Cambodia Part 4 - The Final Installment

So I'm sure you are tired of hearing about this trip to Cambodia... but I've saved the best for last. Don't worry, I won't post all of the pictures I took, but just as a warning, this post will be be picture heavy!!

The last 3 days of our trip was spent in Siem Reap touring around the city and visiting the temples of the Angkor Wat Temple Complex. This whole "temple complex" was difficult for me understand at first, but after lots of time talking to our tour guide, I slowly started to see it clearer. Starting in the 9th century, this part of the world was ruled by a succession of kings. Each one wanted to build his own temple to worship the Hindu or Buddhist gods and to center civilization around. For 6 centuries, no ruler would use the temple of a previous ruler... recycling must not have been popular at the time. There are over 300 temples registered and restored in this area!! These temples are collectively referred to as "the complex."

As you can imagine, it is difficult to see ALL of these temples in just three days! So, we hired a guide and tuk-tuk driver to take us to the most popular, intact, and impressive temples.

We started at Angkor Thom, the capital city from 1181-1218. On the ride to the temple, we passed through a gate in the outer wall. The bridge over a mote leading to the gate was guarded by ancient stone warriors on either side. Once inside the grounds of Angkor Thom, we still had to ride for several minutes before arriving at the temple.

Most of the larger temples have three levels representing hell, earth, and heaven (or Nirvana.) The first level almost always has long stone carved walls telling the history of the kingdom at that time.

The sprawling first level also has many windows and doorways leading into yet another set of windows or doorways. It is difficult at times to find a method to the madness, but it also sets a majestical tone to the environment. This Khmer woman and her child were too picturesque to pass up.

Throughout the temple, there are 49 towers, most of them on the 3rd level. Each tower has four smiling Buddha faces pointing in a cardinal direction. As you wander over the ancient stone rubble, windows unexpectedly frame a smiling face and around each corner is another surreal view. It is difficult to capture the true views on camera, but I did my best.

I could have stayed here for days just climbing, exploring, and absorbing the mystery of this place! But a few hours was all we could dedicate before we were off to the next place. We moved on to Ta Prohm, a breathtaking stone complex that, through centuries of neglect and abandonment, has been taken back by the surrounding forest. The contrast of stone and nature is striking! To see the power of a tree root cutting through the seemingly immovable rock gives this temple a unique and almost fictitious look.

Of course, to reach the temple, you had to pass through a gate in the outer wall. This gate, however, was too small for motorized traffic so we walked. At the gate, a group of Khmer children gathered to hawk trinkets, postcards, and baskets of other small goods to passing tourists. If you were nice and acknowledge their presence, like this fellow traveler, they would persistently follow you all the way to the temple walls hoping to wear you down and make a few Riel.

After a 5-10 minute walk, we arrived at this sight: The front entrance of Ta Prohm Temple!

Once inside, there was a maze of rooms, hallways, and courtyards with one breathtaking view after another. As you can see, the trees of the forest have really made their presence known and have become a part of the architecture!

I liked the little face peeking through the roots here.

If this temple looks familiar, that's because you've probably seen it in Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider. It was filmed here!!

We were so hot and exhausted from our first day of temple going, that we decided to call it a day and start early the next morning. We met our tour guide and tuk-tuk driver at 5 am to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat, the largest and most intact temple in the whole complex.

In the darkness among hundreds of other hopeful tourists, we crossed the mote, went through the outer gate, and found a seat on the inside of the barrier wall facing the temple. Our hotel had sent us with a breakfast of tiny bananas to enjoy while we waited. When we arrived, all we could see was the outline of the towering spires in the faint light of dawn.

But soon enough, the sun rose behind the cloud cover to show off the whole temple. We never did get to see the sun itself, but the view was still great!

This reflection pond also had some gorgeous water lilies!

Once inside the 12th century temple, we walked the halls looking at the traditional carved stone history and made our way to the Echo Chamber.

The Echo Chamber is nothing more than a deep doorway with a very high ceiling. But if you put your back against the wall and pound your chest, you can hear and FEEL the echoing through your body. It's really pretty cool!

We climbed from one level to the next marveling at the architecture, taking pictures, and enjoying the surroundings. To decorate, apsara dancers were carved on every available space of stone wall eye level. They wore billowing pants with no shoes or tops. Ornate headdresses and necklaces decorated the exotic entertainers of the time.

From the 3rd and highest level, you could see the surrounding grounds and forest. It was beautiful!

Of course, Siem Reap has more to offer than just temples. We spent an evening at a traditional Khmer dinner/dance show. We watched modern day apsara dancers do their traditional moves and ate some... exotic food.

After the show, we even got pictures with the performers.

We also spent some time touring the City Center Market, sampling drinks on Pubs Street and getting massages at one of the many massage parlors.

All in all, this was by far my favorite part of the trip. Siem Reap and Cambodia should be on any traveler's bucket list. It is the perfect balance of sightseeing and relaxation, history and modern comforts, nice merchandise and cheap fairs. I had a wonderful time with Jenn and Suzanne and would love to go back one of these days!!

