Angkor: Hindu Heaven

Heavenly Nymphs at Angkor Wat

Today we should like to impart to thee the tremendous impact of the ancient mystique and illustrious splendor of one of the 8 wonders of the world: Angkor Wat and the epic city of temples from the millennium old Angkor empire. This incredible land of both ruins and immaculately preserved monuments to the unmitigated beauty of mankind has been the pinnacle of our exploratory ambitions since the conception of our South East Asian adventure: Angkor.

To reach towards the towering Hindu gods we had to leave behind the scars of the modern atrocities of the Khmer Rouge genocide, leaving vast killing fields of mass graves near the site of furious torture in capital city Phnom Penh, modern day capital of Cambodia. The city was evacuated when the murderous radical revolutionaries overtook it in 1975, sending the entire population of 7 million to forced labor camps in the countryside to support the fever of nationalism and war with Vietnam---only 5 million returned 4 years later when Vietnam conquered the Khmer Rouge and sent them running to the hills. Phnom Penh is now a thriving metropolis, where people are optimistic and hard-working but never stray far from the knowledge of the horrid potential of mankind to impart pain and suffering in the name of glory. Now motorbikes roar through crowded streets, around the monumental gleaming Royal Palace and through the twirling carnival of modernity.

Yet a mere 6 hours to the West lies such dazzling resplendence, the likes of which mankind shall perhaps never again compose.

We began our journey on bicycle, an invigorating 15km ride through the idyllic Cambodian countryside, past stilted huts, cows, palms, and endless fields of rice paddies. Upon arriving at the oldest group of Angkor temples, built over 1100 years ago, we were told we could not enter without a ticket. Of course we had planned for such and offered payment but were told we needed to retrieve the ticket from the office, 15km away---thus denying any hope of seeing those temples on that day. We despaired for but a moment before convincing a gung-ho young Cambodian to take us on his motorbike.

Returning, we got to eat sweet dripping mangos and witness the beautiful plaster carvings on the towering walls of these crumbling temples. We identified all our favorite Hindu gods: Vishnu, savior of the universe, Shiva, the four-armed deity who shall someday open his third eye and destroy the universe, and Brahma, the four-faced benefactor who created the universe from out of the sea of chaos. As we climbed the stairs of the temple Bakong, rising up towards the orange-streaked sky at sunset, we speculated on the differences between our culture of good-and-evil and the Hindu duality of order verses chaos.

Kbal Spean

The following day we met our tuk-tuk driver (a motorbike-drawn-carriage), Kusal, who enchanted us in the market the previous evening with his jolly laugh and subsequently drove us to some of the most mind-blowing experiences this world has to offer. He took us to see some beautiful temples in partial standing, adorned with incredible carvings of our favorite gods and guarded by statues of Hanuman, monkey god and leader of the monkey army (oh yeah they have an army) and Garuda, half-bird/half-man vehicle of the god Vishnu. From there we went to Kbal Spean, an enchanting moniker, commonly referred to as the River of a Thousand Lingas, the Hindu phallic symbol of Shiva and masculinity.  This trickling river and waterfall (in the early wet season) did indeed have countless lingas (allegedly a thousand) but was also home to dozens of beautiful carvings of flowers, birds, a crocodile, a frog, a bull, and many gods and goddesses, including the creator, Brahma, being born out a lotus flower blooming from the navel of Vishnu lying on the 7-headed snake, naga, on the churning ocean of chaos.

Nature runs riot at Beng Mealea

The next day we fulfilled our wildest jungle-temple fantasies at Beng Mealea, an enormous and beautiful temple with towering walls covered in carvings of dancing heavenly nymphs that has fallen back into chaos and disarray, with huge vines growing out of lumpish heaping loads of piles of huge stone bricks, many still adorning intricate carvings from under the mound. We explored the darkened narrow corridors and climbed the rubble to walk along the narrow walls, ducking and jumping, scampering and scaling the chaos of the once immense symmetry of this massive temple, which was built to the same epic plan of the immaculate Angkor Wat.

