SIEM REAP

From the moment we hit the Tarmac we observed a feeling of gentleness and openness here in Siem Reap- which we thought was a little strange given the mass murders by the Khmer Rouge and previous wars here. However after visiting the Temples of Angkor today, which are a stones throw from the township, we can feel that there are many, possibly millions of natural love Buddhist and Hindu spirits residing here which create an illusionary blanket of peace. However when you look closer, the children, particularly the street kids, are reflecting the true emotions of the area. As a general observation though, the Khmer people are genuinely more friendly, rather than being friendly purely because they are potentially about to profit from servicing you.
The kids selling wares, well for that matter, anyone selling anything, became a little intense and overwhelming after a while. It's somewhat annoying having to say "no thank you" four times to the one person, when there are another 5 surrounding you 'waiting' their turn to ask you exactly the same question.
Cambodia was an eye opening, heart opening experience. We would have loved to stay longer however circumstances at home became a priority.
We again "coincidently" met some amazing people- tourists and locals alike. Each in their own way searching for Truth, and passionately expressing how they feel about this and that- I just LOVE how the Law of Attraction plays out in our life every day!
We checked in late arvo and decided to take a wander into the main square- investigate the Old market, find some nibbles and scope out a few Tuk-Tuk drivers and their fees for the next days Temple adventure.
We kinda got sucked in and ended up taking a ride with Sophal out to Phnom Bakheng for apparently the best sunset viewing in the whole region. It was 4pm and I think we were his first customers for the day- and the price unfortunately reflected that- but we live and learn. As it turned out it was kinda OK, cos if you bought your 3day pass at 5pm, it was still valid for the following 3days- so in actual fact it saved us time the next morning when literally hundreds of bus loads were lining up at the check point to buy passes.
We are not ashamed to admit that we are not big on crowds- sunset at THE place was just a joke! We arrived at 4.30 and walked up the mountain to join the end of the massively long queue- I'm talking at least 10 people across and 500m long- waiting to climb the stairs up on to the viewing platform of the Temple. The temple closed at 5.30, and this line was barely moving. It evoked a few emotions as people bringing up the rear just walked around and through and queue jumped. Some couldn't wait so jumped the fence and went into the temple grounds, obviously hoping to climb up from another vantage point. Which seemed ridiculous that we had to 'line up for entry'- when none of the official looking guides actually did anything about the people that jumped the fence- still not really sure what the point was. Especially when finally the line got moving and we were edging our way to the entry gate, we literally crossed the line at 5.30pm and one lady behind us. The guard raised his hand and said "No more- we are closed". The girls partner was one step behind her and missed out- and they weren't gonna budge on allowing him in with her. So by the skin of our teeth we made it through, and looked back at the very long disgruntled line behind us. We climbed the 3 flights of stairs and the temple was crawling with noisy, disrespectful people- standing room only! Agh- not our idea of enjoying the sunset. We got a few pics and made our way out of there- desperately hoping it wasn't going to be like this tomorrow when we visit Angkor. I maybe extremely biased, and/or extremely fortunate- but I have still not witnessed a sunset more beautiful or spectacular than looking out over the range from the deck at Mum and Dads- its pretty hard to beat.
We returned that night to watch
Apsara Dance being performed by some of the Cambodian kids from the orphanage our hotel was instrumental in running and funding. It was amazing how many cultural beliefs, customs and accompanying emotional injuries could be gleaned from the stories the kids portrayed through dance. The scary thing was these 13 and 14 yr olds expressed them very well- which means unfortunately those behavioral beliefs are already entrenched in their souls.
The next morning we headed off for a big day exploring the Temples. We decided to go with a tour to get our bearings and decide whether we could manage on our own the days following.
There were five in our group- nice and small. Two Aussie women from Melbourne, (Jenny and Judy) and a guy from Switzerland( Tony, who didn't speak a word of English). The architecture and sandstone calving in these temples were just astounding. You cannot fathom the amount of time, and effort and dedication that must have gone into each and every stone, let alone the whole structure! Maybe they had some 'extra' help, like those building the pyramids- but still they are amazing. They obviously varied depending on who was reigning King at the time and his choice of religion- often switching between Buddhist, Hindu or a combo of both. Even though these structure are quite magnificent, we couldn't help but wonder if they, those that have passed that laboured during the construction, have realized that if they wanted to talk to God all they had to 'do' was 'feel', where ever they were, whatever they were doing. That God doesn't need a building or ritual in order to develop a relationship with you- in fact if anything, that gets in the way! But then no doubt other religions have invested just as much (or more) and sacrificed just as many lives in this attempt to connect with and know God.
So we explored Angkor Thom, Bayon, Baphuon, leper kings terrace, elephant terrace, Ta Prohm, and Angkor Wat.
Ta Prohm was probably our favorite- they way nature had interweaved her strength and creative character into the temple walls. Angkor Wat was certainly impressive, and the wall to wall murals- a gallery of stone carved and engraved masterpieces so intricate and detailed.
Needless to say we have many photos of temples, and they do begin to all look the same after a while- so I'll attempt to only post a few in the album to give you an idea. As it is very difficult to capture the colour, the feel and the enormity of these huge temples in a single shot. By sunset that night we were exhausted. As we sat wearily waiting for the sun to say goodnight, we were suddenly surrounded by these monkeys which seemed to appear from no where- very aggressive, bag snatching monkeys!!! We experienced one of those "you had to be there" moments- which has kept me amused for the last few days. Thankfully Judy's reflexes are still intact- otherwise she'd still be chasing down that over zealous monkey! The following day we shared a Tuk-Tuk with Jenny and Judy and traveled about 40km out of town to the temple known as the 'city of women'- banteay srey- which consisted of pink sandstone calvings. Quite beautiful. On our way back to town we stopped in at the Angkor Butterfly Centre- which is an NGO, supporting local villagers with employment, while also conserving and repopulating SE Asia and other parts of the world with certain butterfly species. Wow, is all I can say. It was one of the best experiences- for me anyway. We spoke with the manager there for a couple of hours. She shared with us her passion, her life story and told us some truth about Cambodia which the tourists are deliberately distracted from learning. It was amazing- she was amazing- heart breaking- and heart opening, and inspiring all at the same time. One story among many, that we could never comprehend in our wildest nightmares. I could have listened to her speak with such passion and desire all day- and her English was brilliant, which she persistently and tenaciously taught her self from a dictionary. One powerful young woman who could definitely make a difference in her country- I was in awe of her humility and her desire to teach and awaken her people to the honest truth of all that surrounds them. An absolutely pleasure to have spent time with her.
The third day was a little low key, feeling quite emotional, the reality of Kerry's Dad's passing sinking in and the prospect of what we may encounter on our return back to Kyabram- we sorted our flight details, wandered about town, and decided to venture out to one last temple Preah Khan, before packing to head home. This temple was set amongst the forest/ jungle and again was beautiful- and quiet. Finally some 'sacred space', which we definitely needed. Our driver then took us to a lovely spot along the river to watch the sunset- which we did see, whilst talking to the group of school kids who engulfed our Tuk Tuk trying to sell their goods- and teach us to play the wooden flute. It was fun!
Cambodia was a worth while visit- even if it was brief. We now depart for Melbourne and begin another chapter back in Australia.