Angkor What??

Hello again folks,
Well I took a little side trip out of Thailand to visit neighboring Cambodia and see a little old temple known as Angkor Wat. Angkor What?? Yeah, it's one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the largest religious structure on the planet... who knew? I didn't know anything about Angkor Wat until I went-- thanks for the suggestion Mom!
Of course, to me a trip into another country should include more than just seeing its number one tourist attraction; I generally want to get involved in the culture somehow. However, with two full days of traveling, one coming and one going, I only had three full days in Cambodia-- barely enough time to explore the Angkor temples. Lucky for me I wouldn't have to go looking for cultural events; it just so happened there was an election on.


This is how I found out about the election. When I crossed over the border one of the first things I saw was a long parade of political supporters driving down the road. And it wasn't just campaining I'd be witnessing, the election was going to happen on my last day! I was happy for the timing, but also a bit nervous. Cambodia has only very recently achieved relative political stability, and past elections have been marred by violence. This time around, the current leader (formerly of the dreaded Khmer Rouge regime) was facing strong support from his opposition. And with a border dispute with Thailand flaming nationalistic furvor, there was a possibility for a bit more excitement than I really wanted to get into. So more about that little election later.


So while we take this tuk tuk ride to the temples, let me give you some quick history of Angkor. While Angkor Wat is the largest temple in the area (and in the world) there are many other very significant temples here, notably Bayon and Banteay Srei. Built by the Khmer civilization between the 9th and 13th centuries and still largely intact due to their stone construction, there are over fifty temples in this relatively small area surrounding the city Siem Reap. Since the Khmer rulers changed from Hindu to Buddhist, Buddhist to Hindu several times, these temples sometimes underwent multiple dedications. While today Cambodia is a Buddhist country, most of the bas relief carvings depict Hindu iconography.


During the Kmer Rouge's Communist "experiment" the temples of Angkor were significantly defaced, hence a lot of scaffolding and restoration work.


The temple of Ta Phrom, on the other hand, is intentionally left in its delapidated state. Huge roots grow out of and around walls and moss encroaches on the carvings as nature slowly reclaims the sandstone.


The temple of Pre Rup is a nice place to watch the sunset. I like to watch people watch the sunset.


Course I take pictures too.


This spider is ready to drop on your head! Trust me he was MASSIVE. I would not tangle with this guy.


Lotus and Dragonfly, in Color.


The temples could be quiet places, unless of course a busload of Japenese or Korean tourists showed up. Nothing against either nation, they're very just gregarious tourists.


This is Bantea Srei, probably the best preserved temple in the area. The bas reliefs here were carved deeper and out of a harder sandstone than others, hence their remarkable condition. Behold Indra riding his three headed elephant Airavata! After seeing hundreds of bas reliefs, these were by far the most detailed I came accross.


Maybe instead of carrying around ten kilos of camera gear I should just use a camera-phone. Hmmm. Maybe not.


OK, let's step out of Temple Land and have another brief history lesson. Cambodia was colonized by the French until the 1950's when, due to WWII, the French pulled out and Prince Sihanouk began ruling. Sihanouk was diposed by a coup the US military supported in order to gain military access to Cambodia. With the new government in place the US then dropped hundreds of thousands of bombs inside the Cambodian border to flush out the Vietnamese who were hiding there and also killed thousands of innocent Cambodians. It was in this period that the Khmer Rouge gathered considerable political support, and in 1975 the marched into the Cambodian capital of Phrom Phen and under the leadership of the despot Pol Pot. Over the next three years over TWO MILLION Cambodians would be either starved or murdered in what is recognized as one of the largest efforts of ethnic cleansing to occur ever. The Khmer Rouge, during their insurrection and subsequent rule, placed thousands of landmines all over Cambodia and made no record of where. Numerous unexploded bombs and rockets litter the war-wracked countryside. Thirty years later people are still killed and maimed from these devices.
Here at the Cambodian Land Mine Museum and Relief Fund, unexploded ordinance is on display with information about where it came from. Intrestingly enough, this little gem is from the USA, and it's manufacturer, surprise surprise, is outsourced. The museum has information on the landmine-banning Ottowa Treaty that has been signed by over 150 countries, but (surprise surprise) NOT the USA (or Russia, China, and India).
Sorry for the downer ya'll, but we can't ignore this stuff.



OK here it is, the Big One, Angkor Wat.


And it's busy busy busy!


Here's the main causeway leading over the moat into the temple complex. Once over the moat you walk through the gate of the first tower into temple grounds. Beyond the outter gate it's still about 200 yards to the central temple. Unlike much famous archetecture, Angkor Wat is bigger than you imagine.


A bas relief on the outter wall, a teaser to the famous "galleries" of the inner temple.





Sunset at Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, me and a handful of other rather serious looking photographers were getting chased out by the staff. The temple was closing and everyone else had left, but it was just as the colors began to get really good in the sky. I tried to bribe them to let me back inside but it didn't work, oh well.


One visit to Angkor Wat is not enough, so I went back the next morning for sunrise. Actually, I was up at 4:30 every day at Angkor to catch the morning light and avoid the heat. Two out of three days the sky was just grey, but this morning I got a little color.


The eight "galleries" of the main temple, each one approximately 100 meters long. When you look at repetitive scenes like this one they appear endless. This relief depicts a battle scene from the Mahabarata, one of the core Hindu texts.


Hi everybody!


This is an illustration of the 32 different sin-specific Hindu Hells. In this case, the emaciated sinners are being devoured by Yama's, or hell-hounds. Above, and not in the picture, are scenes from the 37 different Heavens. These depictions of the Heavens, however, are all sort of boring.


This relief shows the primary Hindu creation myth, The Churning of the Sea of Milk, where Vishnu, standing on Kurma (a giant turtle) pulls the naga (serpent) Vasuki thus turning the cosmic milk.


Steep stairs lead up to the top of the most center temple, but no climbing! Oh well, I can imagine if everyone that visited Angkor Wat could climb those stairs how quickly the sandstone would be worn to nothing. This is really just one little corner of the temple.


An elephant provides scale for the gateway to Angkor Thom, another really fascinating temple complex very close to Angkor Wat. Let's go!

These are the many faces of the Bayon, a very mysterious temple inside Angkor Thom. Scholars are still not sure if these heads are show the face of the Buddha, or of Shiva. The temple itself changed religions many times, but the faces, there throughout, have remained completely astounding. Massive, put together like jigsaw puzzled, and looking completely serene, these faces mesmarize. There are 37 still standing towers, each having one to four faces, that makes... a whole lot of big faces! It's really amazing, trust me. Just check them out:







So which is your favorite??


Oh yeah, and about that election. There was really never much doubt about who would win. The CPP, the party of the current prime minister, controls the media and voter registration process. Read for yourself at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7531184.stm. In spite of this, being in the country for the election was interesting and I talked to many people about it. Although I couldn't photograph the polls or the tallying process (and you wouldn't be able to see anything overtly corrupt happining even if I could have), finding voters to talk to was easy. All you had to do was look at their index finger-- if it was covered with ink then you knew they'd been to the polls. By the end of the day, it was definately a majority of people with inky fingers. There is a lot of national pride in this country, and even though our country has a less than sparkling record here I always introduced myself as American and was recieved with friendliness and smiles.

Well, my month vacation from India is up. I fly into Delhi tomorrow, and head for the hills ASAP. Thailand was really good to me, and some day I would like to come for longer; I left so much unexplored.
Once again a big thanks to everyone reading and for all the supportive comments you give. It means a lot to me. Until next time, much love to all and all the best.
Ethan