Journey to Cambodia – Journey of Reflections (Part 1)

I just came back from a 9-day backpacking trip in Cambodia. It's my 2nd trip together with my gang from KMS YM. The 1st trip was to Nepal. Thinking back, the Nepal trip was a self and spiritual-discovery journey. This trip to Cambodia is a journey of reflections. A lot of things that I saw and experienced during the trip made me reflect back on my life, on the current situation in Cambodia and other developing countries and compare it to their past glorious history. Of course, the long bus journeys from one place to another gave me lots of spare time to think as well (i sometimes feel that in the midst of my busy, hectic life in Spore, i have deprived myself the time to quietly reflect, think and day-dream.) And i'm inspired to blog my journey after i read a friend's travel blog which i found very informative. So well, here's part 1 of i dunno how many parts. :)

Day 1 – Arrival in Cambodia
Arrive at Phnom Penh and took a 7 hr coach ride to Siem Reap.
The Silkair in-flight magazine describes Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia) as the city that is ever-changing, modernizing and looking forward into the future while Siem Reap (the province where the Angkor temples are located) as the city which is guarding the grand past of Cambodia. Siem Reap is seen as the gateway to Cambodia’s spiritual and cultural heartbeat.
Two very contrasting cities existing in the same country, both interesting in its own way.

Street vendors at a stop-point during the bus ride

Day 2 – Tour of the Angkor temples
A brief introduction to the temples of Angkor:
The temples of Angkor, capital of Cambodia’s ancient Khmer empire, are the heart and soul of the Kingdom of Cambodia, a source of inspiration and national pride to all Khmers. The Angkorian period spans more than 600 years from AD 802 to 1432, during which the temples of Angkor were built and the Khmer empire consolidated its position as one of the great powers of SEA (the Khmer empire at its zenith was a vast political, religious and social centre that stretched from modern-day Burma to Vietnam). –> Info taken from Lonely Planet, Cambodia.

The temples of the Angkor area number over 1000, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single religious monument. In 2007 an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of 1,150 square miles. –> Info taken from Wikipedia – Angkor.

Left our guesthouse at 5.30am to watch sunrise at Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat is known as the mother of all temples. It was built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, then Buddhist. The construction of Angkor Wat signifies one of the high-water marks of Khmer civilisation. Today, it has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag.

National flag of the Kingdom of Cambodia

Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple mountain and the later galleried temples. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the gods in Hindu mythology: within a moat and an outer wall 3.6 km long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs and for the numerous Apsaras (heavenly dancers) adorning its walls. –> Info taken from Wikipedia – Angkor Wat.

My 1st hazy view of Angkor Wat at dawn

Watching the sun rise behind the magnificent Angkor Wat

The beautiful carvings that adorn the walls of Angkor Wat

Carving of Apsaras can be seen in many of the Angkor temples

I was awe-struck by my 1st view of this glorious temple. It’s amazing that more than 900 years ago, such an imposing, grand and yet exquisitely carved stone temples can be built. Even up till today, most of the bas-reliefs and decorative flourishes can still be clearly visualized. It is absolutely fascinating and quoting the Silkair magazine, it gives “the optimism that if the ancient Khmers were capable of building such grand temples, Cambodians are capable of doing anything.”

Visited the Great City of Angkor Thom.
- The Bayon (See intro below)
- Jayavarman VII’s royal palace
- Tep Pranam & Preah Palilay (temples which used to house huge Buddhas.)
- Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King (2 huge, gloriously carved terraces which were used as viewing platforms by the king.)

Terrace of the Elephants

Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late 12th century by king Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his successors. At the centre of the city is Jayavarman's state temple, the Bayon, with the other major sites clustered around. –> Info taken from Wikipedia – Angkor Thom.

One of the majestic gates at the entrance of Angkor Thom city

The Bayon was built in the late 12th century or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII. It stands at the exact centre of the city of Angkor Thom. The Bayon consists of 3 levels. The 1st two levels are square and adorned with bas-reliefs depicting historical events and the everyday life of Cambodians in the 12th century. The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on the many towers (originally 54 towers but only 37 remain) which jut out from the 3rd, circular level. –> Info taken from Wikipedia – The Bayon. Each tower supports 2, 3 or most commonly 4 enormous faces of Avalokiteshvara.

