Thommanon and Ta Keo

After visiting the central Angkor area, we made our way into the first of the surrounding temples. First up was Thommanon, a small temple with a a pair of gopuras surrounded by a small wall. It is believed to have been dedicated to Vishnu. This was an oddity that seemed to recur with regularity - Buddhist temples dedicated to Hindu gods. It is adorned by dozens of devatas (engraved women) that are nearly life-sized. The detail is exquisite and nearly perfectly preserved.

Next up was Ta Keo. If we thought the stairs were bad elsewhere, this one took the cake. From the outside they are barely noticeable, but once you start the climb, you realize just how many there are, and how steep they are. There are several series of steps leading to another level. The next set only becomes visible once you have completed the previous set. Ta Keo was built over a 35 year span from the late 10th Century, and construction stopped just into the 11th century. It is the first temple mountain to have been built entirely of sandstone blocks. The temple was never completed. Some believe it was struck by lightning. It is impressive in its size even in its unfinished state (about 40-50 metres tall). At the top I tried to take a picture toward the lower terrace, whaer a Buddhist monk happened to be standing. As I lined up the picture, he bagan to call out at me, and I thought he was telling me not to take his picture (or so a local man beside me said). The man called back to him, and the monk said it would be fine. He turned out to have lived in California for 10 years, and we had quite a pleasant conversation.

Angkor Thom

As misleading as it may be so far, all of the preceding posts have dealt with temples and sites within the ancient Khmer city of Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom, much like most middle age cities, is surrounded by a large brick wall. It is perfectly square, and contains four gates, each leading to one of the cardinal directions, north, east, south and west. As in most cases, the Khmers built the most impressive entrace facing East, as it seems that it was most common, or possibly mandatory to approach from that direction. The East Gate, has a lengthy (by ancient standards) causeway crossing the surrounding moat. It is adorned with dozens of large, stone men holding a cobra. It is rather impressive even in excess of 1000 years later. The North Gate is more commonly known as Victory Gate, in celebration of the Khmer victory over the ancient Thai people.

Victory Gate

Prasat Suor Prasat

This series of ancient towers does not even appear on the tourist maps. We were literally the only people looking at this location. It was much what I expected to see with several of the towers having collapsed, while others were saved at the last moment, and if weren't for the wooden scaffolds holding them up, I'm sure they would have fallen years ago. These towers are actually some of the youngest structures in the area. There are actually 12 towers altogether at Prasat Suor Prasat, all in a straight line facing the Elephant Terrace. There are six on either side of the road leading to the Victory Gate (more on that later). Little else is known about the function of these towers.

Terrace of the Elephants

From Phimeanakas, we strolled over to the beautiful and extraodinarly enormous Terrace of the Elephants. The terrace is a good 300 metres wide and about 25 deep. One can only imagine what kinds of buildings and ceremonies once adorned this site. The terrace overlooks the centre of the Royal square, suggesting that kings could watch large processions and celebrations from there. It has hundreds of elephants carved into it's sides, along with scenes of elephant processions.

Phimeanakas

Known as the "temple mountain", this is one of the oldest temples, and was actually built as the first temple within the central Angkor complex. It was later turned into the personal chapel of Jayavarman V. It was originally built in the 10th Century, and the king would sleep on the top level of the temple. This is one structure that can be honestly refered to as "ruins", but is so solidly built that climbing the insanely steep steps is not a problem due to the sturdiness, only because the steps are about 3 inches deep and about 9 inches tall. Little did we know that these would just be the first of many, many stairs that day. In fact, I don't think I've climbed that many steps in my entire life, but once you've gone up one, you can't quit.

I think this says it all.

And I thought the stairs at the guesthouse were crazy steep.

Baphuon

Baphuon was once a large, five-tiered pyramid, built in the 11th Century. It was built as a "Golden Mountain" by Udayadityavarman to be legendary. It has been under restoration since 1908 by the French - many countries are helping with various sites - and it is not possible to actually enter the temple, the only one where this is the case. This temple demonstrates the massive task of restoration better than anywhere else. They began by removing damaged stone blocks, carefully cataloguing the location of each and every piece. Then the Khmer Rouge came along (remember those guys). One of their practices was to destroy writings and records of any sort, so now the restorers are left with the world's largest, heaviest and most delicate jigsaw puzzle. Much of the temple is covered with tarpaulin, but the walk down the stone tier is worthwhile. The tier is raised above a man-made pond (which actually has little water left in it) and is about a quarter-mile long.

