A True Wonder of the World

* NOTE: This is a very long blog post. I couldn't help it. I wanted to capture for myself and all of you (!) the magnificent history and spectacle of the Angkor Wat and other temples.

When one googles the Seven Wonders of the World, a lot of lists pop up. There are natural wonders and man-made wonders as well as wonders from medieval times, modern times, Florida (!)....In chatting with friends who had visited Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia, it was clear that any list of man-made ancient wonders should have this remarkable temple complex included. After visiting, I couldn't agree more. The juxtaposition of long-standing history (massive and intricate temples build BY HAND in the 12th century and still standing after centuries of neglect) and the recent past (destruction of an entire generation of innocent people by the Khmer Rouge, and the subsequent rebuilding of a nation's spirit) is truly incredible to witness.

Siem Reap is an up-and-coming charming little town located in the north of Cambodia. Until the early 1900's when the French arrived, it was nothing more than a tiny village. However, with the influence of the French, it became a cultural hub of Cambodia. Like all other cities in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime, Siem Reap was evacuated in the mid 1970's and all citizens were forced to the countryside. Since regaining independence, the Cambodians have been rebuilding the city's bustling vibe and cultural charm (it has a lively French Quarter) and leveraging its close proximity (a few km) to the Angkor temples to remake itself into a top Asian tourist destination. It was delightful to spend a weekend there.

The best guide ever!

The main draw, of course, are the Angkor temples. A friend from DC recommended a gentleman named Sokkhoeun Bout to serve as our trusty guide for the day. For a mere US$30, Sokk guided Christian and me through the main temples we wanted to see and enchanted us with stories and facts about the temples' rich histories. The most amazing part was that Sokk spoke from a very personal view, having been separated from his parents at a very young age and forced into the Khmer army. As an educated man, his father was murdered by the Khmer; he didn't see his mother until a chance reuniting 12 years later. He was stationed in the Angkor temples as a child soldier and thus knows them like the back of his hand. Despite his painful personal history, Sokk could not be more kind, caring and joyful.


As a funny aside, he called toilets the "happy house". So whenever we needed a break, which was often given how much water we were drinking to stay hydrated in the summer heat, we asked for a "happy house". So charming.

Anyhoo, we laid out our plan of attack for the day and then set out to be awed and inspired. Here's a bit of what we learned and experienced:

Stop 1: Angkor Wat

Built in the early part of the 12th century, it's known as the 'city temple'. Angkor Wat was commissioned by the Hindu king Suryavarman II to serve as a dedication to Vishna and ultimately as his tomb. (Interestingly, in the late 13th century, Angkor switched to Buddhist use and still is today.) According to Sokk, the 2 square km city-temple complex took 40 years to build and enlisted 385,635 people, 40,000 elephants and 24,000 boats which carried extremely large sandstones from a quarry located 50 km away. The fact that the structures and surrounding moat were built with no modern equipment is remarkable. Even more so that no bindings were used between the stones in building the actual temples!

Angkor Wat

The beautiful ruins of Angkor Wat

At one time, there were 1000 temples in the complex - there are now 72. And for unknown reasons, the 65m high middle tower faces west which is unlike all other Hindu structures...facing east is thought to signify victory and the dawning of a new day. Conversely, facing west signifies loss and death; this is why historians suspect it was intended to be the king's tomb. The steep climb to the middle tower is comprised of 37 steps, which was thought to be the ascent into the 3rd level of heaven. I was certainly breathless after climbing them! The middle tower of the main complex sits in the center of several concentric circles, each populated with rooms, hallways and courtyards.

Me inside the innermost courtyard of Angkor Wat

 As you can imagine, with how many people worked to build and then operate the 'city center', the ancient class system was alive and well. Three classes of people lived and worked in the complex, with only the upper-class being allowed into the center and thus close to the Terrace of the Thousand Buddhas. As westerners rediscovered the temples, the heads of the Buddhas and jewels that adorned them were stolen; indeed, many of the heads are thought to be in European museums such as the Louvre and there is a movement under foot to return these relics to their Cambodian homes. Along the outer ring of the middle tower are bas-relief galleries; these wall carvings tell famous Hindu stories of war and how people traveled to the 37 layers of heaven or 32 levels of hell. The bas-reliefs are intricate and well-preserved, particularly for being carved in the 12th century! They are over 1km in length!! 

headless Buddhas

intricate carvings

A bas-relief

As we walked through the temple grounds, we encountered young monks walking the grounds in their brightly colored orange robes and small grey monkeys hoping for a nibble or snack from an unsuspecting tourist. But one of the most special parts of exploring this incredible complex was coming across a blind monk who was sitting and chanting amongst Buddhas with incense burning and sunlight streaming in around him. I gave a US$1 donation for a red prayer bracelet that the monk tied to my wrist while chanting and smiling; once tied, he blew on the inside of my wrist to bless the bracelet and me for good tidings and travels.  I haven't removed it since.

