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cambodia23-Nov-08 I was exhilarated to be on the road again after not being able to travel for a while due to the flood in our house. It was a welcome respite from contractors and adjustors. We flew UAL from San Francisco to Hong Kong, a little over 14 hours. We landed in Hong Kong in the early evening and it was already dark due to winter. It was a convenient shuttle to our hotel on Lantau Island and since we were tired, we decided on the easiest meal (at the hotel). They had a Spanish tapas bar and we found some irony in eating authentic Spanish food in Hong Kong. 24-Nov-08 They have built a brand new city here on Lantau island since we were here last, due to the new airport. In fact, they even built a brand new island on which to place the airport! In the morning we walked through a new strip mall, which is built under a new high-rise apartment building to a new cable car that would take us up to the Lantau Buddha. The last time we were here, we took a very small rickety old bus (with both human and chicken passengers) from a ferry pier up a bumpy dirt road to get to the famed Buddha and monastery. That trip took at least an hour if not more. This time it would take less than a half hour and chickens were specifically not allowed. There was a paved walking path that took the same route as the cable car but based on the hilly landscape it would have been a tough hike. The cable car company has built a tourist trap town with little shops leading up to the monastery, which has changed the area dramatically. I wonder what the monks think of all this especially since this used to be such a remote place. The monastery has changed little and the Buddha is now open to explore. When we were here last, the Buddha was completed but the steps leading up to it were not yet open to the public. It is truly an awe-inspiring statue at a marvelous location with wonderful views of the island. We returned to the airport to have lunch at a dim sum & soup shop. It was fun to watch them make the soup noodles by hand. We plan on making sure that we eat here again on our way home or whenever we are connecting via Hong Kong. 
We then caught our flight to Bangkok aboard Thai Airways. After landing in Bangkok, we found out how large this airport is since we had to walk from one end to the other and then partially back due to an incorrect gate posting. We then caught our connecting flight to Siem Reap via Bangkok Airlines. To enter Cambodia, we had to fill out several government forms (visa, customs, arrival / departure) and pay our fees (arrival). Now that we were processed and officially tourists of Cambodia, our hotel shuttle picked us up. We stayed at the Apsara Angkor Hotel, which was very nice (especially since we have an executive suite which was much more than we needed). The people at the hotel were extremely friendly and accomodating. We had a quick meal at the hotel so that we could go directly to bed... 
25-Nov-08 We were up early due to jet lag, which was good since we needed to prepare to explore Angkor. We arranged a van driver, Sowan and guide, Phat, who met us after breakfast. Phat has lived in Cambodia all of his life which means he has had a very difficult life. The Khmer Rouge had killed several members of his family while others had died of starvation in the aftermath of the regime. It was difficult for him to talk of such things but he accomdated me since I was interested in this "national nightmare" as they call it. We all went to the Angkor authority to purchase our pass, which would allow us access to all of the temples in the vicinity. We first went to Angkor Wat, which is the most famous and largest of the temples . It is very imposing by just the shear size and design. It is a walled temple and so we came in the east gate, which was impressive. The huge towers of Angkor Wat represent Mount Meru, which is holy to the Khmer people (Buddhist & Hindu mixture). The temple itself is dedicated to Vishnu even though the people consider themselves Buddhist. This shows the Indian influence on the region as India has traded with the Khmer for over 1400 years. Angkor Wat features almost eighteen hundred Apsara (beautiful women carved in bas-relief), which our guide said were concubines of Vishnu but may also represent the matriarchs of the Khmer society at the time the temple was built. The temple was built over a 37-year time span and we were told that 24,000 people and 4,000 elephants were employed to build it. The temple has many other carvings as well, which depict Vishnu, armies to show the power of the king and other deities (monkey king). Even so, I found the Apsara to be particularly memorable since each was so distinct and beautiful. The grounds are extensive with many smaller buildings (libraries) as well as the impressive towers, which have scaffolding and extensive reconstruction in progress. Since Angkor Wat was built over 800 years ago, I imagine this will be on going. We had lunch at a Khmer restaurant at the entrance to the temple, which was both cheap and excellent. We had chicken with papaya salad and sticky rice and glass noodle with shrimp. Ian, one of the many young peddlers of tourist stuff won my companions heart by making a drawing of the temple for her and so she purchased some hand woven bracelets (10 for $1) from him. I had to buy lunch for her to keep her from running off with Ian but then he was a little short for her taste (maybe 3 feet at best). Ian knew the capitol of California (Sacramento), the president elect of the USA (Obama) and the largest state in the union (Alaska). I believe he knew more about the USA than many Americans and recited the information in perfect English! 
