Our "tourmobile," as Anna likes to call it, carried us about two hours outside Siem Reap to Phnom Kulen. The van has secret talents, like its ability to turn the rear view mirror into a music video player. We were shocked by that one. I'm showing off the glory of our sunroof.
Phnom Kulen is the holiest mountain in Cambodia. It is where the Khmer Rouge lived when they ruled Cambodia. In the mid '90s (about 11 years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge from power) the road to access this mountain was closed for about 3 years after an American woman was attacked, robbed and killed by the Khmer Rouge who still lived in the mountain. She was traveling on this road with her husband, a driver and a guide. The Khmer Rouge saw her coming and came down the mountain to attack her. Shortly after this event, the Prime Minister scheduled a meeting with Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, to offer peace and government jobs for the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Phen, the capital city. When they all arrived in the town square to start their new jobs, they were gunned down and murdered. This was the end of the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer celebrate the anniversary of this event every year. Below is a picture near the "River of a Thousand Lingas," where the Prime Minister met Pol Pot to offer the Khmer Rouge the government jobs.
The River of a Thousand Lingas is named for the lingas carvings that are inside the river and represent the birth of life. I believe the story goes something like this.... There was a male and a female linga, both who had great power. They joined together and transferred their power by putting water into the mouth of a monkey, which impregnated him. He then gave birth to baby monkeys. The people then evolved from the monkeys. It is an interesting blend of the theory of human evolution and the story of Adam and Eve. The water level was too high to get a good picture of the lingas carvings in the river (over a thousand of them were carved into the river around the 11th century, presumably during the dry season). We later saw the lingas carvings at the monastery and again at the Lady Temple in Angkor.
A Khmer boy drawing a picture of the linga for me.
This is a carving of a male linga. When a monk pours water over the linga, it becomes holy water when it pours from the end of the linga. The linga always faces north.
The monastery we visited in Phnom Kulen housed the Reclining Buddha, carved at the top of a large rock. They later raised money and built a covering around the Buddha because they thought it was bad luck to have it exposed.
The reclining Buddha.
When Angkor Wat was built, the king was Buddhist and the people therefore were too. When later Hindu kings ruled, the people then practiced Hindu. Now the people are mostly Buddhist.
The large rock from which the Buddha was carved and its new protective structure. Note the pick stone, which was quarried from this mountain for the Lady Temple we visit later in the day.
A local villager escorting us to the top to see the Buddha. He counted the number of steps for us.
Our guide paid her about 10 cents to watch our shoes while we climbed up. She is looking extra tough in the picture. Theara told us we shouldn't give the children too much money because it discourages them from going to school and learning a trade.
Views of the monastery from the Reclining Buddha. It gives you an idea of the height of the rock from which the Buddha was carved.
Women cooking for the monks, who are not allowed to cook for themselves.
A serious looking monk who just two seconds ago was joking with us about swapping bags. It is hard to see in the picture, but he has a bag just like mine, but in orange, hanging over his right shoulder. We almost touched, which would have removed his power. Talk about having a guilty conscience-- good thing we didn't. Our guide taught us how to bow and greet him. Hands are placed together high over your head to greet a monk.
The entrance to the monastery.
We walked through the local village on our way out.
Gasoline for sale in old liquor bottles.
Theara teaching us about the medicinal teas for sale. Many were for menstruating or pregnant women, one was for stomach ailments. I could have used some of the latter one this morning.....
A version of lemonade for making soup. I think I'll pass on that for now.
This area is also where they quarried the rocks to build Angkor Wat and the Jungle Temple we visited yesterday. You can see how the rock is layered, which made it "easy" to cut.
It was a short drive from here to the waterfalls at Khulen. Before we got in the car, we saw one of the springs from which the water flows.
It is hard to see, but the water is actively swirling out from the sand and stone.
This is what it creates. A rope swing and a nice place to swim makes it a favorite destination for Khmer from other villages. It was us and the Khmer hanging out in the falls. The water spray was pretty refreshing and the view was spectacular.
