Angkor Wat!!

Angkor WHAT? Angkor WAT! We finally got to Angkor last Wednesday, and let me tell you -- it was incredible.

This temple is pretty freaking amazing, actually. It was built in the 11th century by Suryavarman II. He was a god-king and was responsible for bringing Hindu influence to Khmer life. The temple complex is HUGE, and there are many different levels and sections. The whole complex is surrounded by a moat, called a baray. It's supposed to signify the mythical cosmic ocean from which all is born -- most temples in this era have moats for this reason.

Angkor Wat is a temple built to celebrate the Hindu god Vishnu, and the whole complex is covered in images, murals, and statues that celebrate the gods and the Hindu myths. Literally every inch of stone is carved or decorated. I could bore you all with more about the history, but instead I will just tell you go check out the Wikipedia page (haha) and provide you with lots of pictures!!

Crossing the baray

Looking up inside the main gate

Looking out into the courtyard

Main courtyards, Angkor in the back!

Verandas all the way around the temple

Tim and the depiction of the Ramayana

Me! And Vishnu's turtle incarnation in the myth "Churning of the Great Ocean of Milk"

Climbing up into the temple towers!

Me and my kroma!

Beautiful carvings

Here we are at Angkor!

best friends.

First trip into Angkor Park -- Kulen Mtn and Bontaey Srei!

Last Saturday was a fantastic adventure in the great outdoors! We woke up very early and took a tuk-tuk into Angkor Park. The park spans hundreds of kilometers and there are many different sites and cities all over the place -- we drove about an hour and a half out into the wilderness! We arrived at the base of a small mountain called Mt. Kulen, which is famous for its pre-Angkor carvings in the river beds.

Tim on the way up Mt. Kulen!

Cool forest trees!

Over 1,000 years ago, the people in the valley believed in the sacred power of the waters, and so they carved thousands of linga designs and depictions of Hindu texts into the rocks along the river...quite a sight to behold!

Amazing!

Here I am on the way back down!

Butterflies!

 The best part of the whole hike was coming down -- at the bottom we were greeted by three adorable puppies! I am a total sucker for the dogs here, and I was very tempted to put one in my backpack :)

                   

                 Adorable.



Our next stop on this lovely day of adventuring was to a beautiful temple called Bontaey Srei ('Citadel for Women') which was built after Angkor Wat. It is famous for its use of pink/red sandstone, and it really is spectacular!

The gateway into the temple

Beautiful carvings

Thousands of intricate carvings dedicated to the gods

Tim and I

It was a beautiful day, hot, but gorgeous and we had a fantastic time visiting all of these ancient sites! I am always amazed when confronted with the massive engineering tasks that were possible a thousand years ago!

Next post: Behold ANGKOR WAT!

Thanksgiving, Cambodian Style!

Well, not quite Cambodian style -- but definitely in Cambodia!

To be honest, I wasn't really expecting that Thanksgiving would be so hard to miss. I felt a little bit sad to not be with all of my family and friends back home. But Tim, Anna and I had a wonderful family dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant! It made me realize that it doesn't matter where you are, it's who you're with. I've been able to have my own little family of close friends and mentors since I've been over here, and I am very thankful for that!

We went around the table and told each other what we were thankful for -- the spirit of Thanksgiving lives even from 15,000 miles away!

Happy Family!

Peace and love and good food!

Told ya, Mom, I'd be eating rice on Turkey Day!

Only a 'Real Indian Chef'

Here we are with full bellies in front of our hotel!

Thursday also happened to be the Memorial Day for the Water Festival tragedy that had taken place three days previously, so we had even more reason to be thankful and reflective. We all wore white in honor of those who were killed. It was a very special night -- good friends and good food are pretty much universal!

Sambor Prei Kuk -- 11/24

Siem Reap is close to all the major temple sites of the ancient Khmer empire -- the economy up here is completely tourist-driven, but it gives us great opportunities to see some amazing places!

Angkor Wat is the main attraction, but before we went gallivanting around there, our professor thought we should get our feet wet by seeing pre-Angkor monuments. It's been really fun because we get to go through all the temples in chronological order. 

Our first stop was Sambor Prei Kuk on the first capital of ancient Chenla, pre-Khmer empire. It was quite a journey getting there! We rented a car and a driver and drove about 2 hours east of Siem Reap. The city's access road brought us deep into a forest, and it was a bumpy ride! For 45 minutes we were tossed and bumped about in the back seat, rolling over potholes a meter wide and half a meter deep. It was like riding on a roller coaster!

The whole city of Sambor Prei Kuk spans many miles of forest and rolling hills, and there are 280 temples within the complex! Only half of them are still (or almost) standing today, and they are divided up into four groups (North - South - East - West) and each temple is built for a different Hindu deity. This city marks the beginning of a movement in the building of cities that focuses on Hindu worship. Here are some pictures from the visit!

Damage from bombs that the United States dropped at this site during the Vietnam War

Prasat Nam Chii, built 7th century. The tree is over 300 years old!

Restoration projects and archeological digs

Here we are in front of Prasat Tao ('Lion Temple')

Tim's a little hungry!