The blind monk

Stop 2: Anghor Thom
Anghor Thom translates to the "great city" in Khmer, and served as the last and one of the most enduring capitals in Cambodia. There are two main draws to Anghor Thom - the Bayon Temple and the bridge.


Bayon Temple was a state temple built between 1116-1281 from a red-colored soil called laterite that was dried and carved into large bricks. The Bayon architectural style is known for the red color and its grandness in scale. Twenty years before it was completed, it was transitioned to be the first Buddhist temple in the region and represents the intersection between heaven and earth. There were 54 towers to symbolize the 54 Khmer provinces but only 37 of the towers remain today. The temples are most famous for the (massive) 4 smiling faces carved into them which are meant to represent compassion, sympathy, charity, and equality.

The faces of Angkor Thom

After leaving the temple, we rode along a road filled with gray monkeys under massive shade trees until we reached a large gate and bridge. The gate served as the entrance to the complex, and parts of the surrounding walls remain today. The bridge was definitely a highlight -- it stretches across what was a massive moat (100 m wide!) and is lined with 54 statues of demons on one side and 54 statues of gods on the other. The bridge is a monumental representation of a famous Hindu myth called the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. Needless to say, we took tons of pictures here!

One of the Demons

The Gods and Me

Stop 3: Banteay Srei
At each stop, I had a new "favorite" as each had really interesting and unique characteristics. But I must say, Banteay Srei, which means 'citadel of the women', was a true delight. We had to pay our driver an extra US $10 to drive the extra few kilometers to it, and I am so happy we did. Banteay Srei is known for its sheer beauty, for it is constructed of a pink sandstone and has truly intricate carvings covering the surfaces. Construction began in 967 AD upon commission by a Brahman (priest) as a dedication to the Hindu god, Shiva.  What was so cool was that the buildings appeared almost miniature in size compared to the large scale of the other temples we had seen thus far. The carvings were incredibly detailed and well preserved especially considering that the temple lay undiscovered without maintenance for many centuries, potentially from the 14th century until 1914. There are small sanctuaries with statues of Hindu gods throughout as well as small libraries. What a charming and beautiful spot!

Amazing carvings considering they are over 1000 years old!

I loved the beauty of these buildings

Stop 4: Pre Rup (The Royal Crematorium)

On the way to our last stop of the day, we buzzed by Pre Rup long enough to take a few photos but did not go in. There are crematorium buildings throughout Cambodia, but this one (built starting in 941 AD) is thought to have been built by the king Rajendravarman II to serve as a royal crematorium. We had an interesting conversation here about whether Cambodians tend to be buried or cremated; Sokk said it's about 50/50.

Stop 5: Ta Prohm
Now, I have never seen the film "Tomb Raider" but if you have, you'd instantly recognize this temple complex. Surrounded by jungle, Ta Prohm has largely been 'preserved' (i.e., without restoration) as it was found when rediscovered in the early 1900's. There are MASSIVE trees growing in and through the main temples. Originally built in 1186, Ta Prohm was a Buddhist temple known as Rajavihara or "monastery of the king" as a dedication to the king's mother. What's fascinating are inscriptions that have been found that detail the working nature of the complex....Close to 12,500 people were required to live and worship in temple. To support and service that community, there were 3,000 villages housing 80,000 people within the temple grounds.

Beautiful ruins

The trees and roots that have grown throughout the temples are spectacular. I have never seen anything quite like it. The roots were hundreds of meters long and many were almost a meter in width! There was an air of mystery and sadness as we traversed through the temples, but also of beauty and peacefulness as well. To see an ancient man-made structure overcome with the forces of nature was certainly something I will never forget.

Massive Tree Root 

Way cool...a carving of a triceratops!

Me at the famous site from Tomb Raider

Christian & Me....check out those crazy tree roots!

Sokk thought this was hilarious. I didn't know what I was pointing at until I saw the photo later!

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed capturing my memories.

