Sunrise at Angkor Wat. Speaking to others at sunset the other day had set my expectations – “mweh” was how one Australian put it. When events are hyped too much, we expect more and there’s more chance you’ll feel disappointed (c.f. New Year parties). But I actually enjoyed it. This was actually one of my favourite shots because if you look carefully, you can see the monkey sat on the scaffolding!
It was just me, him… and about a thousand other people:
Despite this, it managed to be quite something. Angkor Wat really is spectacular.
And then it was off on the Grand Tour. My hotel had booked me a different driver (the one on Thursday was lovely, but very slow so it would have taken much longer to do the Grand Tour with him) and guide (again, whilst my last one was very knowledgeable, I had to really concentrate to understand his English, and so it was very tiring). Poeurk (pronounced like the “per” in “Rupert”, very clipped) and Thara (pronounced like “Tara”, but starting with the tongue on the roof of your mouth) looked after me well. For example, we went the opposite way to most tourists, so many of the temples were even quieter than usual and it wasn’t too hot to climb all the steps of the last one!
First, though, we passed through Angkor Thom. And some more information:
Its main temple, the Bayon, had three purposes:
- state temple
- reunification of Buddhism and Hinduism
- minature of the Khmer empire (with the 54 towers representing the 54 provinces at the time)
Temples represent mountains – the home of the gods – and are usually either:
- state: built by the king (who considered himself a “god king”) to please the gods (so he would become a fully-fledged god upon his death) or;
- what Thara called “personal cult” (built for one or more of the king’s family)
There are four entrances towards each of the cardinal points (which are absolutely accurate in all cases – we checked!). Only the east and west, (the main entrances) have boundary stones (as these are the most important – sunrise and sunset).
In an effort to unite the country, King J7 embraced both Buddhism and Hinduism. Either side of the main corridor there were two shrines, one with alcoves containing Rishi (the Hindu equivalent of a Buddha):
…And one with Buddhas… which you’ll note are conspicuously absent:
King J7 “disappeared” in 1219 (he came to the throne late, aged 55): it was feared his death (because that was the likely reason – he would have been 94!) would destabilise the country. Many Buddhist icons were then destroyed by King J8 during a religious conflict – he embraced Shiva and tried to convert people back to Hinduism.
The statues on the entrace road were looted in the 1990s, by Thais who sold them to westerners.
Preah Khan
Preah Khan (“royal sword”) was a “personal cult” temple built for the king’s father. It combines the roles of city, temple and university (with students getting a sword upon graduation to symbolise power; knowledge is power). On the outer wall were 72 garudas (Shiva’s mount) each with two Nagas (snakes): one Buddhist and one Hindu.
Inside many temples, including this one, was inscribed a yearly record of events (when it was built, for what purpose, etc). These have provided a valuable source of information for today (along with, notably, the writings of a Chinese man who visited Cambodia at the end of C13 and, quite diligently it seems, recorded what he found). It’s interesting to note that Cambodia did not have a written language until 611.
Preah Khan has been subject to looting as recently as the 1990s when Thais stole artefacts to sell to westerners.
Graffiti evidences it’s use as an army camp in the 1970s:
And seeing the tank tyres tracks in the stone brought a lump to my throat, an undeniable and tangible footprint of the country’s horrific recent past:
On the round base of the pedestal in the central tower would originally have stood a tribute to the king’s father (Buddhist), but was replaced in the C13 with a Shiva Linga evidenced by the single hole and spout (Hindu). When it was converted back to a Buddhist temple in C16 (hope you’re keeping up with this), the Shiva Linga was moved. The base has kindly been restored by the French. With concrete:
They’ve got a lot to answer for, the French (but don’t we all).
Plasterwork and gems would have originally adorned the walls (hence the holes in the walls for them to adhere to):
Spending the whole day with Thara (and Peourk) was a pleasure. He seemed genuinely pleased that I was interested in his country’s history and culture, and had a little knowledge already. In stark contrast, it would seem, to the Chinese. The vast majority of tourists here are Chinese (not surprising given how geographically close they are) but, in his words, “we get the quantity… but not the quality”.
“Look,” he said, pointing to a couple of tour guides lounging outside one of the temple entrances. “The Chinese want to go round the temples by themselves.”
“So why hire a tour guide?!”
He shrugged.
Unfortunately, my experience reflected his opinion: nearly all the Chinese I met were impolite, detached and, in some cases, downright rude, traits I have never seen in my close Chinese friend. But she’s been in the UK since 11. Is that significant? Is it a language thing? Or the culture? Or differences in what’s socially acceptable? Don’t know – might have to go to China to find out.
We talked about other types of visitor. “There are some westerners who come from Thailand, where apparently they’re called 3S tourists: sun, sea and sex.”
Cambodia is not the same. His views on this kind of thing are strongly influenced by his religion and culture: to commit adultery, sleep with a married person (your own spouse excepted, of course!) or engage with promiscuous people is considered bad luck. We agreed that this was inevitable: “bad people give you a headache”. He also explained that women were considered second-class. How any religion can elevate one human-being above another and yet promote peace and tolerance (which they basically all do: be nice seems to be the general consensus), strikes me as hypocritical and, to put not too fine a point on it, wrong. We got on well (I know which market to buy trainers from in Phnom Penh, which brands are best and how much to pay!), but I noticed that he avoided any physical contact, even our feet touching as we sat face-to-face in the tuk-tuk. But he also appeared to know, understand and respect that I came from a different culture.
He’d clocked my old Asics running trainers straight away and was pleased I’d paid three times what he had for his. We didn’t discuss the price:earnings ratio… His English was superb – I spoke naturally and he’d ask if he didn’t understand. He knew words in English that astonished me, including: sluice, duct, destiny and canopy. And he called bathrooms “happy rooms”! Hungry to extend his vocab, he asked me (by describing it) to teach him: marquee, cellophane, fate and polystyrene. Oh, and I gave him a lesson on how to pronounce the letter “v” 🙂
Banteay Srei
Banteay Srei is the furthest (and also one of the oldest) temples on the standard Siem Reap tourist trail, distinctive by its intricate carvings and red stone:
Commissioned by King J2 in 967, he died in 968 (bummer, eh?) and it was finished by his successor.
Three holes and a spout: that must mean it’s a Hindu statue to Shiva (not a Shiva Linga) with the three holes for Shiva, Rama and Rama’s wife, Sita. The spout (which represents the female genitalia where the Linga represents the male) always points north.
Cambodia’s two equinoxes fall on 23 Mar and 22 Sep (when both the day and night last 12 hours) and they used them to accurately identify the four cardinal points. This is over 1,000 years ago so it’s pretty impressive.
As we went out, I noticed the door frames were very low. “Were they short people?” I asked. “No, it is so people entering pay respect by bowing their heads.” Very neat.
Pre Rup
And finally, Pre Rup. It was the first temple I saw on Thursday’s aborted Grand Tour and how much more it meant now. Built in 961, the name means “transform” (from human to spirit and from body to ashes) and was King R2’s state temple.
And then back to the hotel – tired, happy and, for the first time in my life, totally and utterly stoned 😉