Confessions of a girl with too many options.

History

• earliest form of worship which endures today in Cambodia is animism (spiritual forces) – Spirits reside everywhere, in trees, rivers, mountains, stones, earth.
• Religious practices from India were adopted on principle with modifications to suit the ideological ideals.
• Khmer temples can be several different structures; single shrine with one enclosure wall; series of buildings interconnected by passageways with four enclosure walls. Characteristic elements are a shrine in the form of a tower at the center. The shrine housed the sacred image of the king. It represented the relationship between ruler and divinity.
• The temple served as a link between man and the gods.
• East-West layout was important
• The most distinct architectural theme is the temple mountain which borrows symbolism from Hindu mythology, is surrounded by four towers at the corners, and is guarded by lions at the entrance
• The world is a central continent divided into regions – heavens above, hells below. Mt. Meru separates earth and heaven and is situated at the exact center of the continent. Six concentric chains of mountains surround Meru, separated by six oceans. The ocean of Infinity encloses the entire mass. Meru marks the axis of the world and the mountain chains are successive stages toward knowledge.

Watched sunrise from the grounds of Ankor Wat this morning. Arrived at 5:45am before any light was in the sky. It was very difficult to get through the entrance and down the promenade with all the uneven bricks but we made it. never dear. Sat down and waited for the sun. Not as crowded as I expected. yesterday we came for sunset as well, it was free after 5:30pm and we thought it’d be nice to spend as much time there as we could. Walked through the whole thing – and then somehow out the back gates wer ewe wandered in the woods a bit before thinking better of powering through and turned back. Both sunrise and sunset were a beautiful pink-y peach color. I think the bright ones happen in summer and autumn. Still it was really gorgeous. Reminded me of college. Getting up when others were coming home and racing up to Steptoe Butte. SO many mornings with hot chocolate and a blanket.

At Ankor Wat people were really funny – they were in such a rush to get good photos that everyone was practicing in the dark trying to get the image just right. I got some really pretty ones of Jenna and I in front of the temple.Photo success. We also ran into the couple from Chile that we met in Halong Bay. Their next stop is India.

Sinat, the man who has been our tuk-tuk driver for our entire stay had a plan for our day. Sunrise: Ankor Wat (check); Ankor Thom enclosed city & Bayon Temple; Terrace of Elephants; Finish – Ta Prohm, where Tomb Raider was filmed.

Bayon was pretty phenomenal. It’s the temple which has 54 gothic towers with the tiki-like faces called Avalokiteshvara facing the four cardinal directions. The details are still clearly visible and the stairs are a nearly vertical climb. The Terrace of Elephants – which I loved, of course – was much more difficult to distinguish the carved figures. It was used for public ceremonies, raising the King high on an imposing throne. The Leper Terrace is now believed to be the site of a royal crematorium. While the Elephants make a long promenade, the Leper is 7M high and Yama, the god of death, sits on top. After seeing the carvings we each found a piece of paper-mold art made from the actual stones of the temples. SOme of asparas (nymphs), some of vishnu (god-king), some of Brahma (king) etc. It’s pretty neat that we were able to recognize the images we’d already seen. Moving on to our last stop – and my favorite – Ta Prohm.

The bricks literally lay where they have fallen, Roof sections black some corridors. Whole walls have fallen over. There is bright copper-green moss covering much of it and the biggest and most unusual tree roots growing around/through the rocks. Since I’ve never seen Tomb Raider, it made me imagine I was on set for Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom! A long but wonderful day, I am exhausted. Back in Phnom Penh to finish our whirlwind tour of Cambodia.

April 17th: Phnom Penh falls to Khmer Rouge

Pol Pot declared leader of Democratic of Kampuchea. His political ideals were based on French Marxism and his mentor Mao Zedong. The country would be based on a pure society. Cities were ruralized, currency was done away with, and millions of people were removed from their homes. Entire families were executed to “remove the root” and “avoid later revenge”.

Country Ties:

During the French occupation, islands once belonging to Cambodia were claimed for Vietnam. After 1975 when Saigon fell disputes over that territory became volatile. In addition, as Pol Pot’s dominance expanded many national Vietnamese on the borders became victims of the regime.

China supports the revolutionary plans and Mao held deep admiration for the Khmer Rouge. Support was based on common natural interest of the countries. Both believe in class struggle social structure and have a deep fear of the Soviets and Vietnamese.

USA displayed a show of power against the Cambodians (1975) to retrieve a war vessel. Their involvement in the conflicts after that point remained political and monetary. First being wooed towards aiding Vietnamese and Soviet agenda and subsequently pledging allegiance to China, Thailand, and Cambodia.