November 26, 2012

Cambodian Flavor

Even though our trip to Cambodia was an adventure with many peculiar occurrences (as outlined in my post Everything VIP), our stay at the Rithy Rine Angkor Hotel was an enjoyable experience. Staff were accommodating, allowing us the privilege of late-night swims in the pool, and the facilities were incredible considering the inexpensive $30 a night charge.




Views from our hotel room and venturing onto neighborhood streets allowed us opportunity to witness daily life in Cambodia. For the most part, street life in Siem Reap resembles rural life in Thai villages, while a wedding encountered at a neighborhood altar showed us variations in dress and customs.








November 25, 2012

"Everything VIP"

I’m trying hard to sum up my trip to Cambodia this past Thanksgiving holiday without going into elaborate detail. It’s safe to say the four day trip to Siem Reap was not at all what our group of five expected. The fact is, we did leave on Wednesday afternoon to drive across the Thai-Cambodian border and we did return to Bangkok the following Saturday night, but most everything between these two points of reference was quite peculiar and had us asking "what's going on?"

When planning our trip to Cambodia, we heard others repeatedly say we need to be aware of the notorious scammers, especially taxi/van drivers on the Cambodian side of the border who would like to "take us for a ride" so to speak. In response, most in our group thought it best to hire our own Thai tour guide who knew the ropes and could help us across the border, arrange transportation and generally help us avoid being scammed. Turns out we had our own adventure with our guide, wondering whether we would have had a less adventurous trip had we gone on our own.

I could go into detail regarding all that happened during our time in Cambodia but then this post would scroll on seemingly forever. I will mention, however, a few moments that were most peculiar. Aside from the litany of reasons we heard for changes in itinerary, here are some comments no tourist wants to hear while on vacation:
1. "Something bad has happened" as stated by our translator after a knock on our door at 2 a.m.
2. "All your money was stolen at the Mini-Mart tonight at 11 p.m."; money given to our tour guide for transportation and hotel expenses.
3. "We can’t leave right now because our driver wants to finish watching the boxing match on TV."
4. "The Cambodian police want you to leave the country by midnight tonight."
So much communication between our group and guide was seemingly lost in translation. How do we know? Well, we determined that our Thai tour guide didn't speak English and knew only a little Khmer (Cambodian), while our Cambodian translator didn't speak Thai and only knew limited English. By the time we heard an English translation, we figure much of the meaning had been altered or lost from the original intent.

Turns out that while the money given to our tour guide for the trip WAS indeed stolen, God unexpectedly provided other Christians who came to our aid including a missionary family staying at our hotel and a Christian police officer. In the end, we all felt that God had other purposes for this trip than for us to tour the country and have a relaxing time of it. Lives were changed (we know of non-Christians exposed to the gospel) and God faithfully provided as we saw Him at work throughout our time here!

Let’s face it, we knew we were venturing into a country where the norm does not seem to exist. Perhaps the lesson to learn when traveling to Cambodia in the future: when a tour guide tells you "everything VIP", assume they are not talking about high class travel arrangements but rather the VIP could stand for something like you'll be Venturing Into the Peculiar .

By the way, the good news is that our driver WAS able to watch the last round of the boxing match while we waited for him at the Night Market and the Cambodian police did NOT force us to leave the country as was stated by our translator. Small mercies shared by all.

November 23, 2012

Grandeur of Angkor Wat

The main reason our group decided to go to Cambodia was to visit Angkor Wat, the largest complex of ancient Hindu (now Buddhist) temples in existence. Truly, this complex is a construction marvel, being built in 40 years during the reign of King Suryavarman II (1113-1150) compared to the estimated 300 years it would take using today's construction methods!

The name Angok Wat means Temple City, the name indicative of the over 1000 sandstone temples within an area of 203 acres (82 ha) surrounded by a 2 mile (3.2 km) outer wall and moat. Not only does this complex contain amazing examples of Khmer architecture -- composed of over 5 million tons of sandstone presumably transported and laid using elephants, rafts, pulleys and bamboo scaffolding -- but Angkor Wat represents Cambodia with its image on currency, the national flag and, of course, being at the center of its tourism.




Angkor Thom, the great walled capital city of the Khmer empire, was built as a square of which its sides run exactly north to south and east to west. Standing in the exact center of the walled city is the Bayon Temple that represents the intersection of heaven and earth. Bayon is known for its huge stone faces with one facing outward and keeping watch at each compass point.


Visitors of Angkor Wat abound, from one of the first documented Western visitors António da Madalena (a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586) to current-day heads of state and close to three-quarters of a million others on an annual basis, including our small entourage. Madalena perhaps said it best that Angkor Wat "is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of."


The remains of Angkor Wat is a unique combination of the temple mountain, the standard design for the empire's state temples, with design influences from India. In particular, the temple is a representation of Mount Meru, the home of the gods: the central towers symbolizing the five peaks of the mountain and the walls and moat surrounding mountain ranges and ocean.




I found it fascinating to see ancient architecture accommodating for the daily life of the temple city, such as large access ways for elephants. As for its citizens, access to the upper areas of the temple was progressively more exclusive, with the laity being admitted only to the lowest level. Tourists today are allowed to visit most parts of the complex and the views from the upper gallery were spectacular as expected.





Of course, the level of detail throughout Angkor Wat is amazing. It is reported that thousands of master craftsmen in the 12th century left no stone unturned. For instance, every bas relief carved image on the 3280 sq ft (1000 sq meters) of stone wall conveys a story of temple and societal life of its citizens. Pictorial images display king and commanders leading troops in war, reverence to spirit dieties, along with representations of Hindu epics and theology.







The temple complex does not only consist of temple structures but of libraries, common areas, galleries, restaurants and areas with current day vendors parading an impressive supply of goods for tourists wanting to purchase reminders of their visit.












November 20, 2012

Loi Krathong

My good friend Peter (who is currently student-teaching at ICS) and I saw lights and heard loud music in our neighborhood one evening as we came home from dinner. It didn't take long for us to see what it was all about.



I later learned that typically during the full moon of the twelfth lunar month in November, hundreds of thousands of decorated krathong or traditional banana leaf boats are set afloat in rivers and waterways throughout Thailand.


This ritual is called Loi Krathong, a festival of lights. As we found out, it is much more than lights but involved a lot of music, eating and performing. The loud music and festivities lasted well into the night and, fortunately, only for one night – for those of us who actually want to sleep!




A krathong is typically an elaborately-folded banana leaf decorated with incense sticks, flowers, candle and sometimes a small coin. On the night of the full moon, Thais launch their krathong as an offering to the water spirits in an effort to deal with (release) their sin.