Fun and Funny Cambodia-isms

One of the best parts of traveling to different countries is seeing what makes that culture so unique. Many times, as foreigners, we think these idiosyncracies are funny, ridiculous, or less intelligent than our own. Though some of these pictures and details are funny to me, don't think I'm making fun of anyone. This is my favorite part of traveling!! Now, let's learn about the Top 10 fun and funny Cambodian-isms!

1. There are TONS of bugs in Cambodia, especially mosquitos. To battle the swarms, they have this "bug-zapper-fly-swatter," as I call it, or the BZFS for short. It looks like a racquetball racket, but under the mesh are coils of electrically charged wires. When you push a button on the handle and swat a bug, it zaps it immediately! It makes killing bugs too fun for reason.

2. Pharmaceuticals is not a regulated industry. Anyone can open a little shop like this one and sell whatever drugs, pills, herbs, or gadgets they want for any reason they want. You simple walk up to the counter, tell the owner your ailments, and they hand you a cure. No insurance, co-pay, or doctor visit required... But you do need courage to take the unmarked tablets!!

3. Health is not all bad in Cambodia. They do take their fitness seriously! In most open public spaces like parks or large sidewalks, you can see groups participating in aerobics classes. I don't know if they are organized by a central group or if each instructor is individually motivated, but it's very common to see a man or woman with an 80's style boombox blaring bass heavy music while they sweat to the oldies. The group that follows along ranges in age, gender, and ability, but all are pretty entertaining to watch!

4. Bathroom habits: Cambodia is still a Third World Country in many aspects. Most Khmer people outside of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap have never seen a Western style toilet!! They usually squat over a hole in the ground like many Asian cultures are used to. That's why, in the more tourist areas, signs like this one are necessary.

5. I also think that unique English translations are funny. That's why we had to document dish number 110: Chicken sleeping with peanut sauce.

6. Sampling regional beer is also a hobby of mine and a great way to experience a culture. Cambodia has several national beers, like Angkor Beer, not to be confused with Anchor Beer. Both are pronounced the same but spelled differently... try getting that right as a bartender! "No! I said ANGK-or Beer, not ANCH-or beer!" However, both taste exactly like Bud Lite. If it's like anything else in Cambodia, it's probably a Bud Lite keg that "fell off the truck" and found it's way under the bar. Happy hour prices are beer were fifty cents a pint!

7a. Transportation was probably the single most shocking, different, and yet entertaining aspect of Khmer culture for me. The primary mode of transportation for the general public is "moto." This would include dirt bikes, mopeds, motorcycles, or any other 2-wheeled motorized vehicle. On a "moto" you can fit as many people as you want! There are no age or gender restrictions as seen in the middle and right photo below. When possible, women prefer to ride side-saddle as seen in the photo on the left.

You can also carry anything on a moto.... chickens, eggs, yes, even the kitchen sink!! (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

7b. For tourists, it is more common to use tuk-tuks. In some Asian cultures, tuk-tuks are a bench on 2 wheels pulled by people or bicycles. In Cambodia, they are a 2 bench carriage with a canopy hauled by motos, of course. Everywhere you go, you hear people calling out to you:

When you finally settle on a driver and a price, they will take you anywhere you want. Usually it's a few dollars for a one way ride, but on a busy day, you can hire them for several hours or a whole day. In Siem Reap, we hired one driver for take us everywhere we wanted for 12 hours. He charged us $15!! That sure beats the cab prices in Japan!

8. The rules of the road a simple: DON'T DIE! They drive on the right when there is oncoming traffic, but otherwise, it's a free-for-all. There are few stop lights or stop signs because they are so rarely followed, they are actually more of a hazard than a help. Turning onto a busy street is the both frightening and exhilarating! But, for as chaotic and scary as it was, there were surprisingly few accidents!

This is not a busy street. The crazy traffic was difficult to photograph between squeals and white knuckles.

9. They do have gas stations just like any other Shell or BP you'd see in America, but this is the land of the black market. Why pay for anything at full price when you can get it for much cheaper on the street?! Many people buy their gas at roadside vendors like this one. It is bottled in old Pepsi or Coke bottles and who knows what's been mixed in to dilute it?! So stop on by and get some gas, perhaps a fresh coconut, and some condoms (hanging from the ceiling). Oh yeah, and park your moto wherever.

10. Wedding season is in the spring, and things are done in the typical Khmer way: different.

A date is chosen by holy person (I relate this person to a fortune teller but I know there is more religious stuff that goes into it than that) based on the bride and grooms dates of birth, zodiac signs, alignment of the moon, and amount of cash slipped under the table. On the big day, the bride, groom, and wedding party get all dressed up and go to a temple for a blessing on their marriage.

I couldn't get a good description of what the ceremony was like, but the part I did get to see often was the reception. Dinner, dancing, picture taking, and general celebrating takes place in a brightly colored tent placed on the side of the road. It seemed to me that the location of such a tent was randomly chosen, but details such as local businesses, parked cars, neighbors' front doors, and the general traffic were not considered or even factors! At times, an entire lane of the street was blocked by the reception making the already hectic traffic even more chaotic!! Many times I thought we would be "crashing" the party, if you know what I mean!

Again, all these things are comical and entertaining to me, not in a condescending way, but in a outsider-looking-in marvel! Cambodia has by far been the most unique place I've visited so far. Perhaps that is one of the main reasons why I loved it so much! I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!