At the border, Cambodia has established a gambling zone and there are many casinos. From there, the road immediately turned to dirt and for...
At the border, Cambodia has established a gambling zone and there are many casinos. From there, the road immediately turned to dirt and for 300 kilometers the road was bumpy as hell and the bus was hot. As uncomfortable as it was I was glad I did it. I got to see the real Cambodia and it was pretty grim. Most Cambodians live the way they did for thousands of years, in simple wooden/grass thatched stilted houses, catching fish from ditches along the road and working in rice patties. There were rice patties pretty much the whole way, with the occasional water buffalo to add flavor (to both the scenery as well as the rice patties. Angkor is an oasis of civilization just as Las Vegas is in the US, with the nice size airport and many hotels springing up out of nowhere. This is all supported by the tourism brought in by the ruins. The picture below is typical of the houses encountered on the way to Angkor.
The ruins were amazing, some older than 1000 years. The ruins were mostly built by some Khmer king in honor of either a Hindu god (mainly Sewa) or Buddha and they were often used by both. Sewa is the god that created the world and his symbol is the phallic, go figure. The other predominant symbol is the Hindu angel, Upsorn (represented by a beautiful woman). So, between the phallic and beautiful angel symbols everywhere I doubt there was any governing happening at these palaces. Buddha images are there as well, but not as prevalent as the Hindu icons. We visited 6 ruins, Phnom Bakeng, Banteay Srey, Banteay Samrei, Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom, Bayon, and Angkor Wat.
Three of these ruins impressed me the most and I will describe them below:
1. Angkor Wat was by far the most impressive and biggest with a central spire that had steps at a 70 degree angle. I climbed the steps on all fours and must have looked quite funny. There were thousands of people there joining me on my journey up these steps.
2. Angkor Thom contains hundreds, possibly thousands, of stone face carvings. This structure was a stunning sight.
3. Ta Prohm was interesting in a different way. Trees have taken over the ruins, which further instills the oldness of the area. This area was used in the movie Tomb Raider.
Unfortunately, this is the area surrounding Angkor used by Pol Pot for his Killing fields in the mid 1970s. The Cambodians have constructed a monument for the millions who died during that time. The monument contains human bones found in the surrounding fields and is pretty gruesome. So the area is full of history, both old and new.
The trip was fun and a learning experience. The only times I felt even remotely unsafe was both entering and leaving Cambodia and when I read the sign in front of the Ankor Hospital warning of an outbreak of dengue fever. I am glad I didn’t get it. Admittedly it took me a week and a half to figure out how to get the file out of my phone, which is why it is taken till now to get this description out to you.
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