One of the bas-relief that depicts the King & his warriors marching out to war

Huge faces of Avalokiteshvara Boddhisattva on the towers of the Bayon

Visited Ta Prohm
One of the most popularly known facts about Ta Prohm is that it is the venue where 'Tomb Raider' by Angelina Jolie was filmed. Much of Ta Prohm is ruined but to me, Ta Prohm is very unique in that it seems like in this place, nature and the man-made structures come together to form a master-piece with a very different feel from the grand Angkor Wat or Angkor Thom. Quoting from Lonely Planet, “There is a poetic cycle to this venerable ruin, with humans first conquering nature to rapidly create and nature once again conquering humans to slowly destroy.”

The merging of nature & man-made structures. I was captivated by these beautiful old trees.

Took a ½ hr hike up to the hilltop temple of Phnom Bakheng to watch sunset.

In the night, went to watch Dr Beat Richner’s cello concert – Beatocello in Concert.

Dr Beat, a soulful & at times, an amusing cellist

Dr Beat (a Swiss) is the director of the 4 Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital in Cambodia. These 4 hospitals provide free medical treatment for Cambodia children; since the families in Cambodia are simply too poor to even make a small contribution towards these medical costs. Dr Beat believes that every child has a right to correct medication unhampered by corruption. All of the staff at Kantha Bopha earn a modest living on which they can get by. By paying the staff a living wage seem to be a successful way of fighting corruption which otherwise is widespread in Cambodia. To this day there have been no thefts at the hospital, no cases of medicine simply vanishing into thin air rather than being administered to the patient in need, no money taken under the table from patients’ families. Most of the funds needed to run the hospital come from well-wishers all over the world, esp Switzerland. In Siem Reap, where one of the hospitals is located, Dr Beat holds his concert every Sat night to raise awareness regarding the plights of the Cambodian children and to raise funds for the hospital.

I greatly admire Dr Beat’s work and was very touched by his concert-cum-presentation. The Kantha Bopha hospital in Siem Reap is a clean and new hospital with modern facilities. It is the hospital’s belief that every child has a right to correct medication. This, in turn, can only be achieved with the assistance of modern and fully functioning equipment, proper and effective medicine, correct and sufficient medical one-way material, all of which has very little indeed to do with luxury and even less with first-class medicine.

Some of the things that Dr Beat said in his presentation struck some cords deep in me and made me ponder and reflect.
1. Many dignities from 1st world countries who visited the hospital and saw the modern facilities commented with disapproval that the equipment and medicine used should be in accordance with the financial situation of the country. Simply put, they believe that only cheap equipment and medicine should be used to treat Cambodian children irregardless of whether these techniques or medicine are effective and have undesirable side effects of not. This is unfair, arrogant and irresponsible thinking and behaviour. Inferior equipment may lead to the wrong diagnosis and inferior care and medication may cause severe side effects (both acute and long term). Is this fair to the patient, especially in this case, an innocent child?

2. In recent months, dengue fever has become an epidemic in Cambodia. Everyday, more than 1000 children are inflicted with dengue fever in Cambodia. Dr Beat made a comparison with the situation in Spore. Once a dengue case happens in Spore, authorities are immediately sent down to the area to track down the mosquitoes in the vicinity. But in Cambodia, nothing is being done about the situation at all although the addresses of the inflicted children have been submitted to the authorities. In contrast, when a single bird-flu case was discovered in Cambodia, the very next day, the press from all over the world came down to report on it. Why??? Because bird-flu has the potential to spread around the world while dengue mosquitoes only have a range of 120metres. What he said made me reflect on 2 things. One is that it’s truly a blessing to be in Spore where there is a protective and efficient government. Two is that humans are really selfish. Our main priority is always ourselves. How many of us care whether hundreds of children are dying from dengue in Cambodia so long as the single bird-flu case is eradicated and the virus will not reach us? I was really ashamed of myself because my ignorance has made me one of the selfish humans.

3. Dr Beat also touched on the topic of corruption in Cambodia and the reason why he is determined to keep the treatment in Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital free of charge. He believes that every child should have equal access to healthcare services regardless of their financial status. He also believes that only with equality will there be true peace.

4. The presentation made me think about how I can help, other than giving a small donation. I figured that the least I can do is to raise awareness among people around me regarding the situation in Cambodia. For more details and to make a donation to the hospital, pls refer to the Dr Beat’s website http://www.beatocello.com/index.html I also bought Dr Beat’s autobiography about his work in Cambodia, so if anyone is interested, can borrow it from me.