An old man we met -- he was gathering medicinal herbs for his village

ME! In front of South Temple 1 (some of them don't have names anymore!)

It was a wonderful visit because we could stroll along the paths leisurely. It was pleasantly cool as we were covered by trees -- a nice break from the heat! (It's still around 90 degrees here). I'm starting to get excited for snow and cold weather, I'm tired of sweating!

More very soon :)

Another New CIty!

So I've been in Siem Reap for just over a week, and here's a little catch up on what I've been up to!

Our first night in town, Tim and I went out for dinner and met a group of Peace Corps workers who are stationed in numerous rural villages around Siem Reap. We had a few drinks with them and they took us out dancing to a few different clubs. On Sunday afternoon, we met up with two of them (Kara and Meghan) at a pool called The Golden Banana. They were so friendly in including us with their group -- it was so nice to make some friends early on! They are coming back into town this weekend for the annual Angkor Wat 5k and have invited us to their celebration party after the race! Should be a great time!

We are living in a great hotel called The Mandalay Inn. The staff are super-friendly and they take FANTASTIC care of us. It's a very comfortable spot to live, and we're in perfect walking distance to everything we need! We take classes with our professor, Dr. Ishwar Harris, in our hotel -- they have a small study room just off the lobby and have given us full access to it! Class has been sort of rough; we're studying ancient Khmer and Hindu culture, and I'm reading a lot of critical Hindu texts like The Ramayana and the Bhagavat Gita (the 'bibles' of Hinduism). I am a little burnt out, especially trying to fit all of the studying into the last three weeks. We're all sort of running out of energy this point, but I'm trying to push through and stay motivated for the last few weeks!


We've been going on fieldtrips with Ishwar to a bunch of different temples pre-Angkor Wat; Dr. Harris wants us to see all the temples in their historical contexts...which means we have to see everything in order of when it was built here! It's actually pretty cool because there's been a lot of build up to see Angkor Wat (which is TOMORROW! So excited!). We've been moving pretty quickly, but I'm trying to keep up. The temples here are amazing and I am so happy to have come here before I go home!

The rest of last week was really just an adjustment period -- we've done lots of reading and work and exploring of the new town. There are a ton of markets (I need to stop spending money...), but I did buy a new pair of sunglasses and a few scarves for just a couple bucks. Even though this is a relatively expensive city for Cambodian standards (because of all the tourism), markets are still pretty cheap!

This weekend was quiet; we spent Saturday in the temple park (blog post coming soon!) and then had Sunday to do homework and relax a bit. I've started working on a paper and a midterm, which are both this week! A midterm after 1 week of class...strange and stressful!

We've started to find all the good places to eat, but food is much more expensive up here. We have breakfast covered by the program -- they pay for us to eat at out hotel, which is convenient and delicious. Tim and I found a great dumpling place, and today we learned the Khmer word for "dumpling" ('mii geeyou') so now we can order completely in Khmer!

I find that my language is getting pretty competent here. Most Cambodians are very surprised that we can speak the language. Tonight we went out for dinner with our Phnom Penh friend Seiha. He came up to visit us for a few days and he has some work to do for his job on the Tonle Sap lake. He brought one of his best friends who lives in Siem Reap. I greeted her and introduced myself in Khmer and she was completely shocked that we could speak her language! I asked her why and she said that "not many people here take the time to learn our language, so we are very appreciative when people speak to us in Khmer." It made me feel really happy and proud, but also very aware of how much of a privilege it is to speak English.


One of the best parts about Siem Reap so far is our involvement with a FANTASTIC organization called PEPY -- Protect the Earth, Protect Yourself. Its founder, Daniella, took us out for dinner last week and she's one sharp woman. She was living in Japan after graduation from Notre Dame and she and some friends decided to do a bike ride across Cambodia to raise money to build a school. They aimed to raise $40,000 and ended up blowing that figure out of the water with $100,000 raised by the end. The money built a beautiful school outside Siem Reap, and Daniella went to visit the school to see how the money was being spent. She had an epiphany when she realized that the building was beautiful, but there was nothing inside the school that marked educational reform or growth or change. There weren't any dedicated teachers, no resources. She decided that schools don't teach children, people do -- so she began PEPY as an organization that aims to work with Cambodian teachers, school administrators, villagers, and parents in communities to build up education in remote areas. PEPY employs primarily Cambodian staff and works hand in hand with 3 schools in rural areas outside Siem Reap. They have critical thinking workshops and round-tables with students and parents and teachers. It's really a revolutionary way to look at education reform in this country, considering most NGO's come in and build schools and then leave. PEPY stays with a school for 3-4 years to make sure Cambodians are making the changes they want in their communities. Pretty cool stuff. Here's the website -- I highly recommend checking out their "Power of 10" campaign that finishes running in a few days.

It's time for bed! I have to wake up bright and early to see ANGKOR WAT (one of the most famous and incredible temples in the world!)

Next posts: recaps of fieldtrips to Sombor Prei Kuk, Mt. Kulen / Bakong, and Angkor Wat!!

Love and Peace to everyone!!

