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Published: April 13th 2009
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Angkor Wat
Classic view We left early the next day and headed by bus to Siem Reap and the ancient remnants of the former Khmer empire at Angkor Wat. When we got off the bus we were met by a tuk tuk driver who drove us to our hotel and then negotiated a deal to be our transport around the temples for the next 3 days.
Siem Reap is a small clean town on the banks of a river. It is tourist orientated and you can be forgiven for forgetting exactly where you are in the evenings when the bars are busy and foreigners occupy the streets. The advantage for travellers is the availability of western essentials in the shops and we picked up supplies, had a nice meal and went back to the hotel for an early night.
We were up at 5.00 am the next day to watch sunrise over Angkor Wat. Never again said Sue, there was some cloud cover and the magic was lost as the sun didn't appear until it was above the temple rather than sliding enigmatically from behind.
I will run out of superlatives if I try and describe the temples, statues, carvings and grounds there is
Temple dancers
Aspara beauties everywhere no substitute for going there. However, it is not all about Angkor Wat there are many different temples and palaces in varying states of repair from the huge site at Angkor Tom to the tree root entwined mystery of Ta Prohm. We visited about a dozen sites over 2 days, each one with its own unique character and story. While England was barely a unified country Cambodia had an advanced civilisation there were busy towns, foreign traders, skilled craftsmen and of course impressive temples and palaces. The best materials were reserved for the most important buildings so all that remains are the stone structures. They would all have been surrounded by dwellings housing servants and traders servicing the palace or temple, usually at the centre, but all evidence looks to have perished over time.
The remaining buildings are impressive and would have been even moreso if the Khmer Rouge regime hadn't determined that they should be defaced for representing ideals contrary to their own. Quite apart from the damage inflicted when the Siamese army overthrew the Khmer dynasty 400 years ago there are the self inflicted scars.
Statues of Buddha have been wrecked or heads removed, statues leading to
Angkor Wat
Morning view the sites have been beheaded, beautiful figures carved into the walls have been defaced or scratched out entirely. It was a senseless act made worse by the fact that many artifacts were taken away and sold in Thailand to line the pockets of the so called agrarian idealists.
Thankfully many countries are sponsoring and undertaking renovation projects and in time this area will represent more faithfully its glorious past. However it is still a magnificent area to visit and the hours soon whisk by as you travel from site to site at the same time getting a glimpse of life in the countryside.
We had planned on 3 days but 2 full days of ancient monuments was enough for us and we decided to take a break and visit Tonle Sap SE Asia's largest lake.
What started as a tuk tuk drive out to see the lake, ended in a boat ride out to the floating village, one of many that exist on the calm and fruitful waters. Seeing people living their lives this way was incredible. Every need is provided for, there are houses, shops, bars (one with pool tables!), a barbers, a full size basketball court,
schools and churches. Many homes have cats or dogs, we even saw a floating sty complete with 2 fat pink pigs. Children swim and play in the water, we saw one young girl barely 5 years old confidently steering her little craft, a large metal washing bowl, across to the home of a friend or relative. Boats ply from home to home selling fruit vegetables cooked food and fish, fishing being the main occupation and income generator for people on the lake. It was a truly unique experience, unexpected and enjoyable and a perfect end to our time in Cambodia.
There is a high profile case in the headlines, a man named Duch is being prosecuted for his part as the commander of S21. He is the only one of the former Khmer regime to have admitted his guilt and shown remorse. After the Vietnamese liberation he went into the countryside, resumed his profession as a teacher and became a Christian. His defence are claiming he is being used as a scapegoat and he should be released as he has been in custody for 10 years already, an infringement of his human rights.
It makes you think. What about
the perpetrators the guys at the front end dishing out their perverted forms of punishment? Where are they?
I spent the rest of my time in Cambodia looking into the faces of men around of a certain age and wondering.
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