Haaa. Not a pic from Hawaii.
Lunch in our hut, then off to the Lady Temple, Benteay Srei, at Angkor Wat. As an aside, Angkor was the name of the town before it was renamed Siem Reap (I believe when the French colonized it). Although one specific temple is named Angkor Wat, people refer to all the temples previously in the town of Angkor as Angkor Wat. At least that is my understanding from what Theara tells us. Internet has been a little touchy here, so we mostly rely on our guide for info. He seems to be spot on. Sometimes we misunderstand because of his accent, but we seem to figure it out eventually.
It was about an hour drive to the Lady Temple. We had a few obstacles to over come during our journey.
Not surprising given the condition of the road and recent rain, we got stuck in the mud. Locals who help maintain the road gave us a hand by pushing us out of the mud and laying branches over the slippery mess. It is a one way road. Cars go up before noon and down after noon. The cars ahead also got stuck and are waiting to see if we can get out since we are one of the last cars of the day and it is an hour to the next larger town. Luckily our guide seems to know everyone and they all look out for each other. We were on our way in about 15 min.
A rest stop.
A typical bathroom. They use the water to clean themselves instead of paper.
After a bumpy ride down the mountain, we arrived at the Lady Temple. When we arrived, our guide told us that this is where they had the heavy flooding a couple weeks ago and evacuated the tourists by air. Good thing it is relatively dry day today.
The Lady Temple is the most intricately carved temple in Angkor Wat and our guides favorite. It is easy to identify because of its pink color stone taken from Phnom Kulen, where we just visited. It is also unique in that it is not a royal temple. The king who commissioned it, Rajendravarman, was only 11 years old, so his counselor built it. Typically only kings themselves built the temples. Like the Jungle Temple we visited yesterday, the Thai people also destroyed this temple. It was only relatively recently discovered by the French, who then repaired it.
We came about 30 min before closing. For $5 placed in the right hands, we were able to stay after closing and had free reign of the temple. The guards sleep there at night and carry AK-47s to protect it. They don't carry them during the day because they don't want to scare the tourists. Probably a good idea....
We came about 30 min before closing. For $5 placed in the right hands, we were able to stay after closing and had free reign of the temple. The guards sleep there at night and carry AK-47s to protect it. They don't carry them during the day because they don't want to scare the tourists. Probably a good idea....
It is almost impossible to capture the whole temple in one picture. This is the inner area, there is also a long entrance way where the royalty walked to enter. This temple was only used for praying, not teaching or learning. It is more remote than the other temples and was built to enable people to pray without having to travel too far. The commoners cleansed themselves in the moat around the temple before entering.
Most of the temple has these intricate carvings, which all tell stories. Theara translates them for us.
A doorway peering through rows of other doorways.
Inside one of the temples. Behind me incense is burning and there is a small mat for kneeling.
A carving of the "perfect lady." Theara told us she is "perfect" because her hair smells like perfume. I think he left out part of the story....
The "perfect man."
The entrance way for royalty.
I was persuaded to buy an Angkor Wat guide book for $5. The book is listed as costing $27.95, which based on the quality, is believable. They print them near here and sell them in the local market for $3.50. People buy them, mark them up, and make a profit selling them at the temples. Our guide gave me the inside scoop and said $5 is a fair price, giving the seller a $1.50 profit. As a guidepost, Theara's rent for the year is about $250.
We headed to the hotel, rented bikes for a 5 a.m. sunrise bike ride around Angkor Wat, and then headed to dinner and a show. Another full day.
Khmer dance, Apsara, and music. It involved lots of slow movements and fancy hand movements and positioning. The costumes were very colorful and elaborate.
We stopped at a local drugstore to buy water before bed. They sold Viagra without a prescription, or at least their version of it called "BOOM," with the slogan "rediscover the joy of manhood." Things are done differently here to say the least. Tomorrow night we are planning on attending a lecture at the local hospital.
Location:Cambodia
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