We arose at sunrise the following day to see Angkor Wat in its immaculate glory. Crossing the vast moat, which halted armies and would shame all European castles, we followed the path that symbolizes the descent from modernity backwards through time to the beginning of the universe at the temple's center. We waited in a seething horde of beauty-hungry tourists by the reflecting pond for the sun to crest the palms and cast its magnificent burning orange rays upon the unrivaled grandeur of the three symmetrical towers of Angkor Wat, all magnanimously duplicated by the pond. During this unforgettable spectacle, we witnessed a leery dog sounding the alarm about the presence of a big fat monkey, who then asserted his ascendency and, teeth bared, drove the dog away.

After breakfast we entered the vast transcendency of the ethereal temple. Every surface of this rapturous monument is adorned with intricate flourishings, ornate carvings of patterned flowers around dancing celestial nymphs. The vast walls that encircle this, the largest religious building in the world, are covered in epic floor-to-ceiling carvings from ancient Hindu scripts of immense battles between gods and demons. One scene depicts Shiva and an army of gods playing tug-of-war with a massive serpent against a legion of demons, pulling the snake around the mythical Mount Mandala, through the churning Ocean of Milk, the sea of chaos, to create the elixir of immortality, which has since been imbued in all being. We climbed to the top of the towers, symbolizing Mount Meru, the home of the Hindu pantheon of gods and center of the universe, and gazed over the immaculate symmetry of the vast temple into the chaos of the verdant jungle beyond. The layers of meaning and beauty are astounding.

Ta Prom

From there we visited another temple that remains incredibly intact despite having monolithic gnarly trees jutting right out of their ceilings, gnarly roots firmly grasping the walls and creating cracks. On the way there a monkey stole our bananas and I had to wrestle the plastic bag back from him, jabbing with a water bottle at his barred teeth as he shoved face. We then walked through the Terrace of the Leper King, where a narrow corridor shelters a wall of deep bas-relief carvings of dancing heavenly nymphs, beatific and beautiful, and powerful gods stare out with intense expressions. We crossed the Terrace of Elephants, where dozens of elephants march in carvings and 3D statues, to the temple of Bayon, the last great temple of the Angkor Empire, donning a multitude of massive stone faces of Avalokiteshvara, bodhisattva of compassion, who faces in all four cardinal directions to observe the massive Angkor empire with benevolence and care.

There were dozens of lesser temples we simply didn't have time to visit in our ambitious 6 day expedition. The Angkor empire was so vast and advanced, boasting a complex irrigation system that supported a population of over a million people a thousand years ago, when London was home to a mere 50,000. The magnitude and sheer number of these temples is astounding and each one was ornate and intricately adorned in the height of evolving Cambodian art and architecture, deeply seeped in the influence of India, still a colossal superpower today. Words really cannot convey the immensity.

The Bayon at Angkor Thom

Eventually we had to depart from this city of temples and are now happily back in Bangkok with Teresa, readying ourselves for the brand new adventures to come in Myanmar (Burma)!

We miss you more with each passing day but find the world has ever more to offer, so how can we decline?






More awe-inspiring Angkor photos:
Older temples (Beng Mealea, Ruluos Group, Kbal Spean, Bantay Srei, Angkor Wat sunrise): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.915751834005.2401097.18403674&l=9946a9c40a
Also old temples (Bayon, Angkor Wat, and Ta Prom):
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.915757752145.2401101.18419229&l=2b298eecc7

Kampuchea HO!

Well Vietnam was a trip; we didn't want it to end. We came for 4 weeks and stayed for 6---there's just too much to see in one month! But we made it out to a magical land known to the world as Cambodia, which has called itself Kampuchea through centuries of powerful dynasties. It's a land of beautiful beaches and impenetrable jungle, super friendly people and dogs to match, a history of great architectural achievements and unfathomable genocidal horrors, with red-dirt roads and the most intricate temples you could shake a mango at.

Cambodia has been inhabited for over 6000 years, perhaps continuously. Recorded history came with Indian trade in the first few centuries CE, when pre-Cambodian dynasties ruled over the Mekong and were a mighty force of trade between India, China, and Indonesia. As a result of these various influences, the people adapted their early animistic beliefs (ancestor-worship and pan-spiritualism) to include Hindu gods and later Buddhism as well; now all these many beliefs can be seen in the elegantly adorned temples, old and now. The Khmer Empire ruled from the 9th-15th Centuries and constructed some of the world's most amazing temples in their capital, Angkor, which is 57 square miles and supported a population of up to one million people, the world's largest pre-industrial settlement complex. 

Kampot sunset---undoctored photo!

