Photo of the Week #24 - Cambodia

The picture above was taken in 2008 and is probably one of the world's most frequently photographed. This is Angkor Wat Temple; hundreds of temples were built by the Khmer civilization between 800 and 1220 AD. These temples are truly on of man's astonishing feats considering when built. Also I was amazed just how many are still standing and in fact Angkor is still being used today.

Cambodia Trip V - Tonle River Cruise

Top two Pictures are our boat; bottom picture was our "First Mate"!

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The last day in Siem Reap was supposed to be a free day for us, prior to flying back to Phnom Penh later in the day and then transfer to a Dagon Air flight back to Hong Kong. However, we all decided to pay US$12/person for a trip on the Tonle River to see some fishing villages, markets and some really amazing sights.

Just a word about the boat we were about to get on and some I my thoughts at the time. When we arrived at the marina, it looked pretty bad. So I told Jenny that if I were not satisfied with the boat, I would not go on the trip. My mind was on the catastrophe that happened to the Ethan Allen on Lake George, NY in 2005 that killed 20 people. After checking the boat over I decided to take the trip but then, about ten minutes out, the engine stopped and I thought we might have to swim back. But it was quite an experience and we made it back. One of the pictures above shows the boat! Just another thought: when we arrived back at the marina, we could not dock because the gangpank leading to boats had collapse just moments before; a number of tourist had falling into the river and unfortunately a couple had not been found at the time we left. And as we departed, we felt very lucky!

I think I took about 50 or 60 pictures, but Jenny took at least 200 pictures. The sights were amazing and looked similar to some sights we have seen in Malaysia & China years ago. Shown above are just a few of the shot I took. Eveywhere you turned, it was a "Kodak Moment".

Cambodia Trip - Part IV - Khmer Temples

December 4, 2009

After spending one day in Phnom Penh we flew to Siem Reap, the gateway to the Khmer Temples located about 200 miles north of Phnom Penh.

Angkor Archaeological Park, a World Heritage Site since 1993, encompasses about 400 square kilometers just outside Siem Reap.

The Park has more than one hundred temples, most are what I would call ruins. The one exception is Angkor Wat, which is the most famous of all the Temples and is pictured above at the top. But one can see enough of the ruins to see some beautiful art works as well as architectural wonders for the time built (about 800AD-1250AD).

Cambodia Trip - Part III - Tuol Sleng Prison

The highlight of Phnom Penh for me, but not for Jenny, was visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. During the period between 1975 through 1979, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, reigned over Cambodia in a bloody “killing field”, to borrow from the movie! It is said that during this period the Khmer Rouge killed over two million people.

The words “Tuol Sleng” means: a poisonous hill or a place on a mound to keep those who bear or supply guilt. Incidentally, there were many more such prisons throughout Cambodia.

The Tuol Sleng Museum was formerly a high school that was converted into a prison where one can see graphic details of what the Khmer Rouge did to anyone who disagreed with them; this included many, women and children. As with the Holocaust we should never forget.

This school, with three buildings, became know as Security Office 21 (S-21). The prison is reputed to have imprisoned at least 14, 000 people and most all of them never came out. Cambodia’s Genocide Tribunal is scheduled to hold its full trial on March 30, 2009, of Kaing Guek Eav alias Duch.

If you want would like to know more read this article published in the New York Times March 7, 2009.

Cambodia Trip - Part II

The Royal Palace and street scenes in Phnom
Penh

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Cambodia Trip – Part II

December 3rd - Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is a large city with population of about two million, according to the locals; however, some web sites say it is just over one million. This city looks like it hasn’t had any major infrastructure in years: roads are narrow and poorly maintained and drainage is non-existents. No wonder there is high malaria and dengue fever in this country.

But one thing stands out above all else: the difference in the “haves and have nots”. There certainly isn’t any re-distribution of income here, what income there is!

While here we visited the The Royal Palace, which if any of you have seen the Palace in Bangkok, it looks similar, just not as big and as opulent. It is hard to fathom maintaining this outlandish lifestyle while so many people are in poverty! But the King seems to be loved by his subjects! We also visited many other sites such as: Independence Monument, Vietnam Monument, Wat Phnom and Tuolsleng Genocide Museum, which, although gruelsome, very educational; more on this later.

We stayed one night in the Inter-Continental Hotel in Phnom Penh; just a fantastic place to stay. The food was the best during the trip. Unfortunately that would be the last of the nice hotels on this trip!

While in Phnom Penh one sees some fairly nice cars, mostly SUV it seems, but rarely do you see a new car. I asked about it and our guide indicated that was because it is so expensive to import new cars! But not used cars? Anyway I think, just my opinion, that many of these cars came from Singapore, Hong Kong and other major cities where automobile thefts are so high.

Cambodia Trip - December 3-9, 2009

Top: Street scene in Phnom Penh.

Second: Crowds "loving" the Temples"

Third: Angkor Thom

Bottom: Angkor Wat

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December 3rd - The temperature in Cambodia, this time of the year: high of around 29C and low of about 26C. Does that seem like winter to you? But it certainly felt much hotter to me than 29C or about 85F.

I was concerned with Malaria, so I got my doctor here in New York to prescribe some medication for me to take before I left for Cambodia and during the time I was there. No one else in our tour group was taking Malaria pills, so it might have been overkill; but I felt safe and, as they say, I didn’t want to feel sorry for not taking it.

Our trip was a five-day trip to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and has a population just a shade over one million, while Siem Reap is a little town, about 200 miles north of Phnom Penh, with a population of under 100,000 people. It is the gateway to the Khmer Temples and hosts, somewhere north, of two million tourists a year. It was, incidentally the area where Khmer Rouge was the strongest, but more on that in a later post.

Cambodia gave new meaning to the term Fourth World Country or Least Developed Country. I don’t think we have seen poverty like that since we were in some of the smaller villages in China some twenty years ago: seriously lacking in infrastructure. A very poor nation by any measure but here is one mesure: per capital GDP (PPP) about US$1800, compared to the US of US$45,000, and Shenzhen, China about US$10,000.

Our primary reason for going to Cambodia was to visit the Khmer Temples built by the Khmer Rulers between 800 – 1250AD. There are hundreds of temples ruins that are now protected by ASPARA, an organization established by Royal Decree in 1993, shortly after the area became a world Heritage Site. Prior to the establishment of ASPARA, these sites were constantly damage through thefts of art and sold worldwide in many cases with the assistance of Cambodian Government Officers. Next time you are in a major museum look for some of this art!

Of all the of temples in the Angkor area, Angkor Wat is by far the most famous and is the only one that is still in use today as a temple and has been used over the years. This temple is so much a part of Cambodia that it is on the National Flag.

All of these temples are amazing and hopefully they will be protected for future generations. But I’m deeply afraid that we are “loving them to death”; that is, there are just too many tourists and many are not following the rules to prevent further deterioration.

These temples are not just works of art, but also an engineering marvel that is hard to believe; some of the temples were constructed more than one thousand years ago. While Angkor Wat, is basically still intact, and while many of the other temples have deteriorated or destroyed due to civil war and thefts, it is still amazing the temples are still here for us to enjoy. For example, Machu Picchu, built around 1450, is basically ruins with little of no walls; although it is a beautiful site to see.