Cambodia 柬埔寨 (21-25 Nov 2002)

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We took a short trip to Cambodia visiting Phnom Penh (the capital city) and Siem Reap (famous for the Angkor Wat).
There are many ruins in Siem Reap besides Angkor Wat, such as Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, etc. The best time to visit is now, before the ruins are fixed too well.

Too bad we have not researched enough before the trip, thus wasted lots of time and missed few good places. Before you go, you should at least google search on places named above. I imagine the trip will be much more enjoyable if I have done that.

We should have arranged to have our guide to pick up 5am in the morning, back to hotel to rest mid-day, then out again 3pm for the best lights.

In Phnom Penh, our friend took us to a very good local restaurant that does not look too good from outside. The "Big Head Shrimp" was very good but not cheap at US$17/kg. So you need local guidance to good food. In Siem Reap, the only good restaurant we found was in our 5-star hotel (Raffles Grand Hotel D'Angkor). In small city like Siem Reap, I guess the market is too small for upscale food joint.

At the time of visit, our friend in Phnom Penh told us average factory workers earn about US$50/month, our guide told us people who can speak English earn about US$300 to $500/month. Since there is no guidance on tipping, we just gave US$50 to our guide & $20 to the driver in Siem Reap. They should be sufficiently happy for the 2.5-day work.

Just like lots of developing countries, US$ is THE currency on the street AND in government offices. I wonder why would any country willingly allow this to happen, as they lost control of the currency to the guys in Washington. Perhaps this is the price to pay to enter the global capitalism game. (In fact the same logic goes for IP address allocation, top-level domain name administration, etc... But that will be another long story.)

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In Angkor Thom & Ta Prohm & many other places, the temple grounds are surrounded by a moat with 4 or 5 bridges. On each bridge there are two giant Nagas (the mythical 9-headed snake) on the side of the bridge. If you are facing the entrance from the outside, on your left are the gods holding a Naga, and on your right are the devils holding another Naga.

In the first picture the darker colored one is probably the original, while the light colored one is replacement. Most of the heads are missing, probably in the homes of "art collectors" or museums.

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A corridor in Angkor Thom where you can see clearly the stone structures. Part of the roof has fallen and one can see it was built without using any cement.

The holes on the right walls and foot of doorway are for easy transportation, we were told.

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A clear and obvious example of the alterations and defaces visible in almost all temples we visited.

We were told almost all temples in Siem Reap, with the exception of Angkor Wat, was built during the rule of King Jayavarman VII. The King was Hindu turned Buddhist. He build his structures mixing Buddhism and Hinduism styles.

However his son believed in Hinduism (specifically in Shiva), who then spent lots of efforts to get rid of any hint of Buddhism in his father's temples. The images of Buddha were either chiseled out or altered.

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There are everywhere, and the color of their robes stands out.

This monk is coming out of Angkor Wat, which is still an active place of worship. We also saw lots of tourist monks, some with their family as well.

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The view of Angkor Wat as we go in (top picture) and as we leave (bottom picture).

The middle courtyard of the Angkor Wat temple can only be reached by very very steep stairs. Each step is maybe 6" wide and 18" high or 70 degree. Did the King really go up there to worship?

Since we are quite ignorant of Hindu mythology, the crafting on the walls inside Angkor Wat does not mean much to us.

The best view of Angkor Wat is in a distant, with a body of water between you and the structures. The locals know it best, as the day ends, many local people would picnic in the park right outside the Angkor Wat moat.

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There are monks staying inside the Angkor Wat. Some of them (with dubious authenticity) would approach tourists as guides and ask for money.

One such monk (not any one pictured here) kept followed us and offered advises. At the end he asked for US$10 to "sponsor his study of English". When I offered only $5, he was visibly unhappy. I shouldn't have given him any money, for his lame excuses & ungratefulness.

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Worshippers at the inner most (and highest) courtyard of Angkor Wat.

Almost all old statues are headless, stolen by the foreign "explorers", "naturalists", colonists, and probably greater number of locals who sell them to dealers who then sell to "art collectors" and museums. Also lots of Buddha heads were taken off by the Hinduism kings.

One of the most sadly famous headless statue is Shiva & his wife. The wife was beheaded while under custody of the national museum in Phnom Penh.

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Ta Prohm, the first temple King Jayavarman VII built and dedicated to his mother, is well photographed for the over grown vegetations.

What happened was after the temple was abandoned, some seeds were brought to the roof by bird drops or other means. The seeds then take root and grew. After few hundred years, we see what we see now.

Ta Prohm is only cleared enough for a path for visitors, and minimal structural reinforcement to prevent further deteriorations. Most of the temple is still covered by fallen stones and roots.

The scene is eerie yet beautiful in its own way, and definitely a tribute to the forces of nature.

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Another tree captured another building.