Bayon Temple

Our first stop was at the fabulous Bayon Temple. Bayon is a large temple within the confines of Angkor Tom, the ancient city of the Khmer Empire of the 9th to 13th Centuries. It's located in the exact center of the ancient city. It was built in the late 12th Century by Jayavarman VII. This is undoubtedly one of the most famous temples of the greater Angkor complex, with roughly 250 faces, all slightly different, but all resembling the aforementioned king.

Unfortunately, our first Angkorian experience was marred by the presence of hundreds of Japanese tourists. It seems that these tourists have little interest in seeing the sights, rather, they spend an absurd amount of money to go, have their picture taken with specific monuments, yet never actually look or appreciate them. Fortunately, this was one of few experiences with our Asian tourist nemeses. Regardless, Bayon was one of my favourite temples at Angkor.

Here are a few of my many, many pictures. Enjoy.

The "Road" to Siem Reap

After a day and a half of Phnom Penh, I (more so than Andrew) was ready to move on to Siem Reap. For those who don't know, Siem Reap is home to one of the most awe inspiring structures made in human history - Angkor Wat. While this post will not touch the amazing temples of Angkor (each one will get its own post), I will herein describe the travel to and our first impression of the city of about 30 000 people.

We had to wake up around 5:45 am in order to make it to the boat, which was leaving at 7. We ate breakfast across the street from the docks, where a man arranged for a tuktuk to pick us up when we arrived. The boat was a long eyesore, with seats for 100 people, yet they sell about 130 tickets, so there are a number of people who are forced to sit on the roof for 6 hours in the blazing hot sun. There are advantages and disadvantages to sitting inside the boat. On one hand, you have a (relatively) comfortable seat, and can go up to the roof, and come back in at will. On the other hand, the motor sounds like a banshee suffering through the throes of death, in the slowest and most agonizing manner possible. The ride was pleasant enough, costing a mere $25 each, but the sights along the Mekong River make the journey completely worthwhile. We passed many fishing huts, and small communities before reaching the hour of open water on the lake leading to Siem Reap. As the boat approaches the city, it passes through the spectacular and gorgeous floating village. The entire village is built on boats. About five minutes later, around 1 pm, we arrived at the "dock" to find our driver holding a sign that said "Andrew Weeter" (Andrew's last name is Wheeler). He took us into town, suggesting a place a little further away than we wanted to be, but took us to the guesthouse that we wanted, the Shadow of Angkor. We arranged for our driver to pick us up the next morning at 9:00 to take us opn our first day of our Angkorian experience. The guesthouse had a two-bed room available, and we quickly took it for the low, low price of $8 a night, plus another $8 for A/C, tv and hot water.


The Floating Village.

Since the day was young, we wandered around the town, negotiating for clothes, etc. Most things cost us less than $5. By this point, I had become rather adept at bartering, and had discovered that if the seller didn't say "only make 1000 Riel" you paid more than you had to. Of course, since the country runs on US currency, it's pretty easy to figure out conversion rates. The only time we found ourselves in possession of Cambodian curreny was when something cost fractions of a dollar (e.g. $3.50). The city is very Western-owned and oriented, but a beautiful and lovely place, where all of the locals are happy and friendly all the time. The city has much less forceful peddling. One of the biggest highlights of the city is the Night Market which operates from 8 pm until the wee hours of the morning. Even without the great tourist attraction of Angkor, the city is a worthwhile place to visit.

View from the boat.

Cambodian fishing hut.

Fishing on the Mekong River.

A typical rural Cambodian house.

Traditional Cambodian dancing at the Temple Lounge in Siem Reap.

The "Stairs of Death" at the Shadow of Ankgor Guesthouse. We would discover that these were relatively normal stairs. Notice how none of my toes actually touch the step.

Phnom Penh - Viewer Discretion is Advised

*****

Warning - This post is not for those with weak stomachs. Some of the images and subject matter may be disturbing. If you have difficulty, skip toward the end and enjoy the Royal Palace.

