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Siem Reap, Cambodia
(Note: This Cockpit Journal
entry comes from Pam instead of Tom.)
I can't believe I am in Cambodia!
I never in my life time thought I would be here nor did I
ever realize what this country had to offer until I arrived.
My memories of Cambodia were from tragic and sad newspaper
headlines and horrific and vivid movies like "The Killing
Fields." I will see this movie again and I will cry even harder
now that I know someone who lost several family members from
starvation and the Khmer Rouge's killings.
Cambodia holds the most fascinating
and beautiful walled city and temple remains that we have
seen. This beauty lies just minutes from our hotel, the Grand
Hotel d'Angkor in Siem Reap.
Our drive to the hotel from the
airport is in the aftermath of a long soaking rain. The roads
are very muddy and wet as we see bicyclers and scooter riders
making their way home from work and school. It looks familiar
and I realize I have seen this scene in magazines and newspapers
over the years. I have been here visually but never with my
heart and soul. I now try to absorb as much as I can. As we
pull up to our hotel, it is indeed grand. It was built by
the French in the twenties. You can see the grandness as you
arrive and walk up the steps to the lobby. The lobby sits
in front of a long enclosed veranda on the back that is used
for tea in the afternoons and cocktails in the evening. From
this lovely room you look down on an edgeless pool that is
so big that if you do four laps you've done a good work out.
Off each side of the lobby are dining rooms, one for formal
dining with an intimate bar attached and the other for casual
dining. Right in the center of this lobby is a wonderful grand
staircase and a small open lift with an attendant to take
you to your room. The hotel was renovated in 1997 and they
have managed to keep the charm of this jewel while adding
many new upgrades like the edgeless pool.
We all met for cocktails at 6:30PM
with our handler, Andrew Ashley, at the small intimate bar
off the lobby. The bar made you feel like we were in a 1930's
movie. Speaking of bars, the one at the Oriental Bangkok,
The Bamboo Bar was right out of the movie Casablanca. Our
guide for the tours the next day, Nhean Samban, or "Sam,"
stops by to introduce himself. This has been typical of all
the tour guides: they usually come by, or at least call, to
confirm the following day's schedule. After drinks and conversation
with our new friends the four of us proceeded into the formal
dining room for dinner. Our dinner that evening was their
special selection of foods from the menu with wines to match.
It was delicious.
The next morning I awoke with
a headache and an upset stomach. I went to breakfast, thinking
a little food would make me feel better but instead ended
up back in my room in the horizontal position hoping my Ibuprophan
would take affect before we had to leave for the tour. I finally
told Tom to leave without me. I was feeling way to poorly
to try to do a tour involving lots of walking. I was sick,
and not just physically, at this point. About 20 minutes later
maid service arrived to clean the room and I had to get up
to let them in. After telling them to not clean the room because
I was ill, as I walked back to the bed I thought "Wait! I
feel better!" and I quickly grabbed my purse and hat and headed
downstairs in hopes that I would catch up with the others
before they left. They were all getting in the van when I
came running up saying "I feel better! I feel better!" I tell
you all this because of what I almost missed.
Our first stop was Angkor Wat,
meaning Angkor Temple. It is surrounded by a moat with a road
across the moat at the west and east ends of the temple complex.
The moat was not for protection, just for beauty. The entrance
to the temple is from the west, which is unusual for Hindu
temples which usually face the east. We entered the temple
from the east because our guide felt it was a better way to
see it. There are less tourists in the morning because most
wait until afternoon to come to the temple, for better lighting
conditions, and most of those there in the morning were arriving
from the west. We were definitely free of many tourists. The
whole temple compound takes your breath away when you see
it. Then when you are allowed to walk to it, through it, over
it, etc., it makes you feel you have arrived on it by chance
and it is your hidden treasure that you are getting to explore.
Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century during the reign
of King Suryavarman II in only 30 years. This doesn't seem
possible when you see it. The King is buried in the temple
and there are debates as to whether this was actually built
as a tomb or a temple that was then used for the king's tomb
- the later the most accepted theory. Angkor Wat is huge,
it is 213 feet high at the central tower and covers 500 acres.
Angkor Wat is an architectural
masterpiece and is still in incredibly good shape. It has
survived wars, being looted, forgotten, overgrown by trees
and yet it still stands majestically in the middle of the
jungle. Our guide did a wonderful job of showing us and describing
the beautiful bas reliefs in the galleries that describe the
scenes of daily life with their pictures. We were fascinated
at how we could climb up the old stairs that were so narrow
and steep that you needed hand rails to do it safely. Everywhere
else we have been this would have been off limits. I hope
our pictures do this wonderful monument justice. We were all
enthralled with its beauty.
We next left and drove to the
south entrance of Angkor Thom, the walled city. This city
was also surrounded by a moat, this one for protection, and
during the 12th century was the one of the largest cities
in the world - over 1 million people lived in the area. The
bridge over the moat and entrance gate were beautiful. There
was a lot of traffic going across the bridge, coming from
Siem Reap. I asked why and was told that the people were coming
from another part of the area and just passing through the
walled city. Everything in the walled city is now preserved.
We continued our travels through the city stopping next at
Ta Prohm. ThisBuddhist temple was built by King Jayavarman
VII at the end of the 12th century and beginning of the 13th
in honor of his mother. The archeologists chose to leave this
temple in its original state, giving us the same wonder explorers
had on their discovery back in the middle of the 19th century.
The beauty of this temple is in it's blending with nature.
You are enthralled with trunks of trees twisting amongst the
stone pillars, roots that are over, under, and between the
stones and leaves intertwining to form a roof above the structures.
The stones were covered with lichen that literally glowed
when the sun hit them. We were all in awe of this gorgeous
temple.
As we walked out toward our van
we were surrounded with children selling us souvenirs. We
have in the past always been able to ignore them but these
children and their wares caught our fancy. We bought a musical
instrument, bracelets, flutes and knives - we all went away
happy.
The whole area of Angkor, the
center of the ancient Khmer civilization, encompasses a much
larger area than what we saw. There are still ruins to be
found. We pray that the past horrors that have haunted this
land will stay away for good and that it can thrive as a true
world wonder.
Our evening was again a get together
with Andrew but this time he was joining us for dinner. We
learned his family had a sheep ranch outside of Christchurch,
NZ, and he has high hopes of making it home for Christmas…Good
luck Andrew! Our meal was again delicious and we all enjoyed
the evening. Plans were made for our 7:15AM pick up the next
morning. So long Siem Reap, a place I thought I would never
be.
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