Until next time....

xo

My Impressions of Cambodia

I must apologize! So many folks have been asking me about my blog, and between all my travels and moving home from Australia, I haven't had a moment to write. But I have been so thrilled with how many people have mentioned my blog - thank you to all who have been reading and following my adventures.


I last left off in Phuket, Thailand....from there, Christian and I traveled to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Many know of Cambodia from Angelina Jolie's movie Tomb Raider and her adoption of her first son, Maddox, from the country. Having never seen the movie, I learned of this interesting country from friends who'd traveled there. For those not aware of the fascinating history of Cambodia, I thought I'd provide a bit of background for you.

Angkor Wat

Cambodia is a country in Southeast Asia bordered by the Gulf of Thailand, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It was established in 802 AD at the start of the Khmer Empire, which ruled for 600 years under what was known as the Angkorian Period. Cambodia was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century but regained independence in 1953 and became the most popular tourist destination in southeast Asia. In 1970, as a spillover from the Vietnam War, Cambodia was thrust into a bloody civil war that gave rise to the evil Khmer Rouge under the leadership of a sinister Pol Pot. 


The Khmer Rouge was a Communist party that worked to transition Cambodia to an agrarian, self-sufficient society. It forced citizens out of the urban areas and into rural work as peasants. In order to have full control, it even demolished the currency. The real evil of the empire was the genocide; in 4 short years, 2M+ Cambodians were killed, reducing Cambodia's population by 1/3. As a result, there are very few Cambodians between the ages of 30-70; everyone is either quite elderly or very young. In 1978, the Vietnamese helped to overthrow the Khmer Rouge. It wasn't until 1993 that Cambodia established its Constitution and modern form of government. Cambodia is now in the top 10 of the world's fastest growing economies, however per capita annual income remains under US$3000. After such a painful history, the country is still rebuilding and rediscovering itself. 


Now, for my impressions.....I am actually glad that I waited 6 weeks to write this blog post. Why, you ask? Well, after visiting Cambodia, I couldn't get it off my mind in the week following my trip. I couldn't quite articulate why, but I was so happy and thankful to have visited. Now, six weeks later, I actually feel the same way. Cambodia stays with you, in good ways. Despite their horrific past, the people are happy, generous, peaceful and welcoming. They are proud of their country, its resurgence and their survival. Family is of ultimate importance and life is simple and full of opportunity. Their smiles are just beautiful.


Across the main day of touring the temples and Siem Reap area, I was able to meet local villagers. One family's business is making palm sugar pastes and candies. We passed their village and stopped to watch them make the palm sugar paste. The method was to melt and stir it in a large silver bowl over open flame. They were all too happy to have me sample their candy and take a photo of them! We also passed local women fishing for their evening meal in a local rice paddy. They had open-ended baskets that they popped into the mud, then bent down to feel for trapped fish. Once fish were caught (by hand), they were placed in the little baskets on the ladies' hips. The women were very proud of their work, but were admittedly bashful with the attention we were giving them.

A village boy making palm sugar paste

Local village women fishing

The Cambodian cuisine was delicious! It is very similar to other Asian cuisines, but is surprisingly mild with little heat or spice. The "national" dish is a fish amok, which is a mild coconut curry prepared in a style similar to a souffle. Christian and I had dinner at the open-aired Sugar Palm restaurant our first night and enjoyed a lovely fish amok and $0.75 Angkor beers! Our entire bill for several large beers and about 6 dishes was...wait for it...a whopping US$14! We also had a lovely pork dish at a local eatery just outside the Angkor Wat temple for lunch the next day; on a hot day, that Angkor beer hit the spot!!

Me at the Sugar Palm with our fish amok

Me devouring the delightful pork dish at a VERY local eatery 

Christian and me enjoying our Angkor beers. Each cost about 50 cents.

I will return to visit this beautiful country and lovely people one day. In the meantime, I pledge to read as much as I can to better understand its history and do all I can to help the rebuilding. For many years, I have supported people in many regions of the world through micro-lending via a great organization called Kiva.org, and have focused my lending to Cambodians since visiting. If you have any interest in learning more, please let me know!


Next post will describe one the most incredible days of my life, which was spent visiting the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia.


Until next time...xoxo

Phantastic Phuket

I was a bit sad to leave the charm of Chiang Mai, but heading to Phuket was so exciting as it's a place I've never been but have always wanted to go. I have grown to really love Thailand - the land is beautiful, the cuisine is one of my favorites and the people are the friendliest on Earth. It's incredible to think that this lovely place was so negatively impacted by what recorded history has rated as the one of the worst natural disasters of our time. The statistics are actually mind-numbing -- a 9.1 magnitude earthquake that triggered other earthquakes around the world (as far away as Alaska), a shift of the Earth on its axis by 1 cm and 228,000 (!) people killed. Admittedly, I knew little about Thailand (and Phuket specifically) prior to that disasterous tsunami on 24 December 2004. 


