ANGKOR WAT

Very short history lesson courtesy of Unesco.org.....

Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over some 400 km2, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. UNESCO has set up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings.

We visited 4 temples, the first being Angkor Wat on our first full day in Siem Reap. 

It was amazing, but the 36 degree weather with high humidity took its toll on us all. Luckily we broke the day up and had a 3 hour rest in between visits. Here are some of the highlights....

The crowds waiting on the steps of the library for the sun to appear....

Here it comes, between the towers of the Angkor Wat temple...

And then the ever coveted reflection pool photo...

And the other reflection pool....

I guess its just not that interesting for some....

I didn't feel it would be appropriate to do my traditional twirl here, so opted for a more respectful pose....

Debbie and Armeda, also know as "the sisters"...

Carol

We also visited Ta Prohm, the temple featured in the movie, Tomb Raider.

The jungle is taking over...

Found a bride and groom.....

Blessing, anyone?

Gateway to Angkor Thom.....

Bayon temple....

I really don't know if I have matched the right pictures with the right temple, but they were all beautiful, regardless of their names.

Found a very appropriately named drink to cap off a great day.....

"Templed Out".

Stay tuned......

FALLING BEHIND

It has been a busy few days, and I am having trouble getting to the blog. 

Here are some pictures to keep you up to date on what we have been doing....

Sweet little girl at the harbor.... eating duck embryos....

Boatcruise at sunset on the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers.

After our 6 hour bus ride through the villages and farm fields, 

to Siem Reap, we headed out on quads through amazing countryside and shared a sunset in the rice field with a herd of cattle...

And a herd of tourists.....

We got up at 4:15 and hit Angkor Wat at sunrise.....so magical

Will post more pictures soon, but the 28 degree weather and the pool are calling us.......stay tuned.

CAMBODIA

There are two things that are immediately obvious in Cambodia; the absence of elderly people, and the absence of middle class. 

You have the majority of people who live day to day, in single rooms, lean-to shanty homes, on fishing boats beside the river, and then you have the ones that drive their Lexus and BMW's.

I struggled trying to decide what to include in this post. Many of us only learned of the Khmer Rouge, and the atrocities committed by them, against the people of Cambodia, when we saw the movie, " The Killing Fields" in the early 80's.  But that was a movie....it shocked and saddened us, and then we went about living our lives.  What we saw today was real and brutal and haunting. It was a very emotional day, visiting both Security Prison 21 on the outskirts of the city of Phnom Penh, and then 15 km down the road, one of the Killing Fields. The prison was a former high school, turned into a torture, interrogation and execution centre in 1976 by the Khmer Rouge. The people were told they were going to a re-education centre.  It was one of 187 prisons created between 1975-1979. 

Only 7 adults and 4 children survived this prison. We met 2 of them.....

I will not post pictures of what we saw inside, you can google it if you want.

There are hundreds of killing fields around the country. Most have been excavated by the government, and turned back into farm land. The people were naturally upset by this, and convinced the government to leave Choueng Ek killing field and allow visitors to see it. 

There is a monument near the entrance, placed as a tribute to all the victims.

It is filled with skulls.

We walked around the fields on a wooden path and saw craters in the earth, pieces of clothing poking through, exposed by the rain over the years. Our guide, who lost his father and many siblings during this time to starvation, pointed out 2 teeth that were still embedded in the soil near the path. A few of the mass graves were enclosed by bamboo fences adorned by thousands of bracelets left by visitors.

 

A few of us chose to leave bracelets (given to us by a monk during a temple blessing in Thailand) at the grave beside the children's tree.

When we finished our tour, and were walking away from the fields I had to take a picture of the first thing I could find that had beauty.

Almost 3 million people were either murdered or starved to death and everyone you see in this country was affected by this genocide. Less than 3% of the population are over the age of 60 and 50% are under 20. They do not teach anything about this period in the schools here, nor is it mentioned in the National Museum.

We could have come to this country and not seen these things, and I totally understand when someone says they chose not to. Once you see something, you can't unsee it. But we both felt strongly that this is a part of history that can never be forgotten or hidden.

Stay tuned.....

SAIGON

We are now in Saigon aka Ho Chi Minh City. Saigon was renamed after the war, in memory of the president, who died in 1969. Most still call it by its old name, Saigon.

It is a beautiful city on the Saigon river. Much more modern, cleaner, and a little less chaotic than Hanoi. 

Taken from the 52nd floor ......

We are staying at a great hotel, where the journalists stayed during the war.

We have been to the War Museum.  Outside there was a large display of American military hardware....tanks, helicopters, planes, machine guns, grenade launchers.

Inside were 4 floors of informative, heartbreaking displays. 

Enough said.

We also took a cyclo tour of the city, and drove past the presidential palace. The U.S. tank that was used by the North Vietnamese to break down the gates to the palace on the last day of the war, is still parked outside the palace.

Today we drove out of the city, to the Cu Chi tunnels. This was fascinating. The North Vietnamese were very smart. The tunnels were 3 levels deep. We went into the first level only. That was enough for me. Tom could have spent all day there. He went into one and ventured off on his own, and came up in another part of the jungle. You can see why the U.S. Troops thought of them as ghosts, because they would appear and disappear out of nowhere.

Here is a picture of me going into a tunnel entrance, you can see how they would disappeared.....

Ventilation holes disguised as termite mounds.

Here are some of the torture traps used by the Viet Cong...

The picture above shows the sharp bamboo spikes that would be at the bottom of the trap. We saw a picture of children helping their parents make these spikes, very disturbing.

The tunnels were started as protection from the French, and then extended and used for the Vietnam civil war as well. 

This beautiful jungle. We can't even imagine....

And now for something completely different....

Our evening started at the Saigon Opera House, conveniently right across the street from our hotel.

We saw an amazing performance of A O. A troupe of very athletic and talented young Vietnamese,

performing their interpretation of cultural adaptation from rural life to urban life. The choreography and optical illusions, along with fabulous, and sometimes haunting music, made for a spectacular show. 

We are off to Cambodia and even warmer weather.....stay tuned.