Roads Less Traveled

We met a new guide today, Mr. (phonetically-sounding) Sauthee.  It rained heavily last night, and the rice paddies on the way to his village were quite flooded.  I believe he said that his village was called Palm Tree Village.  One of the most interesting aspects of our day so far has been our guide.  Like Mr. Santhou, he is the oldest of 9 children.  He did not go to school until he was 13 years old.  Khmer soldiers lived about 10 km from his home, and he recalls attacks on his village from the time he was 8.  He and his brother used to hide in their well when the rockets shot over their home.  At any rate, he knew he wanted an education, and he joined a monastery when he was 13.  He learned to read at 13 and went through primary school in two years while living at the monastery (quite bright!).  He wanted to go to secondary school, and one of the monks registered him.  He then had to leave the monastery, and he lived at home and walked 9 km to and from school every day.  At some point he located a family living much closer to the school, and he lived with that family for a few years, where he earned his keep serving food at the family restaurant.  They did not pay him, but they let him live there, and he said he received “a few meals a week.”  His father ultimately purchased a very old bicycle for him for $7, which he raised by selling 6 bags of charcoal.  He works part-time as a tour guide for Journeys Within–he spends the rest of his time doing his many other jobs:  grinding rice into flour, running a rice wine still (!), growing a small garden, planting and harvesting rice, tending to his three cows, selling chickens and pigs, and raising his three children as a single father.  A very interesting and tired man!

While driving through the village, we passed a large group of people who were praying and chanting in a larger structure, possibly the village center.  Our guide told us that they were celebrating the life of one of the village women, who was quite sick and was dying.  Her family and friends attended this Buddhist ceremony in her honor. 

We stopped at the Artisans d’Angkor Silk Farm on the way back to Siem Reap–local women (and a very few men) are trained here in the art of silk weaving.  They are selected for training based on “motivation tests.” The mulberry trees were lovely, the silk worms interesting, the silks themselves quite beautiful.

We fly out this afternoon to Laos–we have enjoyed our stay in Siem Reap, but we are ready for the next step in the journey.

This morning we headed off at 8 AM with Santhou (our guide, now properly spelled) to Beng Mealea, about 1 1/2 hours from Siem Reap.  Beng Mealea was built in the same reign of the king who built Angkor Wat and shares similar architectural features, most notably the seven-headed snake guarding the temple.  This temple has been left to the jungle intentionally. Happily, the land mines were cleared in 2011. We (mostly Delaney and Kendall) were able to climb all over the temple–amazing!  Trees grow out of the tops and sides of the remaining towers–some trees with limbs strong enough to serve as swings.  On the journey, we bought (and ate) sticky rice cooked in bamboo on the side of the road. We saw water buffalo in the muddy rice fields, trucks carrying smuggled gasoline, fried crickets on platters in the markets (for snacks, no thank you), and a motorbike carrying three pigs upside down to market. Tonight we watched four traditional Cambodian dances and bravely tried BBQ duck soup plus green mango salad with fish shavings.  Fish shavings are not our favorite thing, as it happens.

This morning we experienced an incredible sunrise at Angkor Wat.  I am having some trouble with connectivity between my iPad and this computer, so I may not be able to post the photos–I will try to add them later, but, if not, you can be sure that I will subject you to thousands of photos from this trip and particularly to several of the Angkor Wat sunrise.  We arrived at the temple and sat across the moat on a stone wall at the crack of dawn.  Our first sight was a relatively gigantic rat, which was not welcomed into the group.  But we then sat on our wall, apart from the tourists who were streaming like ants into the complex itself, and we watched the sun rise over this beautiful west-facing temple.  The sun rose behind the temple itself, framing this temple–built in 1113–with magical light.  It is safe to say that all three of us by that point had forgotten about the early hour, and we were simply content to watch it all unfold before us, grateful to have had this opportunity.

After sunrise, we headed to a local stall for a traditional Cambodian breakfast–Kendall and I tried noodle soup with chicken, and Delaney had rice porridge with chicken.  Both were delicious–and then we were off for the rest of the busy day!