After lunch, we drove to another site with a small but very old temple, Prasat Kravan. Prasat Kravan is over 1000 years old (built sometime in the 10th century) and featured red clay bricks instead of sandstone and lava rock. The bricks were covered by stucco, which was originally painted. The stucco is long gone exposing the worn red brick but the structure is still fantastic and distinctly different in shape from Angkor Wat. This temple featured several wonderful bas-relief sculptures as well. The most complete were of Vishnu in the central tower and a goddess of beauty in a satellite building. We then went to a Buddhist temple, Banteay Kdei, which featured many buildings that were in arrested decay. The gate of Banteay Kdei featured large carved Buddha faces, which faced east, west, north and south. At first we thought this would be a smaller temple as well but as we walked on, found the grounds to be very extensive. This temple was built later than Angkor Wat and apparently was not well funded. The workmanship and materials are not as fine as Ankgor Wat, which has led to the greater level of decay. The temple was much like a maze with dead ends from collapsed walls and we easily lost our guide. One felt you were truly exploring by just walking the silent corridors. We returned to our hotel to meet up with our friends from Hong Kong. We had dinner in downtown Siem Reap at a restaurant recommended by Phat called Blue Pumpkin, which had many flavorful Khmer dishes such as Curry Noodle with Pork or Lobster Soup. We washed down our dinner with Watermelon and Coconut juices. It was fun to ride the local taxis called tuk-tuks which are really mopeds with carts hanging off the back in which one sits. The fancy tuk-tuks have a roof over you! 
26-Nov-08 Today all of us headed to Angkor Thom. We entered the temple through the South Gate but Phat decided to go to the West Gate first since there were throngs of people in the area. The west gate featured the same Buddha head carvings that were at Banteay Kdei. We then walked along the edge of the man made moat that surrounds the entire temple. Along the way we saw cricket & tarantula holes (though we could not coax them to come out). We also saw red ant nests, which did not like being disturbed. Apparently all of these insects are food to the locals. Phat enjoyed a couple red ants while we were playing with a nest. We then made it to the South Gate, which is very impressive especially since it has the Naga Bridge leading up to it. The bridge is decorated with forces of good and evil that are using a huge cobra as the means to play a cosmic tug of war. The South Gate also features the smiling Buddha faces as well as very detailed three headed elephants. Our timing to be at the South Gate was excellent as the mahout were returning with their Asian elephants from morning tours. It was fun to watch the elephants emerge from the South Gate in small groups. We returned the short distance from the South Gate to the central area of Angkor Thom to explore Bayon. Bayon is one of several large temples within Angkor Thom. The predominant feature is the smiling Buddha faces on each tower facing east, west, south and north. Everywhere you look you can see a smiling face, which is incredible. One can get closer to this structure since you can essentially climb to the upper ramparts. We were told that at one time, all of the Buddha faces were gilded in gold. One can only imagine what that would have looked like since the place was fantastic just in the grey sandstone. All of us had lunch at a small restaurant outside of Siem Reap called Teda Speaneak which was a stand out for the curry dish served in a green cocanut. 
We then returned to the Angkor area to visit Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is another temple in a state of arrested decay. Many of the buildings are coming apart due to the trees that have grown directly through the heavy stonewalls or roofs which make for surrealistic views. I was entranced. As you can imagine, I was soon separated from our small group. Phat had to come fetch me, as I would have stayed forever, attempting to capture the essence of the place with my photography. In the evening, we went to another Siem Reap restaurant called the Khmer Kitchen. After dinner we wandered the streets of Siem Reap for a while and ended up at the night market (which is open when the tourists are not out at the temples). As you can imagine, most of the products are tourist stuff. One stall featured a large fish tank with tiny fish swimming inside. One could pay to have the fish eat the dead skin from your feet. One of our party had to try it out and his laughing could be heard from afar (he claimed the hordes of fish chewing on him tickled). 27-Nov-08 Today we returned to Angkor Wat so that our travel companions could see it and we could explore different parts. The skies were clear this day and so I took advantage, photographing the towers instead of just the bas-reliefs. The temple is so large that it hard for the mind to grasp and it is appropriate to visit many times rather than try to see it all in a single visit. 