I was expecting to see destruction and despair amidst the tropical beauty. But strangely, there was very little damage, at least that I could see. (That said, Phuket was not as damaged as other areas; most of the damage was a bit north of Phuket in Khao Lak with the next worst hit being Phi Phi Island, where we spent one day.) The 4 days spent in and around Phuket were a dream.

Day One had us arriving in the evening to the Westin Siray Bay. Typical of Christian and me, we avoided the hotel restaurant and went straight into town to have dinner at the Blue Elephant Phuket. I had the pleasure of dining with friends at the Bangkok Blue Elephant in August, but Christian had never been. The dinner was a delightful adventure in Thai cuisine (I had duck red curry), despite our utter exhaustion while there.  

Me at the resort at sunset

Day Two (Valentine's Day) was spent lounging by the pool all day, soaking up sun and reading. (By the way, I am reading the newest Jennifer Egan book called "Look At Me". It's quite good.) When traveling with an Italian, it goes without saying that you will eat Italian food if there's good Italian food to be had. This was something I fully supported after 5 straight days and nights of Thai, so we headed to Salvatore's in old town Phuket. I had a classic spaghetti & meatballs dish that was divine.

Day Three was ushered in with a glorious thai "luk pra kob" massage that combines heated balls of thai herbs wrapped in muslin with deep Thai tissue massage. HEAVEN! More time at the pool then led us to an early departure to Christian's evening of wondrous fun at FantaSea, Thailand's version of Disneyland. It's hard to describe the sheer Asian cheesiness of it, but rest assured it fully delivered on anything you can imagine. The highlight was feeding a baby tiger with a bottle!

Me at FantaSea!

Day Four was the highlight of the Phuket trip, though it admittedly started off rocky. We planned a day trip to explore the islands off Phuket - Phi Phi Island, Monkey Island, Maya Beach, etc. I was looking forward to this as much as Christian wanted to go to FantaSea, which is ALOT. After arriving at the marina, we learned that our boat was inoperable. After waiting 2 hours, the manager cancelled the trip. After declaring that this was a total letdown given it was our last full day, he whispered that he had arranged a smaller boat to leave in one hour. Salvation!!

The manager of the marina decided to come with us (it ended up being 8 of us) and gave us a private guided tour. We stopped first at Mosquito Island to snorkle, then found our way to Phi Phi Don (the larger of the two Phi Phi Islands) for a seaside lunch. After lunch I put my toes in the water and collected shells (see photo below). We then made a quick stop at Monkey Beach, so named because of the monkeys that live there. We, unlike most others, were respectful of the fact that the monkeys are wild animals and this beach is their home. (To that end, we were not unhappy when a man set his towel right in their spot of rocks and was quickly bombarded with aggressive monkeys! He wasn't hurt...) More snorkeling followed at Phi Phi Lae, where "The Beach" was filmed. It was easily the best snorkeling of my life - sea anemones, crazy colored fish, sea cucumbers, beautiful coral, crystal clear waters - surrounded by jutting limestone cliffs. I had a banana and the fish fed right from my hands! Our last stop was Maya Beach, which featured my favorite part of the day - a temple built to offer food and drinks to the lost souls of those who perished in the tsunami but were not from the island. Simple and touching.

Searching for shells 

A monkey from Monkey Beach 

Limestone stalagmites

A temple providing food and drink for the lost souls from the tsunami @ Maya Beach 

Me and longboats on Maya Beach 

Beautiful

The ride back to the marina was during sunset. I sat on the back of the boat while it bumped atop the waves with the wind in my hair, salt on my skin and a Chang beer in my hands. Peaceful and perfect.

Until next time...xoxo

The Day of Pukboom!

I knew before I moved home from the Asia-Pacific region that I wanted to revisit Thailand. It's relatively close to Australia (only a 9-hour flight!) and is such a beautiful country with the kindest people in the world. I visited briefly in August 2011, and saw Bangkok and Ko Samui. This time, when I decided to return (luckily with my BFF Christian), I set my sights on two new places - Chiang Mai and the Phuket/Ko Phi Phi areas.