Our next stop was Ta Prohm, a beautiful one-story temple and apparently made even more famous by the fact that Angelina Jolie filmed the Tomb Raider movie here.  The temple is being restored by the Indian government–most restoration here is done courtesy of other countries.  The jungle surrounds and takes over Ta Prohm in several places–trees wind like snakes around the stones, sometimes forcing them apart and sometimes tying them together.

We then headed to another one-story temple, Banteay Srei, built by a king for his mentor in the 900’s.  Along the way, we passed children in uniform at their schools, several cows on the road, wet rice fields, houses on stilts (each with a spirit house), and a few water buffalo.  Banteay Srei is a beautiful temple made of pink sandstone–the intricate carving has withstood the test of time.  Because of the pink sandstone, this temple is sometimes called the Lady Temple.

We are renaming the vacation from the GPGT to the MSEFV, the Most Sweaty Ever Family Vacation–it is hotter and muggier than New Orleans in July or Austin in August or Houston whenever–but it is a glorious trip.  I still need to update on our visit to Angkor Thom, but that will need to wait.  We are off to breakfast and then to a temple that we will actually get to climb.  More later.

ADDENDUM: Angkor Thom–Great City

On this very long day that started exceptionally early in the morning, we also visited the Bayon, which is at the center of Angkor Thom.  This is an incredible place–the French have restored it painstakingly.  Our guide describes it as “the world’s largest jigsaw puzzle.”  The outer walls all feature beautiful Buddha faces.

A final interesting note: there are about 300 unfinished temples in Angkor Wat and the surrounding areas.  Each king wanted his own temple for his own god–and they kept dying before the temples were finished . . .

It’s actually 4:20 AM on Day 2, and we are about to go to Angkor Wat for the sunrise–this will be gorgeous, and I will have a lot more to say about the place once I have successfully conquered my jet lag.  This very stiff cup of coffee I am drinking will help, but the time schedule is short.  Our guide arrives in 20 minutes–Sandu, the oldest of 9 children, born to parents forced to marry by the Khmer (more later on Sandu as well).  Yesterday we spent the afternoon with Cambodian children at the Journeys Within Community–they offer free art classes on Sunday afternoon to children who live in a nearby shantytown.  Lots of kids showed up, and they loved playing with Delaney and Kendall.  I was probably more the photographer, and I will try to post some photos of the day.  We painted recycled plastic cups and planted flowers in them for Navine, their very lovely and very young teacher, who taught a lesson on caring for the environment.  Five-year-old Fong was the most talented hula-hooper in the bunch and pleased to show us his hula skills! In the evening, we went by tuk-tuk to the main part of town for dinner.  Kendall has been the best food selector by far (variations on delicious fried rices), although my coconut chicken curry at lunch (actually served in a large coconut) was also quite tasty.  Delaney has probably been the bravest orderer, with pretty good results as well.  We took a stroll through the night market and will no doubt need to try it again, since we were all hot and exhausted.  We are all having a wonderful time–the people are friendly and helpful–the children are beautiful.  More later.

We have finally arrived in Cambodia and are at the spectacular Raffles Grand Hotel D’Angkor.  It is shortly after midnight–the travel day was long:  13 hours from LA to Seoul, then 5+ more hours from Seoul to Siem Reap.  Fortunately, the visa process at Siem Reap was uneventful.  It’s very dark, so hard to tell much about the hotel, other than that it is lovely.  We were greeted with some kind of fancy punch that all three of us enjoyed, then walked past an enormous swimming pool down to our villa, where Satha, who will apparently help us with every possible thing we need, had laid out a spread of fruits, cheeses, chocolate and champagne.  We are very tired, so are holding off on the champagne until tomorrow.  We will have breakfast on the porch at 7 a.m., then head off to Angkor Wat for our first real adventure.  The girls are both asleep, and I am soon to follow.  Satha assures me that the hotel grounds are very safe–surrounded by high walls and 24-hour security.  But all appears extremely calm and peaceful, at least so far.

Kendall, Delaney and I leave on Friday for our Great Post-Graduations Trip (the GPGT).  We’ll spend about two weeks in Cambodia and Laos, and I have great intentions of capturing our trip in photos and in words.  Intentions.  That’s the plan.  Stay tuned to hear about our stops along the way.