village outside of Siem Reap. He moved to the city 6 years ago with his mom and 7 brothers and sisters (6 girls and 2 boys). His father passed away when he was 7 or 8. Although they came from a prominent family, his father lost his money and influence during the Khmer Rouge (his father had been a general in the army). His mother struggled to raise the children but was able to purchase land in Siem Reap and bring the family there for the opportunities it provided. Four of his older sisters married. All told, there are 18 people in Nak's immediate family, and here's the kicker, they all live with his mom in a small 2 bedroom house in Siem Reap. Yes, that includes his 4 brother-in-laws and the kids of his sisters. None of them have the money to be able to buy or rent their own places. As for Nak, he sleeps outside.
Considering his set of circumstances, it is surprising to find that Nak is confident and ambitious. He has worked since he was 11.
Bayon temple
The interesting Bayon temple in the late afternoon. His current job is as a tour guide of the temples of Angkor, a regulated position that requires certification and an annually renewed license. The certification course is $1,000. The yearly renewal is $150 per year. Due to the costs involved, Nak delayed university until he could make enough money as a tour guide to pay for night school. He is currently a junior at the university and after working every day during the high season as a tour guide (hours vary from as early as 5:30 a.m. to as late as 6:30 p.m.), he goes to school at night.
Nak is also unusual in that at 25, he is still single. According to Nak, Cambodians usually marry early (late teens/early 20's), sometimes as early as 16. His 4 married sisters' marriages were all arranged marriages. Yes, you read that correctly. According to Nak, approximately 60% of Cambodian marriages are arranged. This is, as you would expect, more common in rural areas. The married sisters are all older than Nak. So why is Nak still single? Well, he refused his mother's request for an arranged marriage to a girl that he readily admits is attractive, respectable, intelligent, and well
Sokha
My moto-trailer driver, Sokha, with his vehicle. educated. Whether than agreeing with him on whether it was wise to disobey his mother, especially when it would appear that it was to a quality girl, it is an interesting situation.
Ok, I could share a lot more, but I think this blog entry is going to take me 4 hours...I better get moving. 😊
As I said, I had a good time getting to know Nak. I also hired a moto-trailer driver named Sokha but his English skills were limited so it was harder to get to know him. As for Nak, he understood English perfectly but his pronunciation was a little off, and I often had to get him to repeat words. Still, he did a good job. What does it cost to hire your own personal tour guide and moto-trailer driver? $20 per day for the tour guide and $12 per day for the moto-trailer driver. I also bought them lunch and drinks throughout the day. They both met me at my hotel at 7:30 a.m. and dropped me off at 6:30 p.m. Money well spent in my opinion.
That was yesterday. I guess while I'm at it, I'll talk about dinner since
Cambodia's national dish
Cambodia's national dish, Amok. This shows a sampler plate of Amok with fish, chicken, pork, vegetable, and beef ($6). that was an interesting experience for me. I went to a restaurant fairly near to my hotel (which is outside of town). This particular restaurant had about 6-7 servers but it was fairly slow (only 4-5 tables full). My initial server spoke decent English but I noticed that whenever I ordered or interacted with the server, I was drawing the attention of the other servers. They appeared to be listening in. At the time I ordered my banana split, they couldn't contain themselves any longer. It would appear that my pronunciation of banana was different than what one guy had learned in his English class from a Cambodian teacher. This led to a crowd of servers around my table discussing the pronunciation and spelling of a bunch of words. Pretty soon, we've got a pen and napkin (to write on), and I have them all repeating after me. It was kind of comical really. I'm teaching English for like 20 minutes to servers in a restaurant which by this point had pretty much cleared out.
I found out some other interesting things too. One, they generally get 4 days off per month and get paid $40 per month (apparently,
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
A picture from this morning of Angkor Wat (had to leave my hotel at 5:30 to get this picture, and I most definitely was not alone at the Wat) police only get $25 per month to start). Apart from their low salaries, what really struck me was how excited these servers were to learn English to increase their opportunities in the tourism industry in Siem Reap. Of the $40 one guy was making per month, he was spending $20 per month for school ($10 of which was for learning English). The youth and young adults I've met appear to be pretty excited about the future. The general mood in this city is cheerful too. When I'm walking, I usually have kids waving at me and saying hello in English.
As for today, I went to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat with a few of my closest friends (about 1,000 of them). It was pretty cool though in spite of the heavy cloud cover and the crowds.
Tomorrow, I'm in for another full day at the temples before leaving the following day for Malaysia (do I have to go back there?).
Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Look! There goes Dave!
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Blog of the Moment at About
Hi Dave, You just became the "Blog of the Moment" at About Dot Com's Asia for Visitors page http://goasia.about.com Keep up the good blogging... Greg