We then had lunch and went on to Angkor Thom. Once inside the moat, we went directly to the Elephant Terrace, which featured wonderful bas-relief of nearly life size elephant carvings. The elephants were shown being used for both war and hunting. I pitied the animals being hunted as the elephants were choking them (water buffalo and tiger as an example). We then walked through a gate to get to Phimeanakas Pyramid. All of us immediately thought of the Mayan temples since the architecture is very similar while being very different from the other Khmer temples we had seen to date. We then walked out a crumbling gate (caused by trees growing through it) and to another temple tower called Preah Palilay. It has several trees growing directly through the foundation. A restoration group had decided to cut down the trees since they are causing it to come apart and the main tower does seem on the verge of collapse. Three of the trees have already been cut down just recently. Unfortunately the huge tree stumps are now an eyesore. I can only imagine what the scene looked like prior to their cutting. I wondered at the decision since the charm of the temple has been ruined but hopefully it will save the tower for the long term. Several trees remain but it looks as though those will be cut down as well. It will be interesting to return and see the results in a few years. As of now, it is a bit of a mess… We then walked on by a Buddhist monastery, which had a family blessing in progress. The blessing was more Hindu in style as the monk chanted and poured water over the entire family. It was fun to watch and the small children seemed to be having fun (though one of them refused to pull his hands from his eyes). In the evening, we returned to downtown for dinner. The area is an interesting collection of colonial buildings with various businesses all catering to tourists who come to the area. Tourists come from around the world to visit Angkor and so the area is economically thriving compared to the subsistence living in the outlying areas. There are the problems that come with this type of economy such as prostitutes. But in general, the streets are very safe. We wandered the streets for a while (and so were asked many times if we need a tuk-tuk ride) but activity is very centralized to just a few blocks. We returned to the hotel and learned that the Bangkok airport was occupied by thousands of protestors who were attempting to oust the ruling government. Since are return flight is currently booked via Bangkok, this will make our return to Hong Kong interesting. 28-Nov-08 We all woke up early this morning to drive out to Beng Mealea. This temple is a crumbling temple, which few people visit because of time and distance. I am so very glad that we went out to the area since it allowed us to see the countryside and outlying towns. The markets were really fantastic with the variety of fruit and products such as baskets or bicycles. Gasoline is sold by the liter out of Johnny Walker bottles. We particularly enjoyed how the pigs are brought to market in baskets that are tied onto the back of mopeds. Fortunately the pigs are not large but they did get 3 in each basket! Beng Mealea has suffered over time, which has added a great deal of charm. Phat led us through the ruins, which added to the adventure. Much like Ta Prohm, the trees were either destroying the structures by growing through them or holding them together by having the roots grow around them. There were many wonderful carvings similar to other locations but still unique since the timeframe of construction was a different century. The tree canopy provided cover from the sun and provided the right atmosphere for our walk. There were many different butterflies, which was a treat. 
We then drove to Banteay Srei where we had lunch. The road between the two locations was rough but easily passable by the van. It reminded us of the road quality in California. Banteay Srei, while being small in size, lacked nothing in grandeur. The numerous carvings were executed in the finest sandstone and so could have more depth and greater detail which was marvelous. The buildings were not very large but were completely covered in carvings. Some of the statues that used to stand in place have been moved to a museum to protect them which is a shame but understandable (the replacements seemed out of place since they were copies and do not have signs of age). On our return from Banteay Srei, we were treated to a ride through the Cambodian countryside, which was wonderful. Rice paddies were on either side of the road with grass-thatched roof houses all along the way. We saw water buffalo, cows, pigs and other farm animals. Palm trees of all sizes accented the view. Our dinner at the Raffles Hotel was recommended and arranged by Phat. We had a table up in the first row reserved for us, which was a nice touch on his part. It was a traditional Khmer dance and music show along with a Khmer food buffet. I was not feeling so well, possibly something from lunch though the on set was very quick. At first I thought it might be from heat or a fall I had at Banteay Srei. No matter, I did not eat much and we had to leave before the show was over. What we did see of the show was interesting with many nice costumes and stories told through choreographed movements. The accompanying music was similar to what we had heard being played at various temples by land mine victim bands that play for handouts. 29-Nov-08 During the night I ended up on the Cambodian diet plan that is Weightwatchers on steroids that required a doctor, a couple of shots in the bum and plenty of pills to get off. We were fortunate that the hotel arranged for a doctor who made house calls since the healthcare in the area is limited. I did not feel like moving and so spent the day in my room. Valerie stayed with me to keep me company (though I am sure I was not jovial). Our companions went off to a floating village and some local artisan stores, which they enjoyed. One of our friends had to leave that night to make his business meeting in Japan due to the closure of the Bangkok airport. We attempted to contact Phat to let him know we would not be touring tomorrow since I would need more rest and we were going to try to arrange flights to Hong Kong. 
30-Nov-08 Today the ladies became our boarding pass SWAT team as they set out to obtain coveted tickets to Hong Kong while avoiding Bangkok. I was still weak (but feeling better) and stayed at the hotel to keep my energy up just in case. Due to visa restrictions and seat availability, the only flight turned out to be with Vietnam Airlines this afternoon. So many people were stranded in various locations throughout Southern Asia that we were extremely lucky to get any flight at all. And so we flew Vietnam Airlines to Ho Chi Minh City and then Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong. Before we left, we did attempt to contact Phat since we were concerned about his losing a day of wages. When we finally did contact him, his initial response was a grunt. Finally he groaned something about “too much ABC beer”. It seems that Phat will be OK not having to work today. When we landed in Hong Kong it was nearly midnight. It was an easy train ride into Central Hong Kong and we then had a quick taxi ride to our friend's apartment.
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