Cambodia

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Siem Reap, Feb. 2010
What an amazing part of the World! This region is considered by many as the gem of Cambodia. Siem Reap is the location of the great temples of Angkor, the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire which flourished between the 09th and 13th centuries. The Khmer Empire was extremely prosperous because of its resources: endless fish supply, exotic game, exotic woods, agricultural products and precious gems. In the Angkor region, the Khmer created an intricate network of canals, basins and immense rice paddies that sustained as much as one million people living in the region. The Khmer kings were wise and warlike rulers that inspired themselves from Indian concepts and local beliefs to build temples that rival, in my view, the Pyramids and some of the most famous temples of Egypt. Some of the Khmer temples are sculpted from bottom to top, with intricate 3 D carvings in a level of detail we have not seen elsewhere. Considering the tools available to the artist sculptors of the time, this was an amazing feat. 35 km from Angkor lies Lake Tonle Sap. During the dry season, the lake covers an area of approx 3500 sq km. During the height of the rainy season, the lake grows to over 10,000 sq km. I will talk about the lake later in this blog entry.

Only 10 min from the Siem Reap airport, stands the grand Angkor Wat temple. By the shore of a man made basin, this is Angkor’s most recognized temple. Built between 1113 and 1150, it is a Vishnuite Hindu temple. During the 13th century, the Khmer Empire embraced Buddhism, and the temple was converted into a Buddhist “Wat”. The word Wat is a word of Thai origin meaning monastery. Look this extraordinary temple up on the internet. Fantastic. What is even more special is that the Buddhists, a very peaceful and tolerant people, did not deface this former Hindu temple, as the ancient Egyptians did to their own temples. Angkor Wat is surrounded by a wall measuring 1.5 km by 1.3 km. The moat surrounding the temple grounds is fed by the Siem Reap river. Walking on the terrace of this temple is surreal. There are 5 main towers, four forming a square, and a central tower, the tallest which stands 65 m above the surrounding plain. The temples contain huge murals with intricate carvings depicting some of the history of the time, including great battles. The detail is remarkable, and the condition of the works extraordinary considering its age.

The Angkor region boasts dozens of different temples. We visited several, each one as interesting as the next. Some temples are still partially covered by the lush vegetation that was present when the French first arrived to “discover” these works. We liked the Bayon temple currently being restored with funds from Japan. This temple was designed with dozens upon dozens of pillars upon which smiling faces are carved. Most of these large pillars were crowned with each of their 4 sides adorned with huge faces.
As one travels from one temple to the other, we can see tourists being driven on the local Tuk Tuks, a compact 4 seat trailer pulled by a 125 cc motorcycle, autos, minibuses, buses, bicycles, shoes, sandals,etc. There are visitors from all over the world, some young, some not so young, but all fascinated by the beauty of these works.

My (Richard) favorite temples was built in the 10th century, it is Banteay Srei, or “citadel of Women”. Sculpted in magnificent pink colored stone, this temple was first rebuilt and restored in 1931 by the French. Why? After many centuries of being abandoned and left to the jungle, many of these temples had trees growing through them, not to mention thick lush vegetation. An example of that is the Ta Prohm temple, onto which several huge trees have overgrown and taken over sections of walls. Many of the temples had walls crumble over centuries from these forces of nature.

This region of Cambodia is another must see for your bucket list.

Lake Tonlé Sap
Wow, what an amazing visit. It takes a great deal for us to have a little culture shock, but this place ranks right up there. As mentioned in the introduction, the lake grows from 3,500 sq km to over 10,000 sq km from dry to peak wet season. It is considered the most fertile soft water fish producing region in the world!

Over 10 tons per sq km per year. If it were not for the introduction of gas and diesel motors to power boats and water pumps, people live here as they likely did 700 years ago. That being said, the cell phone has completely revolutionized the area, as “rich” peasant farmers and fishermen can now communicate with one another, even during the rainy season. Communicating was extremely difficult in the past. On the road to the lake, we can see merchants lining the roads, selling all sorts of stuff. That wasn’t unusual. What was unusual was that over half of the stalls included a small multi shelf mini stand upon which they sold a yellowish liquid contained in 1.5 liter pop bottles, and bottles of Jonny Walker Scotch. The bottles were filthy and the liquid did not inspire confidence if it was local moonshine. As it turns out, it is illegal gas, smuggled in from Thailand where gas is much cheaper than here. A liter of gas in Cambodia is about $1 CAD! This contraband gas is sold for use in motorcycles, and there are tons of them flying around.