*****

We flew from Bangkok to the capital of Cambodia, mid-afternoon on Dec. 18. The AirAsia flight was only half-full at best, providing most people with a window seat. The flight was only 55 min. When we arrived, we immediately had to wait for our visa (a whopping $20). This process involved handing over the application and our passports, and waiting for them to be passed down a line of 8 Cambodian officials and then handed back when our names were called and we gave them the money. Side note: there's a $1 "fine" if you don't bring a passport photo with you, which is actually cheaper than having passport photos taken. We got a cab and drove to the waterfront to find a guesthouse to stay in. We spent the night checking out the pubs and had our first experience with the amazing Khmer cuisine.

The Streets of Phnom Penh.

Geckos, everywhere.

$4 for 2 crabs in a garlic and peppercorn sauce. The second one "bit" me.

The next day, we decided to upgrade our housing and moved to the California 2 guesthouse. We then found a tuktuk to take us around for the day (and quite a distance) for $25. First, we decided to visit Tuol Sleng - literally meaning "Place of Death", (also known as S21) an old high school that was converted into a torture facility during the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. For those who are unaware, the Khmer Rouge committed a genocide that ended the lives of several million Cambodians from 1973-1978 until the Vietnamese freed the country of their tyranny. The regime imprisoned and killed anyone who was an opponent of the communist party, any foreigners and anyone who was educated. The effects of the Khmer Rouge can still be felt and seen throughout the country, as thousands of landmines (placed to lower national morale in the replacement government) still dot the landscape. Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians have been left disfigured from stepping on landmines. Unlike most museums, this was not a sterilized way of informing the public. Rather, the facility was left mostly in the manner that it was found 30 years ago, with bloodstains still found on the walls and floors. The museum still had the beds used for torture in the cells, with pictures on the wall of how each room was used. There are pictures of all of the victims of the facility, including women and children as young as 5 or 6 years old. There is also photo documentation of the vicious and horrendous results of the torture. At one point, Andrew and I passed through a gate that wasn't quite closed, only to find a space under some stairs filled with the remains of the clothes left behind by the victims.

Tuol Sleng.

Entry Instructions

Prisoner Code of Conduct.

One of the torture cells.

One of the youngest victims.

Bloodstains on the cell floor. These cells are not even big enough for me to lie down.

After an emotionally trying visit to Tuol Sleng, we made our way to the Killing Fields about 15-20 km outside of town. I thought that Tuol Sleng was hard, but this made it seem like Disneyland by comparison. The Killing Fields is one of hundreds of sites that was home to the mass graves of the Khmer Rouge victims. This one was where the victims of Tuol Sleng were sent to be executed. Over 22 000 victims were executed at this site. Less than 9000 of these bodies have been found. The central monument houses all of the skulls and hand and foot bones that have been found. What really hits home about this site is that as you walk around, there are bones protruding from the ground as well as the clothing that the victims were wearing. Every year, the ground heaves, forcing many bones to the surface. There are piles of bones scattered around the site, and even a container for people to pick up any bones that they find and deposit them for a proper burial.

One of 13 levels of bones in the Killing Fields monument.

Mass graves.

Monument at the Killing Fields.

Bones in and on the ground.

The Khmer Rouge chose the site because it was already a Chinese cemetery. Once a month, the party would drive a few hundred prisoners to the place, blast some VERY loud music so it would seem like a party, but use the noise to drown out the screams of those being executed. Since they couldn't afford to keep buying bullets, Pol Pot ordered that they not be used on the prisoners. Instead, they would use hammers, garden hoes, knives, and most commonly palm leaves. This seemed odd to me at first, but when I walked into a palm leaf, I discovered just how rigid and serrated the edges are on them.

To alleviate the emotional devastation we placed on ourselves, we visited the Cambodian Royal Palace. Since Cambodia is a monarchy, the Palace is still in use, and there are pretty strict rules on where you can go, and of what you can take photos. The Palace is grand and ornately decorated, a stark contrast to the run-down and rather impoverished country and city that surrounds it.

The Royal Palace.

Napoleon Bonaparte's gift to the Cambodian Royal Family. It's a bit of an eyesore in contrast to the exquisite architecture that surrounds it.

That's me.

The inside of the Silver Pagoda. The floor is made entirely of sterling silver tiles. Photographs are forbidden, so I had to sneak this one in.

Visitors to Phnom Penh will find many peddlers, often children, who approach you at every step of the way. The tuktuk drivers are particularly troublesome, as the streets are lined with them, and each one will ask pipe up with "Tuktuk?" as you pass them. After a day and a half, I was more than prepared to move on to Siem Reap. A trip that would commence at 7:00 the next morning.