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Published: September 14th 2009
I had been worried about the amount of time between my flight from Nha Trang to HCM and my flight from HCM to Siem Reap. I had one hour. But it all worked very well. I had no problems getting my luggage and then checking it all back in for the international flight to Cambodia. I was also feeling much better and the illness seemed to have passed.
The flight was very strange. It was a new airbus and it had a full staff but I think there must have only been 20 passengers on board. Was the most empty plane I had ever been on. That made it nice to enter into Cambodia though for the visa application. Basically they just want $20. I also found out another mistake I had made. Before I left I had gone to the bank and got a lot of small denomination bills. I got lots of $1's and $5's and they have come in handy. However, when I handed him the $20 it had a very very small little tear. Maybe about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch. I did not even notice it as it was that small. But he inspected
the bill, saw that small tear and then shook his head and handed it back. I then found out that they will take US dollars for everything but any money that is too old, faded or has any tears whatsoever, is worthless here in Cambodia. I wish now I had asked the bank for new bills. I had to sit and go through all my money and unfortunatly almost half of it has small problems on it. I will wait to see what happens.
Coming into Siem Reap however is amazing from the airplane. I was just sitting in my seat reading when I looked out the window and was shocked to see an endless expanse of water and fields and trees. It looked like an ocean had risen and flooded land for as far as the eyes could see. I found out that it was the lake Tonie Sap which I guess is the largest lake in SE Asia.
I am staying at a little hotel called The Kool Hotel and so far its been great. Family run and all the amenities. No complaints whatsoever. I am a bit bummed as for the last 20 days I
First Cambodian babtized in Siem Reap
The sister is in a wheelchair but never stopped smiling and gave a great talk tonight!have been driving a motorbike everywhere I go now. Here in Siem Reap though tourists are no longer allowed to rent and drive motorbikes. Its a bit of a shame because the cambodians are not quite as crazy on the roads here as the Vietnamese so it would have been pretty good.
The first night I got in I went ahead and went looking for the Kingdom Hall based on the directions the Society had sent. I hired a tuk tuk driver as I knew it was close by but the driver indicated that he had no idea who Jehovah's Witnesses were or where I was trying to go. The directions was to find a small alleyway across the street from the Goldianna hotel. We found the alleyway and went down it farther than I thought when I suddenly spotted a gate with a small sign that had english letters stating the meeting times. Behind the gate was a 2 story building with a sign stating in both Khmer and English "Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses" Yay, found it.
While we were there the driver started beeping his horn and some people above the Hall turned on all
the outside lights and came out on the balcony. A man asked what I wanted and I stated that I was a Jehovah's Witness. He came down right away and opened the gate and welcomed me in. He is a Japanese brother and spoke a little english and it was nice to visit for a few minutes and be shown around the hall. I made sure of the meeting times and said goodbye for the night.
The next day was my first day excursion out into Cambodia and the temples. I decided to start with what is called the Grand tour as it takes in a temple called Benteay Srey which is about 40 km away and then a bunch more smaller ones closer to the main complex. My thinking has been to start with the smaller temples and head to the larger ones last such as Angkor Wat.
So far Cambodia is very different from Vietnam. Much more flat and the vegetation is much more dense and Jungle like. I was told that it rained all last week and it seems that everything is flooded but the people are happy as they are all out planting their
rice. Its hard to believe but it is even more humid and hot here then in Vietnam. Its not something that anyone can describe to you, you just have to experience it to believe it. After not even 10 minutes of moving around you are just pretty much soaked. Your basically just walking around in wet clothes all day.
I must say that the first day was an eye opener. I had always pictured in my mind's eye that Angkor was just a few temples all pretty close together. Its larger than I would have ever imagined. There are so many temples and they are so different and unique. And the amount of distance you can cover seeing them is immense. Its the largest historical complex I have ever visited anywhere. Its covers such a large area that it makes it even more difficult to imagine how these ancient people were able to accomplish what they did. The one thing I can say for sure is that I ended up the first day just taking hundreds of picutures before realizing that nothing I took would be as good as the pictures that many professionals have already taken of the
area.
I am glad that I went to the Benteay Sreay though as even though it was small, it still has been the most preserved and intricatly carved of all the temples I have seen. Its the carvings on these temples that has impressed me so much. You can look at the pyramids in Eygpt and wonder at how it was accomplished. But the stones are just stones. Here you are looking at such an engineering marvel but when you get close the stones are all carved in such small and minute details. We are talking carving details in the stone that is the size of your small fingernail. Its mind boggling that they not only built these temples but they put such elaborate carvings into their work at the same time. Stunning.
I visited many temples but would take forever to describe them all. That evening on Friday at 5:30pm I attended the meeting and met all the Witnesses. It was very nice and everyone was very friendly and welcomed me in. There are several brothers and sisters who speak English pretty well and were able to help me out. I found out that more than half
of the brothers in the hall are from Japan and have moved here to help where the need is great. 4 years ago the congregation here in Siem Reap started with 4 people and now there are 38 publishers. They had the local needs part that night and I was told after the meeting that it was announced that last September that 45 bible studies had been reported and that this September there were now 115 being conducted. That increase occured in just one year.
All of the Cambodian brothers and sisters at the hall have found the truth from door to door work and have been babtized over the last several years. I definitly enjoyed meeting the Japanese brothers but it was a pleasure to meet the Cambodian witnesses who found the truth from the door to door work.
I have to say it was very faith strengthening to be there though. Even though I could not understand a word of the meeting, It was exactly the same as mine back home in Colorado. They had a English song book in the back that they let me use and it was heart moving to be able to
sing the songs in English while at the same time being able to hear everyone around me singing it in Khmer.
They have 38 publishers. Out of those are 24 pioneers and 6 aux this month. Their meeting attendance runs around 60. Some have found various jobs here and stay but others have to go back to Japan and work 2 or 3 months to save some money then return. I asked if being Japanese was an advantage in learning the Khmer language and was told not at all. There is not one thing similiar between the 2 languages both written and spoken.
The country here is overseen by the Branch from Japan and the literature is behind what we get but is translated in Japan. So for example, at the book study they were not studying the God's Love book as they don't have it in Khmer yet but they were studying the Draw Closer to Jehovah book. They get one Watchtower per month and no Awake. The WT is in full color though and is nice.
It was very good to be able to be at the meeting with them Friday. I am planning on
going out in Service on Sat morning so will fill in from there. For me this has been a confirmation. Many religions teach about loving one another but Jehovah's Witnesses live it and being on the other side of the world and being so welcomed by these brothers and sisters doing the same thing that I do every week at home is living proof. It the fulfillment of the scripture at John 13:34,35 where Jesus stated: "I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you, that you also may love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves."
Jesus said that this would be a sign to identify his disciples and for me it really has been.
Signing off for now
Dave
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David Levine
non-member comment
Dave - it was nice meeting you - looks like your journy continues. Have fun and stay safe. I am in Laos right now =)