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Published: April 1st 2006
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hell on wheels
had to wear my headband as a mask to keep from breathin in the dust from the roads! UPDATE!! Pictures of Southern Thailand now on a second myspace:
http://spaces.msn.com/stephthailand1 My visa for Thailand expired on Friday the 24th, and since I had to wait for my India visa, I was forced to pay 500b when I left Thailand on Saturday for overstaying my welcome! The trip to Cambodia took over 12 hours and it was not a pleasant one either! Cambodia is still much a third world country. I heard the roads were not paved but I was not prepared for the trauma I went through without any painkillers or sleeping aids!! On the Cambodian side, we drove 5 hours in a minibus that must have been 10 years old! The loose windows were clattering against each other right next to my ear, the shocks on the bus (if there were any) were shot and the driver was driving on this dirt road with craters big enough to swallow America’s largest SUV! My bum, back and neck were in much pain after two hours, and if it wasn’t for the view and the great people on the bus who laughed and cried in misery along w/ me, I would have walked back to the Thai border! The
American Idol
no joke..this was the first time watching TV since I left!! I just stared at it for a good half hour! poverty is obvious and people were bathing in a creek with brown water that ran alongside the road. I also saw children walking down the roads, naked, and the dust from all the sand was so thick that it covered the bus windows!! Luckily when I set eyes on Angkor’s beauty the dust blew away most of the bad memories of the bus trip from hell!
Sunday was my first full day of sightseeing and I made arrangements the night before at Beng Mealea Villa (my guesthouse, which is actually more like a hotel) for a motorbike driver to take me around to the various temples since I was on such a tight time constraint. I wanted to cry when I first caught glimpse of my first temple, the Bayon. It’s mind-blowing to actually step on a stone that has been sitting for years in one spot and has held the foot of so many men and women dating back to the 1100-1200’s... here’s a rundown of the temples... picutures do a better job than me trying to explain, so sorry for this entry not being too lengthy…
THE BAYON... there are 216 faces of Avalokitesvara in this
temple! It was built around 1200 by Jayavarman VII. Quite intimidating to the folks that lived in this kingdom as it seems that their king wanted to remind them that he always had an eye on what they were doing…
THE BAPHUON was destroyed during the madness of Khmer Rouge and has been worked on by the French and Cambodians to restore or put back together this “jigsaw puzzle.” It was originally a pyramid representation of Mt. Meru, a sacred mountain in Hinduism and was constructed by Udayadityavaram II. In the back there was a 40 meter length reclining Buddha but even my camera couldn’t pick up on it.
THE PHIMEANAKAS is a pyramid flanked with guardian lions with elephants on the corners... couldn’t get close up to it since it’s being worked on so I didn’t hang there too long.. also tourist trap w/ kids surrounding the visitors persuading them to buy their books/postcards/bracelets...
SRAS SREI PONDS: the larger one is built by Jayavarman VIII and is faced w/ sandstone. Next to it was a smaller pool. While I was walking I saw a man bathing or even washing his clothes in it??
ELEPHANT TERRACE—dated
from the late 12th century during the Jayavarman VII. Its 350 meters long and engraved with elephants parading along the walls... imagine being the person that had to chisel all those elephants!!
LEPPER KING TERRACE was built in 13th century. The carving is so deep into these stones that it must have taken several workers to get this monument completed in one lifetime! All along the walls are mythological scenes. On top of the terrace stood a statue of Dharma or Yama, the God of the Underworld.
TA KEO: built of sandstone but never completed due to the death of the King JayavarmanV. I was able to climb up to the top and one of the guards tried to show me a peek of Angkor Wat. I pretended I saw it after much struggle b/c I felt bad!! Even took a picture of.. nothing??
TA PROHM—one of Angkor’s many wonders and also used to shoot Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider. This temple has not been touched by restoration and as you walk on the grounds you see many sections that are blocked off due to stones collapsing. All over the inside were roots of age-old trees that have
began to strangle the stonework which makes it appear to be more like a Nature’s Playground.
ANGKOR WAT—need I explain??!! It’s the world’s largest religious building and I spent over two hours walking the extensive grounds. It was built by Suryavarman II to honor Vishnu, his patron deity. I think its great how these Buddhists worship both their Buddha and Hindu deities and walking through this wat got me excited to learn more about both religions.
Later that evening, Kim, Mustafa, (a wonderful couple I met on the bus ride to Angkor Wat and she’s the first Canadian I actually enjoy talking to!!) and I went to a traditional Cambodian Dance show/buffet and gorged ourselves silly as these beautifully dressed dancers graced the floor with some lovely storytelling dancing!!
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Amanda Moo
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REally good photo's
enjoyed this one but cant believe that you supported child labour in Cambodia. you damn ferang!!!!