Bangkok

Our day started with a walk through the flower market. We meandered for 30 minutes through both a wholesale area with raw flowers and then stalls which made flower arrangements primarily used as offerings at the temple. Then we took a boat across the river to Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, built by King Rama III in 1830. The name comes from the fact that the central prang catches and reflects the dawn. As are many temples, this one was heavily influenced by Cambodian temples. The central prang is meant to resemble Mount Moru (the home of the Hindu gods) with deities and demons holding up the mountain.

Detail of Wat Arun, made from broken china

We continued down the Chao Phraya river to visit the Royal Barge Museum. The king uses these barges on special occasions (like his 50th anniversary) in religious ceremonies since the 13th century. Over 50 barges go down the river with everyone rowing in a synchronous pattern - 2 rows then oars up.

We rejoined our boat and began exploring one of the western canals. Along the way, we stopped for a demonstration of how to make red chili paste from a variety of fruits, roots, and spices. The lady had a number of us crushing the ingredients with a pestle - I ended up stir frying the paste with beans and tofu. We all ate our creation along with cucumber soup, chicken salad, and stir-fried young luffa. Aroy! (delicious in Thai).

John and Mary making green beans with chili paste

We continued through the canal, passing many styles of houses, all with their spirit houses outside. We passed garbage barges, a postman's boat, an ice cream vendor and a bank boat on our trip. I ended the day by getting measured for a new suit - hopefully it will be done by our return.

Life in Cambodia

Devata (minor goddess) at Banteay Srei

We learned a lot about the common life in Cambodia. Almost everyone in a village has a specialty, work they do that they can sell to others. One household made rice noodles, another might make sugar palm candy. They tap the male part of the sugar palm like we tap sugar maples, collecting the sap in a portion of bamboo and then boiling the mixture to condense the syrup. Another place they were making charcoal in a termite mound, an 8 day process. We watched the 14 year old boy who was in charge. We also learned about the corruption in the government and the continuing sex trade in the country.

Girls making sugar palm candy

Our major visit was to the Temple of Banteay Srei, the city of women built in 967 AD. While very small, the ornate carvings on the red and gold sandstone was the most detailed we had seen. The porticoes above the doors had carvings depicting all 3 Hindu gods, Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. The 3 primary pyramid structures had replicas of the pyramid at 3 different levels. Truly the most beautiful (and the oldest) temple we had seen.

The temple of Banteay Srei

Angkor Temples

Angkor Wat

We started our day at Angkor Wat (Angkor's main temple build between 1113 and 1150. The temple is surrounded by a large moat, the towers are meant to represent Mount Meru, the center of the universe. The temple is well preserved compared to others in the area, largely because of its solid foundation, volcanic rock over tamped earth. The temple itself is that same volcanic rock, covered with sandstone, which is softer to carve. I was surprised how well preserved the bas-relief carvings are throughout. The temple faces west, such that the sun passes directly through the doors on the equinoxes. As you enter, the balustrades are in the form of a 7 headed snake, naga - a respected animal in both Hindu and Buddhist religions. The temple was dedicated to Vishnu, the Hindu god of preservation and protection. The walls of the temple are carved with the Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. . The most famous being the Churning of the Sea of Milk where good and evil are fighting for immortality.

We briefly visited a 5th grade class, school had just started for the year. The top students in each class also serve as teacher aides. The ages in this class were from ages 10-15.

Ta Prohm

Next we visited Ta Prohm, built in 1186 as a Buddhist temple. Here there was no volcanic stone foundation and the sandstone used was very porous so moss and trees have taken over the temple. Trees are only removed with great care, since the stone foundations easily fall with the trees. Afterwards we had a home hosted lunch. The 18 year old daughter who spoke some English served as our hostess. Her mother cooked the lunch, fish soup, chicken and cashews, curry fish, and vegetables and a sweet desert made from sticky rice flour with a sugar palm center, dusted with coconut. We learned how to make this desert.

The Faces of Bayon Temple

In the afternoon, we visited Angkor Thom, a 3x3 km. complex with 47 temples. The entrance has 54 asuras or demons on one side and 54 devas or gods on the other on the entrance rampart over a moat. We spent most of our time at the Bayon temple with its 216 stone faces. It is believed that the temple was gilded with gold. Here the carvings were historical in nature: battles between the Khmer, Vietnamese, and Chinese as well as scenes of cooking and fighting. We finished the tour at the Terrace of the Elephant, which was the facade for the royal palace. The palace itself was made of wood, so nothing remains.