Cambodia's power weakened as Vietnam and Thailand vied for power and land, slowly shrinking their empire until the French came in and dominated the area, which lasted until 1953 when they sought independence under King Sihanouk. That was fine until 17 years later when the military overthrew the king, who then supported the communist Khmer Rouge, who eventually won and set out to make an agrarian society. They systematically murdered anyone who knew anything: politicians, military, lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers, students, anyone with glasses, anyone with money. They marched everyone out of the cities and forced them to do hard manual labor all day with very little food. Nearly a third of the population died (2 of 7 million) by the end of their 4 year reign. Despite this, Cambodians are cheerful and optimistic people though they're still recovering from it.

Durians in the Kampot market.

So in we waltz with our American dollars dispensed from Cambodian ATMs because the largest denomination is 10,000 reil (for REAL!), about $2.50, prepared to meet some very poor people. Although this is true, there are far more cars on the road than in Vietnam, where everyone is on motorbike (often loaded up with unbelievable stacks of anything: beer cases, tables, bicycles, live pigs). We stayed in Kampot, a beautiful little French colonial town on the river with lovely architecture, very nice people, and a gargantuan sculpture of a spiky durian in the town square. People's knowledge of English here is phenomenal. The market is incredible, with all kinds of fruits I'd never seen, which we tried and loved, and a huge section of living and dead sea monsters, which we eschewed due to the overwhelming aroma.

We met a man named Bun Long and rode in his tuk-tuk, which was actually an elaborate carriage attached to a motorbike, to a series of nearby caves. One of the caves had a Hindu temple in it that was 1300 years old! Outside the cave I climbed to the top of the cliffs using the immense network of gnarly roots clinging to the rocks, all the way to the top where wild monkeys viewed us with curiosity (typical monkey). We climbed deep down into another cave, descending into a hole and sometimes leaping 5 feet down into the darkness. A group of 4 happy-jumpy-singing-dancing fun little local children took us deep down where BATS would swoop past our heads in the darkness and we could play stalactites like a xylophone! To get out we had to wriggle through this tight area, squirming on our stomachs to reach the light again! Our walk down the slope revealed these red ants that made nests by curling leaves into a sphere---crAzy!

The next day we biked the 10km to the Kampot Zoo! This is the 4th zoo we've been to since we got to S.E.Asia and definitely the most intimate, though not the best by any means: the cages were usually quite large but usually cement-floored and lacking branches for monkeys. We got there and saw, sadly, the crocodile's cage was full of styrofoam and plastic bottles, which people carelessly threw in when they were done with them because littering is unquestioningly common here. The orangutans were very nice and we fed them mangos and bananas and I laid down, not feeling tip-top, and watched them play with the palm fronds Sarah gave them for an hour. This zoo also had a binturong, like the one I held in Bangkok (see first blog entry), and it ate my banana whole---peel and all.

We meandered through the zoo and found a playful leopard that would roll around and bat things with its legs like a house-cat (but with HUGE claws!). We both petted it (and we petted a shArk in Vietnam!). Then an escaped monkey wanted to eat all my fruit and I had to fend it off with a rock, which I would display to him, eliciting a sudden look of unabashed astonishment every time. The tiger roared though and scared the monkey away as a bunch of Cambodian kids ran screaming (I wonder what they did to it---probably something though). The last animal we saw was a huge, very nice cage set up in pristine replication of the natural habitat of a litter of puppies: doghouse and all. Then we gave the orangutans some coconuts we found on the ground and biked back home.

After Kampot, we headed to a nearby island, Ko Tonsay (Rabbit Island), for some idyllic beach relaxing. After the disappointment of the overdevelopment of the formerly-untouched Phu Quoc, we had to have our authentic bungalow experience. So we slept right on the beach and hung our hammocks on our little porch under the thatched roof (very necessary as the rainy season is beginning now) and spent our days swimming, reading, and having a merry time. We've found an inverse relationship between the number of people around and the number of people we meet: in a city like Saigon we met no one, on a tiny island like Rabbit Island we met almost everyone. So people would find out we were Americans and we'd cheers over beers Osama bin Ladin's death.

One night a group of people who live in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, came for a work team-building retreat and invited us to their dance party! It was so fun, learning the Cambodian dances and talking with them about Cambodian development, since they work for an NGO (non-governmental organization) that helps farmers develop their land and manage their affairs.