Once we turned off the main highway, we continued on a very narrow paved roadway. As we drove closer to the lake region, marsh lands slowly began appearing, followed by houses perched on taller and taller stilts. As we pressed on, some houses were perched up on stilts that were over 9 m high. As it turns out, when the lake swells, the water level can rise by as much as 8 meters! Those that have houses must be able to survive in dry and rainy seasons. If your house doesn’t float, it better be perched right up there. In the absence of building standards, the construction style was rather interesting. Some of the stilts are wavy, and wobbly looking branches held together with rope, sometimes nails. Every house is unique, sparsely furnished, and every family seems to be involved in different types of business. There was garbage thrown around everywhere. Under some houses, one could see provisions of thin wooden poles that are used to build fish farm enclosures. These can be built in rivers, on the edge of the lake, and are used to produce large quantities of fish that are the size of large sardines. Some of these enclosures were easily seen from the road, and the water surface within these enclosures seemed highly agitated, as if the water was boiling. It appeared that special lake plants were being cultivated by many households as well.

When one looks at the sediment laden café au lait colored water, no readily apparent sewage systems in the houses, it is no wonder the fish grow quickly?!! I hope they don’t plan to sell the local fish to North American supermarkets, but they sure sell them to restaurants that cater to tourists! In the past, the local fishermen could catch huge fish reaching over 60 kg in the lake. With overfishing, this is not so common anymore. During the dry season, the exposed banks of the lake, covered with rich sediment earth, is used as farm fields where the fishermen grow veggies. The locals in this village seem to love to grow green beans.

Once we reached the end of the road, we proceeded past the village’s temple and school on foot to the local pier. We boarded a longish but narrow passenger boat equipped with a few wooden seats, and a motor. We then slowly cruised down a stream/tributary into the mouth of the lake. The cruise lasted over 1 ½ hours down and back. We snapped photographs of scenery that shocked us, saw more small children running around naked than we has seen anywhere else, and were amazed to see how young the children are when they start helping out with family chores. Houses out of the last centuries lined up in front of a cell phone tower. One little boy, probably 2 years old, was hopping from one boat to another, pulling ropes, pulling boats together to facilitate his moving from one skiff to the next. He was as skilled at climbing as a little monkey. A family of 10, including the grandparents was crammed into a small boat travelling from the lake edge to the village with the edge of their boat dangerously close to the water level. These poor people were almost swamped by the wash coming off of our boat. Mothers and children were washing clothes, dishes or themselves in water that most North Americans would not even touch, whilst others were relieving themselves. Other families were cleaning the day’s (fish) catch. That seemed to be a job for girls and women. The bulk of the catches were small fish, the size of large sardines. After they were cleaned, some were mounted onto long, thin skewers about 2 m long. They were then set out on the ground to dry. On boats, the hygienic conditions do not seem particularly good to an uptight foreigner!

Once we returned back in town, we drove slowly back in the direction of the main highway. In the middle of nowhere, we saw a small “bar” with 3 billiard tables. The tables were set on uneven ground, and had warped over time! Young boys still played billiards, all thinking they were the ultimate pool sharks! Some fishermen’s families had painstakingly skewered the fish in brochette’s 2 meters long. These brochettes are designed to hold the fish for drying. To our surprise, the skewers were laid down on banana leaves by the dirt roadside! You guessed it, every time a vehicle drove by; the dust flew up and onto the drying fish for extra seasoning. The innards that are cleaned out of the fish are typically recycled in the form of fertilizer for the gardens. Likewise for rotten fish.

The local mechanics were set up in sheds on stilts. Their workshops were as clean as the inside of a well used chimney, and hundreds upon hundreds of spare parts lied around in organized chaos. Not many parts looked new, it seemed that they recycled old parts that they had scavenged off of other broken down engines. They were busily clinking hammers and cutting metal components with their cutting torches.
As we drove back through the village, we felt like peeping toms, taking photos where we felt like we did not belong. But, most of the locals were smiling and waving at us as we passed by. Words cannot describe the aromas, and eye candy that greeted us for the entire visit.

Back to Siem Reap
In the afternoon, being on helicopter ride withdrawal, we splurged on a 30 min flight around Angkor. We invited two of our daughter’s friends, Sonia and Caroline, to join us. They were touring Asia, and happened to be in Siem Reap at the same time as us. What a treat. To see most of the temples we had walked through, this time from the air. The young ladies had a great time as well.

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