Dinner included a shadow puppet show played by children from a local orphanage

Siem Reap Touring

Fishing village on stilts (note TV antenna)

Our first full day of touring began with a boat trip on Tonle Sap Lake. Here were several fishing villages built over the water, totally about 10,000 people. Even out here in what were often shacks built on stilts over the water, people had TVs powered by car batteries, and the entire area had cell phone coverage. We also met up with the Vietnamese boat people who move their boat village up and down the lake. Here we experienced closely the flooding we had seen from the air yesterday. One lone road extends out into the flooded lake, while trees and bushes pop out of the water.

Young fisherman

In the afternoon, we visited the National Angkor Museum which explained the ancient Khmer culture. We learned about many of the Hindu gods and saw carving of the these gods. Angkor Wat was built celebrating many of the Hindu stories around the creation of the world and the start of the Khmer kingdom. Later the king and most of the kingdom became Buddhist and Angkor Wat became a Buddhist temple.
Our guide, Chantha, also told us his personal story. He was separated from his family during the Genocide years 1976-1979 of the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot. His brother, 2 sisters and father were all killed. As a 7 year old he learned how to pick rice and lived in various boys camps. During these years, any child over 5 years old was separated from their parents and they went from camp to camp, moving about every 6 months. Later, Chantha joined the army where he did get both military training and an education. He eventually found his mother and an uncle still living and went on to become a hotel manager, and then in 1992, one of the first Cambodian tour guides.

We also visited the war museum, which was little more than a field filled with rusty tanks, mortars, and guns. This was also a day of Cambodian meals from a treat of sticky rice, beans and coconut barbecued in bamboo to a main meal with banana flower salad and fish and chicken main dishes

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Yesterday, we traveled for 27 hours leaving home at about 5 AM and arriving in Bangkok at 11 PM with a 9 hour time shift. The airport is only 3 years old, a spectacular building, but our guide pointed out that it took them 47 years to build – largely due to corruption.
After 6 hours of restless sleep, we took our final 1 hour flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. As we approached the town, we began to wonder whether we were going to land in a lake. The entire area seems to be underwater. It’s the end of the rainy season (which goes through October) and Tonle Sap Lake, the largest lake in South East Asian is flooded to 3 times its dry season size, putting many of the roads and fields under water. But we found dry land, the airport seemed to be a couple feet above the flooding, though we could still see sand bags where yesterday, some of the streets were underwater. Siem Reap is a town of 29000 people, but has 100 hotels because of its proximity to Angkor Wat. Ours is a nice 4 star hotel, the Tara Angkor. All the businesses here seem to have Angkor in their name. Cambodia itself has 14 million people, 80% of whom are farmers. Unemployment is very high (about 70%) so most families tend a small farm and/or sell some retail. Tourism, which really began in the late 1990’s is now about 10% of the jobs. Most of the culture and language comes originally from India. In fact, the Cambodian, Thai, and Laotian languages and cultures are all fairly similar.

John and Mary riding their ox-cart

In the afternoon, we walked part of the town. There are bike and motor scooters everywhere. Over 99% of the houses are built on stilts because of the periodic flooding. The first floors may house a business and usually a kitchen in the back (for both safety and comfort). Richer houses have a kitchen on the 2nd floor. Neighborhoods are mixed – as people get richer they may upgrade their house from thatch with a tin roof to wood or concrete with a slate roof. We had a ride on an ox cart (affectionately called a 10 wheeler, 8 hoofs and 2 wheels). The driver stopped at his house for us to take a look. There we met his mother, sister, and son. On their ground floor, they sold soaps and toothpaste to the neighbors. The walls were covered with family pictures. His mother was filling small bags with fish paste to sell and in the corner was a TV! Upstairs was one mattress for his mother to sleep on, everyone else slept on the floor, ancestor shrines and some small closets filled with dancing clothes (for his sister). Behind the house was the kitchen with a wooden stove.

Apsara or Khmer Dancing

In the evening we had a buffet dinner with a large variety of Cambodian (Thai) food. The evening ended with traditional Apsara dancing. Many of the dances made use of hands and fingers in various positions as well as slow moving footwork with a lot of balancing on one leg. (These dances emulated what we would see in a few days time on the walls of the temples.) The music was a mix of drums, a flute-like instrument and a wooden xylophone.