Then we got sick with some weird tropical flu that's going around and have been recovering for the last 5 days with sore muscles, headaches, and many naps. Not so bad on the beach though, with everything we need just a few flips of the flops away. But we're feeling better and area headed to Phnom Penh tomorrow!

(originally written 9 May 2011)

Photographic proof of Cambodian fun: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.904185153725.2398067.18403674&l=25116f3e04

Island People

As you may have noticed, we haven't sent out a blog update in a little while. The reason for this is that we seem to have contracted some sort of weird flu and we have been resting for several days. Feeling much better, and back on the bloggin.

Our last adventure in Vietnam was Phu Quoc Island, on the very Southern tip. This island on a map seems as though it should have been a part of Cambodia and in fact it was, until the French annexed it to Vietnam during emancipation. The loss of this island is still a bit of a sore point for some Cambodians.

To get there, we took a 3 hour ferry ride from Rach Gia, in an overly air conditioned speed ferry. When we arrived, after navigating some slightly deceitful taxi drivers ("You want moto?" "No thanks, we'll take the bus" "Ohh no, no bus." "Yes there is! We can see it!" "Oh no, do not have...only 10 dollars for ride to town") we get on the bus and arrive at Long Beach, where the accommodation is. We check into a cute little room, not right on the beach but only 100 meters away.

We spend the next day lazing on the beach, a necessary cure after the million-mile-an-hour pace that is Vietnam. Sipping fruit juice, reading books, and swimming in the blue ocean was all on the to do list. The water was so clear and warm. There was no "getting used to it" period that we have in cold American waters. Despite being the most populated part of the island it was still very relaxed, the beach was pretty empty. For dinner, we went into town and found some amazing vegetarian food: tofu chicken with rice. The best part was the fake gristle inside the fake chicken.

The next day we decided to have an adventure across the island, We rented a motorbike and started off towards a place called Sao Beach, which some people we met told us it was really beautiful. The road to get there was rough and unpaved in some parts. Sao beach was very lovely, white sand, green hills, turquoise ocean. Very pleasant color combination. We hung out here and played in the surf a bit, and talked to some Vietnamese people who were nice but had unfortunately rented a jetski. I have realized this day how much I hate them. Fair enough, play with them in open water or whatever but if you're near a beach with people trying to swim and nap and just relax it's terribly, terribly obnoxious.

One of the highlights of Phu Quoc was taking a hike with Robin, a local we met on the beach selling tours. He met us at 8:00 AM and first took us to a pepper farm, where we got to see the towering pepper vines heavy with fruit snaking up onto trellises 15 feet in the air, the corns drying in huge piles in the sun, and sample it with juicy starfruit cut into slices for us.

Our hike up the mountain was invigorating after laying in the sun like lizards for 3 days. The jungle was thick and cool but humid, so we worked up quite a sweat! At one point, Robin stopped us and we made a wide detour around the trail. He pointed to the ground and I saw a steady stream of bees flowing in and out of a tiny hole in the ground. It made me so glad that Robin was there. Along the walk we saw this tree with crazy huge roots that were grasped around a rock! Robin said that the tree needed the rock to grow.

At one point we have to climb up a ladder and use tree roots to climb up this cliff! It was very exciting. Once at the top of the mountain we were rewarded with an incredible view of all of Phu Quoc. The mountains, the sea, the roads, and little villages. One sad thing we could see was how much rainforest had been cleared to make way for the international airport they are installing on Phu Quoc.

We rested awhile and ate our lunch, a watermelon, mangoes, and some exotic little oranges called Tahn Tra. We sprinkled scraps on the ground and watched ants pull them away. 2 eagles soared past us at one point, no doubt searching for lunch. We napped for a few minutes, and then went back down the way we came, giving us a final glance at that amazing tree!

Robin took us to eat at a little fishing village, where I drank a coconut (needed so much after all that sweat) and we ate some stir fry. We watched some Phu Quoc dogs, the ridgebacks, playing together in the dust. To end our adventure we walked out to the end of a long pier and watched the sun set. I'm really glad we explored the interior of the island a bit, it seems like so many people who go to Phu Quoc just hang out on the beach the whole time. They stare at the sapphire and miss the emerald.

(originally written 9 May 2011)