Angkor Wat
As recently as five years ago, Cambodia was regarded as too dangerous to visit. But things have setteled down and now this war-ravaged country is starting to rebuilding itself. A bus ticket to the Cambodia city of Siem Riep was only $2.50 from Bangkok, but the journey took 14 hours over some of the worst roads in Asia. (Burma is also in the running for that prize!) One poor soul had to stop the bus for a toilet break along the way, and learned that there is no room for modesty in a country littered with 10 million landmines. No hiding in the bushes here -- your business must be done right on the road.
Angkor Wat
A thousand years ago while Europe was wallowing in the dark ages, the Khmer people of Cambodia ruled an empire of over a million people that stretched from Vietnam to Burma. The kingdom was ruled from a vast city filled with hundreds of temples. By tradition, only gods could live in stone houses, so only the god's houses are left today. But what incredible houses!
I first heard of Angkor Wat in college when my "History of Western Art" proffessor began the semester with it. A strange way to begin a class on western art, but then he was a pretty strange guy! Standing face to face with the incredible carvings, I wished I could remember more from that class!
As in Bagan, every day ended with watching the sun set from a temple. Avoiding the hordes at the more famous temples, I finished the day at Ta Keo. They say that it would have been one of the finest temples at Angkor...if only it had been finished. Those of you who know me well will understand how this was the right temple for me!
Pra Tom Ruins
"Rocketship Tree" at Pra Tom
Old Man of Pra Tom. He's on the cover of Lonely Planet.
Sunrise at Angkor
The Killing Fields
My next destination was the imfamous Phnom Penh, which thankfully could be reached by boat. In town I was greeted by the amazing hospitality of my friend Claire. She is a south african nurse volunteering with VSO in Cambodia. She had to leave town on work, but allowed me to stay in her beautiful Phenom Penh flat. After months of $3 guesthouses and restarunt food, I was in hog heaven. A real sofa, a real television, and (best of all) a real kitchen!
S-21 Prison This plain-looking building was home to countless horrors.
But the most powerful memory I will take from this charming city is a much darker one. In 1975 the communist faction known as the Kmer Rouge took over Cambodia, and immediatly set about creating an ideal agrarian society. Everyone was forced to become farmers, anyone deemed an enemy of this perfect society was killed. The numbers are staggering: Between 1975 and 1978, 2 million people --twenty percent of the population-- was either killed or starved to death.
The most gruesome artifact of this reign of terror was the prison known as Tuol Sleng, or S-21. Originally built as a high school, it is now a museum to the to terrors of the war. It is hard to describe the feeling of being there. There are very few signs to read, and most of the facility is open for exploration. So I wandered from room to room, seeing the instruments of torture left on the floors, the tiny 1x2 meter cells, a box of skulls, and room after room after room of photos taken before the inmates executions. In all, about 14000 people passed through this prison. When the Vietnamese liberated in Phnom Penh in 1979, they found seven survivors. For more information, there is an excellent article available online here.
26 June 2003
I am now in Augsburg, Germany visiting my friend Miky and gorging myself on German bread, beer, and cheese. Up next is Prague...