Angkor - Day 2, Afternoon

Lap Tek was full of stories, but the best were about his life. In 1975, the year “zero”, when the Khmer Rouge took over Phnom Penh and other areas, Lap Tek packed up all his EnglishThai border. The Khmer Rouge was killing all the intellectuals, but he couldn’t part with his books – so he hid them. Because he was a young male, his parents made him live in the jungle for six months a year to keep a low profile. When he returned one time in 1977, the books and been burned – his parents were afraid because the Khmer Rouge had started searching houses. Later, he had to bribe soldiers every month so he wouldn’t be forced to join the army. The only reason they let him was that he had six kids to support. Lap Tek’s sister was a refugee in Thailand during the occupation, and she settled down in the United States. He hadn’t seen her in years, and he didn’t write to her because most people wrote to relatives in France or the States to ask for money, and he didn’t want to seem like a burden. Unfortunately, I think Lap Tek’s story of growing up in the 70’s wasn’t even close to unique. Very sad. books, and moved to his parent’s house near the

Lap Tek constantly referred to Zhou Daguan, an ambassador from China who came to Angkor All of the written history of Angkor was destroyed by various wars (other than some Sanskrit inscriptions), but Zhou Daguan’s account was preserved in China. He got to Angkor by sailing down the Mekong River from China. Unfortunately, when he was sailing back to China, he was attacked by the Chams (the Kingdom of Champa from Southern Vietnam) and he traded his life for information about the Angkor kingdom. The Chams later sent a fleet of warships up the Tonle Sap and sacked Angkor. in 1296 for 2 years, and recorded a lot of the history and uses of the temples.

When we returned to the ticket checkpoint after a nice lunch and siesta, we both laughed as we saw both guards lying in hammocks, fast asleep. Guess they hadn’t been too busy the last few months!

Angkor Wat. He saved it for last, and we were glad he did. The great thing about the temple, besides its excellent preservation and imposing architecture, is the mystery behind why it faces west, while every other temple usually faced to the east. There were three theories: the KhmerAngkor Thom, the French thought the temple was used for funeral ceremonies and thus faced the setting sun, and the Indians thought it was meant to face in the direction of Vishnu, to whom the temple was built for. The stats? It was built from 1122 to 1150AD by King Suryavarman II, the Hindu first cousin of the Buddhist/Hindu King Jayavarman VII, using 365,000 Cham and Burmese slaves and 40,000 elephants. The amazing bas reliefs of Hindu epics were only 80% completed, but the rest of the temple was almost fully intact. Words can’t describe the feeling of awe I felt walking the 600 meters or so up to the temple itself. Lining the first floor were amazing bas relief carvings of various epics of the ten incarnations of Vishnu. Most importantly, on the eastern side was the epic “the churning of the ocean of milk” which was basically the central them behind Angkor Thom. The epic tells how a naga was wrapped around a giant turtle and pulled on either side by 54 demons and 54 gods – basically it’s the Hindu creation story and explains why cows are sacred – their milk is a symbol of life. thought it was to face the road leading to

When we finally climbed to the top level where the five central towers protruded, we were physically and mentally exhausted. We waited (along with 10 other tourists – mostly Japanese guys) for the sunset. Even though it was a dud, we walked away completely satisfied. I still have very strong feelings of that afternoon exploring Angkor Wat, virtually alone. I go back and forth in my head trying to decide: do I want to go back and see what a tourist spectacle it has become all these years later? Yes, I conclude, if my daughters are with me to see it.

The food in Siem Reap was decent enough, although we only had Khmer food for lunch one day. The distinctive smell of their cheese sauce and their fish based soups and foods could be smelled everywhere, and it’s not entirely appetizing. A couple of times we ate across the road from Mahogany, at Chivit Thai, a pretty good Thai restaurant, but we tried to avoid the meat (anywhere in Cambodia for that matter). The staff was so friendly and even though (because?) we were their only customers, they gave us free fruit desserts! The décor was very nice too – you could either sit at tables or on the floor with the traditional Thai triangular cushions.

We mostly ate at the Bayon – in fact, the second day we were in Siem Reap was the first day of it’s reopening after two months due to the lack of tourists. I’m not sure why they opened then as Beth and I were virtually their only customers, served by at least 5 or 6 super friendly, chatty staff. As we left each time we got the old “nice to see you. See you at lunch” or whatever the next meal happened to be – it worked! We kept coming back.