Before we move on I should address something I forgot previously. There are stereotypes that Asians are good at badminton. Even in the school I teach at such thoughts are there and, as far as I can tell, are often validated. We are products of our environment and culture. You can't be good at boatloads of sports that you have never been exposed to. Well after being in China I experienced first-hand the prevalence of badminton. Any time a TV was on Beijing it was showing the World Badminton Championships being held in Guangzhou, China. This competition was for 300 of the world's top badminton players who represented 40 countries. I'm relatively into sports. It doesn't surprise me that Badminton had world championships. I figured they did but it never really registered. Well, being in China it registered. Badminton was everywhere. People often make sense when you know a bit about their environment.
Siam Reap was our first stop in Cambodia. As we drive through Cambodia (and Thailand afterwards) I noticed that many places we're called Siam ____ : restaurants, hotels, towns etc... After doing some research I found out that the country of Siam used to exist where Thailand and Cambodia are now. That is where the English 'Siamese cat' and 'Siamese twins' originates. Siamese means 'from Siam' and Siam "used to be" Thailand. Siam Reap means "the flat defeat of Siam" (Thailand) and is where no less than 10,000 Siamese troops were captured by the Khmer (Cambodian) soldiers.
After exiting the airport we found a taxi and after talking with the driver for a bit (he spoke some English. After China this was SO exciting!) we decided to hire him for the day: to drive us to and from the hotel and to, through, and home from Angkor Wat. When visiting places where time is limited, the easiest way to save time is to pay a little bit more for transportation instead of jimmy-rigging every trip.
Siam Reap is a beautiful town. It reminds me of Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica: a relaxing, chill not-overly-touristy place. And ridiculously cheap. For our dinner we had spring rolls, two beers, two waters and two entrees and it cost a lovely $12 US.
My entree that was FABULOUS! It is an authentic Cambodian dish: rice cooked in coconut milk and my meat mix also cooked in coconut milk and served in a banana leaf. Amok chicken. Simply divine.
Our taxi driver brought us to a hotel he recommended but their regular rooms were all full; they only had a VIP room left. We decided that since we slept in the airport for two of the last four nights we deserved to be VIPs. We splurged: $35usd. This included free water, a tray of fruit, access to the pool, and breakfast. Quite the steal.
Front lobby:
We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed to the Angkor grounds. Angkor is Khmer for "Capital City". It is a region of Cambodia where the Khmer Empire ruled from, approximately, the 9th-15th centuries. The word Angkor is originally derived from the sanskrit language, the same roots as the swastika. What follows in the rest of this paragraph is essentially from Wikipedia but with some editing/deleting but nothing added: The ruins of Angkor are located amid forests and farmland near modern-day Siem Reap city. The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single religious monument. Many of the temples at Angkor have been restored, and together, they comprise the most significant site of Khmer architecture. Visitor numbers approach two million annually, and the entire expanse, including Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom is collectively protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2007, an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest preindustrial city in the world, with an elaborate infrastructure system connecting an urban sprawl of at least 1,000 square kilometres to the well-known temples at its core. The closest rival to Angkor, the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, was between 100 and 150 square kilometres in total size. Although its population remains a topic of research and debate, newly identified agricultural systems in the Angkor area may have supported up to one million people.
Many people get three day or week long passes to Ankor so it is no surprise that the lady selling tickets thought she misheard us when we asked for a ticket for today: it was 1ish and it closed at 5:30. How were we going to explore such an elaborate ancient city? We weren't going to explore all of it but we wanted to get a taste. And Teresa and I can both be manic at times so we'd make it work. Sidebar: we were told going in that Cambodia is very US dollar-friendly. I was hesitant and exchanged money at the airport anyways. I went to pay for the Ankor Wat tickets with Cambodian riel and the lady looked at me funnily (good word, right?) and had slight difficulty giving me Cambodian totals. She needed a calculator. That is how common US dollars are. Prices are quoted and bills come in USD. Yeah America.
We headed to Angkor Wat first, again Wat meaning temple (or place of worship, but wat never refers to a mosque). Angkor Wat is Cambodia's "thing" and is represented on the Cambodian flag:
Angkor Wat is incredible. As soon as we stepped out of the taxi I was mesmerized. It is magnificent, beautiful and huge. It again made me respect history and how people lived and created such structures centuries ago. The detail, organization and articulate work is baffling and astounding. The rain did not dampen our love of this place. Here are some pictures that I took from the Internet. Clearly I forgot to take pics in my phone, they're all in my camera. These are all from google images. Ill add mine some day.
Sidebar: we made the mistake of not hiring a guide in Angkor. It was a big mistake. Teresa and I said it right away: we are looking at such cool, ancient stuff and we don't know details behind it. It drove me nuts. All information being shared here I got from a travel book or researched online. Again, the teacher in me cringes for using just Wikipedia but Internet is a pain here so I'm opting for one-stop-shopping. Wikipedia (edited, deleted and some added in brackets):
The principal temple of the Angkorian region, Angkor Wat, was built between 1113 and 1150 by King Suryavarman II. Suryavarman ascended to the throne after prevailing in a battle with a rival prince. An inscription says that, in the course of combat, Suryavarman leapt onto his rival's war elephant and killed him, just as the mythical bird-man Garuda slays a serpent. After consolidating his political position through military campaigns, diplomacy, and a firm domestic administration, Suryavarman launched into the construction of Angkor Wat as his personal temple mausoleum. Breaking with the tradition of the Khmer kings, and influenced perhaps by the concurrent rise of Vaisnavism in India, he dedicated the temple to Vishnu rather than to Siva. (NOTE: in Hinduism there are three main gods: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Most temples are dedicated to Shiva). With walls nearly half a mile long on each side, Angkor Wat grandly portrays the Hindu cosmology, with the central towers representing Mount Meru, home of the gods; the outer walls, the mountains enclosing the world; and the moat, the oceans beyond. The traditional theme of identifying the Cambodian devaraja with the gods, and his residence with that of the celestials, is very much in evidence. (NOTE: devaraja are deified royalty, kings who are living gods on earth, incarnations of the supreme gods - usually Vishnu or Shiva). The measurements themselves of the temple and its parts in relation to one another have cosmological significance. Suryavarman had the walls of the temple decorated with bas reliefs depicting not only scenes from mythology, but also from the life of his own imperial court. (NOTE: bas relief is a sculptural technique. Relief is where the subject stands out from its background. Bas refers to where the plane is scarcely more than scratched in order to remove background material.) In one of the scenes, the king himself is portrayed as larger in size than his subjects, sitting cross-legged on an elevated throne and holding court, while a bevy of attendants make him comfortable with the aid of parasols and fans. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor)
It continues to fascinate me how religion is so prevalent throughout the world. In our hemisphere many of us have grown up with our religious lens with little regard or even awareness that so much of the world has done the same, but with a different lens. Religious beliefs have shaped the world's architecture and history in incredible ways.
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