Travels to Cambodia

 

We recently travelled from Seattle on a long-planned trip to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Our first stop was Siem Reap, Cambodia. Here we visited several key temples. Each temple was built by a different King, so that each temple has a unique presence. Today these temples are mostly ruins, so we could only imagine what it was like in the past.  These photographs are from Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom…

I was intrigued by the bas-relief sculptures at Angkor Thom and the majestic and overgrown trees.  And I was fascinated by  the in-process reconstruction of the carved artifacts.

Obviously, so was the monkey, who stood still long enough for me to take his portrait!

The temples are not just for tourists; local villagers and monks worship here. In fact, most villages are centered around the Wat or temple.  And villagers are hired to sell incense, thread, and flowers, etc., for visitors to incorporate in their Buddhist rituals. We had a terrific guide, who shared the tumultuous history.  Cambodia has  had many conquerers.  Today, the tourists are numerous, and, given the close proximity to countries nearby, these are often Asian tourists with their selfie sticks!

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Probably one of the most interesting activities in Siem Reap was the ride getting to and then on the Ton Le Sap river. Along the road to the river, we passed rice fields and house after house on high stilts. The locals live in these stilt houses during the monsoon season so that their homes stay dry. And during this dry season, many live on floating “homes” on the river.   So we went from miles of “stilt” homes suspended above the ground to miles of “boat” homes floating on the river. When on a floating home, the villagers are basically water-locked, meaning that they have to swim (not likely) or take a small rowboat to buy groceries at a boat store, or to visit a neighbor. During the monsoon season, the rain and wind often limits their mobility as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Adjacent to our embarkation point on the river was a village with many children including novice Monks (Monks who are “in training”) as well with other children (many of them are orphans).  While other children begged, the young male Monks worked  and interacted with each other.  They allowed me to photograph them going about their activities. What struck me is how much like all young men they are: playing around, doing their chores, talking on cell phones, socializing with each other!

 

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Next we flew to Phnom Penh. I am glad that we went to Siem Reap first. Phnom Penh is a big city…with thousands of motorbikes. There are few people walking around, so it is more difficult to cross the street than in Beijing, in some ways. However, there is a fluidity and calmness to the way they navigate their bikes.   We visited the site of the prison where residents were tortured by the Kmer Rouge.  Then they were sent off to The Killing Fields, where most of them died.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The biggest surprise here was on the drive from the airport. To avoid the bad traffic, the driver went on a road which abruptly ended.  In order to continue,  he got out of the car and moved about 20 big stones in order to safely navigate the car onto a side road. Finally, he succeeded, and he continued on, driving past shop after shop, each one brightly  lit up, revealing 10-20 girls (yes they looked very young), sitting, all made up, waiting. Street after street contained these shops.   I tried to take some pictures but it impossible to capture this scene of young prostitutes. We were told by our guide that prostitution is illegal, so instead the shops sell beer and the women sit with the men after their working day….and then proceed with their real business!  The next day, on our way to the airport, from the car, I was able to capture a few shots of the girls, waiting for evening and for the men, to buy beer   and…

 

 

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