Breaking News -- 350 Killed during Cambodia's Water Festival

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post quickly about the recent tragedy in Phnom Penh. Last night, on the last night of Water Festival, 350 people were trampled to death on a bridge in the capital, the city where I was just living for the past 4 weeks. I've checked with all of my friends and everyone I know seems to be okay, but a lot of people aren't. I guess there was mass chaos and confusion and people got scared and ran off the bridge, killing many in their attempt to escape. This is a devastating tragedy, especially during such a happy and important time as Water Festival.

Water Festival is a huge national holiday in Cambodia. There are similar events (Loy Krathong in Thailand) in other parts of Asia, and it is a celebration of the full moon, an end to the rainy season, an a prayer for good rice harvests. It is a time of happiness and hope for a lot of people, originating from a blend of Buddhist, animist and Hindu traditions. I watched an interview on Asian news this morning where a woman cried at the camera that she had lost her entire family, save one son, in the Khmer Rouge. Her only son had just been trampled in the stampede, and now she has no one. It was literally heartbreaking.

I've enclosed a link to the Guardian article about the tragedy, I'm sure it's all over our American news at home.

Thoughts and prayers and good vibes and love to all my friends in Phnom Penh. 

Prek Tole Floating Village Trip

On the Thursday night before we left Phnom Penh, we linked up with a professor named Chris who sometimes teaches adjunct at Payap. Our director, Adam, knew Chris through work, and he arranged for us to meet with Chris and his group of American students. They are on an ecological tour of SE Asia for 6 weeks, focusing on environmental studies, pollution issues, and biodiversity. We met them bright and early on Friday morning and we all rode the bus up to Siem Reap. 

At the bus station, another coordinator for my program, Natasha, met us and took our extra luggage to our hotel in Siem Reap. Then, the other students and Tim, Anna, and I loaded into yet another small bus to a port on the Tonle Sap. 

The Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater body of water in SE Asia. It is completely vital to Cambodian life and economy, as fishing is a huge source of income for those who live on the lake. During the rainy season, the lake fills to 4 times its size, flooding for miles and submerging the landscape. The water level raises over the summer and fills up the basin, until the dry season comes and the rains stop. Our guide told us that the water in the basin will decrease by about 6cm each day until the rainy season starts again. By the end of the dry season, the lake is its original size and the landscape is once again exposed. The animals (crocodiles, fish) move with the water, and plants have adapted to the changing water levels over time. The ecology of this place is pretty incredible, as it's the only lake in the world that has both an inflow and an outflow. Here's the wikipedia page if you want to read more about the Tonle Sap!

A ride through the nature preserve

Fishing is most of the economy here

We were led out into the lake by a guide from a group called OSMOSE. They are an NGO that works to sustainably develop the economies of the floating villages on the Tonle Sap. They coordinate and train people to do lake cleanup, ecological conservation, to make good from harmful invasive plant species, and their biggest project is to develop ecotourism in the area. It's a great project, and they were great hosts. They designed a program where different groups can come in and stay with families. We were fed at the office headquarters and slept in a family's floating house! Very cool!

The whole village, Prek Tole, is built to move up and down with the changing water level. All the buildings -- the schools, the shops, the police station, the houses -- all float. It is so strange to see for the first time! Our home bumped up and down when big boats passed by; I fell asleep to being gently rocked on the water, like I was in a boat. Here are some pictures:

The primary school

Some people live on their boats

A family returning from a day of fishing

Floating houses just after sunrise

My home!

Unfortunately, our stay was cut short because Anna was very sick. We had to get her to a hospital and we left around 9am on Saturday. It was still an amazing trip and I'm so glad I got to see something like it!

We arrived in Siem Reap a day early and checked into our great hotel!

Last Days in Phnom Penh

Our last week in Phnom Penh was a whirlwind of jam-packed days and intense memory-making! I'm glad we squeezed so much out of each day -- I have no regrets and I feel like I got to see and do most of the things I wanted to do before I left the capital city! Hopefully I can go back some day and make more wonderful memories...

Here's a photographic walk through our last few days' activities!

We got caught in massive and impressive rain storms that flooded our entire neighborhood. Poncho's are a must!

We bought 1 kilo of Kampote pepper at the Upside market (and completed the transaction in Khmer!)

I got my bike tech'd and tires pumped for $1 on the side of the road

We negotiated prices for Cambodian silks at the Russian Market

 

We visited Wat Phnom as our Final Exam in Kyle's class

We found the most adorable kitten in the world

We got hassled by some monkeys...classic.

We figure out the time on a gigantic landscaped clock

We took one last ride through terrifying Phnom Penh traffic at rush hour

We had a photoshoot with the Independence Monument at nighttime!

One of the highlights of our last few days was meeting our new Cambodian friends for dinner. They took Tim and I to a pizza place and we had a feast! We talked about our cultures and our experiences and it was a great time to connect and reflect. They gave us little going-away gifts and I was very sad to leave them all!

We left for Siem Reap at 7am on Friday morning and made our way north to the town most closely associated with the massive attractions of Angkor Wat! On our way, we stopped off with a group of students (whose professor knows our director at Payap) and went to a floating village on the Tonle Sap lake. More on that in the next post!!