Chiang Mai was our first stop. After the 9-hour flight from Sydney to Bangkok, I made my way across the airport (which seemed to be 1 million kilometers wide) and stood in line for hours to pass through a chaotic immigration area to greet Christian for the first time in 6 months and then quickly board our flight to Chiang Mai (only 70 min from Bangkok). Chiang Mai is located in Northern Thailand and was founded in 1296. It was surrounded by a moat and large fortress-like wall (parts of which still remain today) to protect it from Burma. To me, Chiang Mai felt like a very small version of Bangkok with none of the tourist traps and more of an authentic local feel.


We arrived on Saturday night. After a walk around to get our bearings and a dinner across the street, we settled into the charming Tamarind Village boutique hotel for a good night sleep as we had a BIG day ahead the next day.  The next day was truly one of the most memorable of my life. 


Sunday began with a 7am wake-up call and a jaunt across the road for a quick iced latte before hitting the road to head an hour north of Chiang Mai to the Thai Elephant Home. The Home is an "eco-sanctuary" which rescues elephants from poor treatment and raises them in a small area of the jungle and along the river - an area which resembles their natural habitat. I loved this sanctuary as it is rather small compared to the others in the area - only 9 elephants, two of whom are never ridden. All proceeds go into caring for the elephants and improving the jungle surroundings within which they live. We did a lot of research before embarking on the experience to ensure we chose a sanctuary that truly is just that for the animals.

Making friends through banana bribes

We started the day by being welcomed by the friendly faces of Joe and the local mahouts (elephant keepers) and learning about the sanctuary itself. We changed into a sweet baggy denim outfit reminiscent of the....I don't even know what actually....and then met the elephants by feeding them bananas in one of their play areas. (while we were there, a group of volunteers was finishing a new fence to enclose the area and allow for the elephants to roam more freely when at the camp itself.) The cutest part of feeding the elephants was how picky some were. Lulu, who would end up being Christian's elephant, only liked the ripest yellow bananas. She would discard any that weren't to her liking! Once the elephants were comfortable with us, we did a practice ride around the play area so we could get used to sitting on top of them. Let me tell you - it takes some getting used to. They are huge and majestic and peaceful. And huge. Did I say huge?

Our test run

I think I've got the hang of it!

Prayers and offerings to Ganesh

After praying to Ganesh and making an offering of incense and more bananas, we set off on our 5-hour trek through the mountainous jungle and across the river. My elephant's name is Pakboom. (As an aside, that was pretty remarkable given my catchphrase at work is "boom". It was truly a match made in heaven.) There were only 6 of us in the group, and we each had the privilege of riding (bareback) our own elephant all day. As we crossed the river and trekked up the mountain on the back of these wonderful creatures, I was taken by how nimble they were. The trails were tiny, and they certainly knew their way around them and responded instantaneously to their mahout's commands. ("How!" means stop, "Hue!" means go.)


We stopped at the top of the mountain to allow the elephants (and us) to rest. We enjoyed a lunch of pad thai prepared in banana leaves while the elephants cooled off, drank water, rolled in mud and sprayed us with water from their trunks. They really loved it....it was easy to tell how happy they were. It was then our turn to join them in the mud, which is a very rich, dark grey clay that is healthy for their skin. We jumped in the mud pools with them, massaged them with mud and sprayed them with water. I have never been dirtier in my life. Or happier. (It is worth noting that when you are deep in mud, it is impossible to distinguish between mud, clay and elephant poo....if Christian and I walked away without some rare, animal-based communicable disease, we are damn lucky.)

Well, hello there!

Can you spot the massive elephant in the mud!?

Mud is fun!

Full of mud, we climbed back on the elephants and trekked back down the mountain to the river. On the backs of the elephants, we washed and rolled and played in the river together. Lulu lifted me by her trunk on to her back, where I stood and rejoiced! It was amazing. At one point, Pukboom swam (with me on her back) a bit away from the pack. It was just far enough for me to feel completely alone. I took that moment to reflect and feel grateful. Grateful to have this experience in a foreign charming land with one of my best friends in a year full of change and risk and discovery for me. I shouted to Christian "This is pure joy! I am happy." I felt so at peace and happy. 

Feeding Pukboom sugar cane stalks 

An elephant kiss...and it wasn't that gross

Christian and Lulu

On the way back to the sanctuary, we were all quietly enjoying the ride while feeding sugar cane to our new friends. I think all 6 of us knew that the day we'd just had was one we would never forget. I know I won't.


Until next time (and stories of the Chiang Mai Sunday night street markets),
xoxo