My Time in Cambodia: May 2015

This past weekend, Alli and I went to Siem Reap, the largest tourist spot in Cambodia. People come from all over the world to see the ancient temples spread all throughout the city, the most famous being Angkor Wat, which is the largest religious monument in the world. Alli and I spent two full days exploring the city's many temples. We started our first day with the big three: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm, and then finished our last day with Banteay Srey, Ta Som, Neak Pean, and Preah Kahn. I really enjoyed being able to learn the history of the Khmer Empire from our guide and understand how religion changed during the time of the empire. You could definitely appreciate the massive structures and architecture of the temples without knowing any of their history, but in order to appreciate the artwork, it was important to know which time period the temple was built so you would know if you were looking at Hindu or Buddhist carvings and statues. This was because the official religion changed from Hinduism to Buddhism when Jayavarman VII became king in 1181, although both religions peacefully coexisted since the beginning of the empire and still do today. Many of the temples that were originally dedicated to Hindu gods were later converted into Buddhist temples, so it was really cool to see the elements of both religions present in the temples that we see today. For example, Angkor Wat was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, and there is a large Vishnu statue located at the southern tower that was believed to have originally been in the central shrine, which is now occupied by a Buddha statue. Beautiful carvings of stories of the Hindu gods can still be found on the outer gallery wall and throughout the inside of the temple, as it seems that the ancient Khmer people did not want to destroy this Hindu artwork when they were converting Angkor Wat to a Buddhist temple. The temples were all absolutely gorgeous, and it was really great to learn enough to be able to appreciate the differences between them. I would say that in addition to the stunning view of Angkor Wat at sunrise, highlights for me were the massive faces of Prasat Bayon in Angkor Thom, the gigantic trees rising from the sandstone walls of Ta Prohm, and the beautiful carving work at Banteay Srey.

Alli and I were very fortunate to have a guide for the temples that shared a lot about his life in addition to history about the temples, and I want to share with you some of his experiences. Bopha was born in 1970 in a small rural town in between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. He was very curious growing up and wanted very badly to be educated, but unfortunately he grew up during the time of the Khmer Rouge when schools were being destroyed and education was hard to come by, so he spent his childhood helping his family farm. When Bopha turned 20, he became a monk. His family wasn't religious, but this allowed him to fulfill his dream of becoming educated. He went to school and studied religious texts, learning how to read and write Khmer, English, and Sanskrit. He graduated high school at age 29, received his B.A. three years later, and just graduated from law school last month. During this time, he became one of the leaders of his pagoda and founded a school outside of Siem Reap that now has about 300 students. He had only been a tour guide for a few years, coming to Siem Reap on the weekends to help him pay for law school, but he knew so much history from his studies and also from being able to read Sanskrit, that he knew a lot more than the other tour guides that had been doing it for much longer. Listening to Bopha talk about how hard he worked for his education and his passion to share that education with others was truly amazing. He and his brother, who is a doctor in his home village, are the only educated people in his entire village. He would read to us the Sanskrit written on the walls of the temples, and I didn't really care that I didn't know what he was saying because it made me happy to see how proud he was that he could read Sanskrit. Because of the destruction of schools and killing of educated people by the Khmer Rouge, education is such a problem in Cambodia, and hearing about Bohpa's experience and working with the kids at Liger has made me so appreciative of the education that I have gotten and also to live in a country like the US where education is a basic right. Hopefully, because of people like Bopha and institutions like Liger, the education problem in Cambodia will improve in the near future.

In addition to seeing the temples, Alli and I did a lot of other interesting things in Siem Reap. One of the nights, we saw a traditional Khmer dance. These dances have been around since the time of the Khmer Empire, which we know from the carvings of Aspara dancers on the walls of many temples including Angkor Wat. There were 5 different dances performed, and they were all really cool to see. We also took a cooking class, where we learned how to make a couple Khmer dishes. It was really fun to learn how to make the dishes because many of the spices and sauces they use are much different than ones we have used before, and the food we made (Papaya Salad, pumpkin soup, fried noodles with chicken, beef lok lak, and pumpkin custard) was all really good. Alli and I are both really big fans of Khmer food, so we're hoping to be able to make it when we get back to the US. On the way to one of the temples outside the city, Alli and I stopped at the Land Mine Museum, which was absolutely incredible. It was founded by Aki Ra, an ex child soldier of the Khmer Rouge who has dedicated his life to removing land mines from Cambodia and caring for young victims of land mines. Aki Ra has been recognized as a Top 10 CNN Hero, had a documentary called The Perfect Soldier written about his life, written a book called Children and the Akira Landmines Museum, and received the Manhae Foundation Grand Prize for Peace in addition to other awards for his peace keeping work. The museum tells the story of Aki Ra, how only knowing violence for the first 20 years of his life has not stopped him from becoming a peaceful man with such an incredible cause, and it was inspirational for me to learn about the amazing things he's done in his life, including founding an NGO, Cambodian Self Help Demining and creating the museum to raise awareness for the land mine problem around the world. Within the museum, he also created a relief center for children affected by land mines, and all of the proceeds from the museum go to helping provide food, clothing, and education to the 29 kids at the center. I was deeply moved by Aki Ra's story and the stories of the kids at the center, and I was really glad that we made the journey out of Siem Reap to see the museum. We also went to the Angkor National Museum, which provided us with more history about the Khmer Empire and information about the temples we were seeing. In between our activities, we were able to spend some time at the Old Market, where we also bought some of the food for our cooking class, and on Pub Street, where you can find a lively tourist scene at night time.

Overall, Alli and I were really pleased with our trip. We were able to visit the must-see sights and Cambodia, and had a really good time. Siem Reap made me feel like I was escaping from modern day Cambodia because the scenery, ancient temples, and touristy scene were so much different than what we were used to in Phnom Penh. There was so much beautiful wildlife because the people that are in charge of the Angkor Complex have strict regulations on shops and houses, so it definitely felt like we were entering into the wilderness while we were visiting the temples. I found it very comparable to how I felt in Egypt visiting the temples. The temples themselves and their surroundings made you feel like you were almost going back to ancient times, and it was really cool to try to picture how life must have been back then. After this trip, I feel like I have accomplished all of the tourist activities in Cambodia that I've wanted to do, so I am excited to be able to spend my last week in Cambodia at the school with the kids and doing fun, everyday things in Phnom Penh.

Angkor Wat Moat

Angkor Thom

Ta Prohm

Thommanon

Banteay Srey

Neak Pean

Preah Kahn

Hindu symbol of the union between male and female. The Lingam represents the Hindu god Shiva, and the Yoni represents Shiva's female counterpart, Shakti.