My Cambodian Travels: Day Five...

Day Five... 8.10.11

Today was our first day free in Cambodia… Saturday. We decided to get stuck into the temples today, hired a English peaking guide and a Tuk Tuk for the whole day. Our guide Dimong, was such an amazing help, from giving us the History (which boy did he know), to being a friend and also our photographer.

Today, visiting the temples meant that we have now been to another world wonder. Ankgor Wat Temple is one of the wonders of the world, and after today, I can certainly see why. The history of the temples is amazing and I could not help but think about what it could have been like back in the day… the Kings, the beautiful women, the animals and the buildings. We took some AMAZING photo’s along the way and learnt so much.

We talked about the Holy war which has been an ongoing thing in Cambodia for millions of years. Buddhism and Hinduism… It was where the Kings would fight, build these massive temples and recruit their army to fight. Some temples went from being Buddhist to being Hindu and you could see where the army had gone through the temples carving off the original Budda carvings, taking down the statues and re-carving some aspects of the walls to make it Hindu. This Holy war went on for many years within Cambodia and it was not until one King decided to join the two religions, that there was a peace bought upon Cambodia… for the moment. After this came many other wars between the French and then the Khmer Rouge. As a result of this, the temples haven’t been protected or cared for like they should and as a result, many parts are missing, been stolen or just simply weathered away. The amount of limestone bricks that were found on the ground was astonishing. When they fall, some people (now) have started recreating them and the restoration of some parts of the temples is now in the process. These magnificent buildings, pieces of art, moments in history all told their own stories… in the walls, in the rooms, with the statues, their pools and their carvings. The walls all consisted of fantastic carvings which depicted the times in which they were built. Many having images of slaves, elephants building and images of the army’s fighting.

We saw a total of 5 temples today, however Cambodia has around 40 temples to see… Of the four, they were all different, however, the most beautiful was a small temple in the middle of the forest. Because during the most recent wars this temple was not used or looked after trees have begun to grow in, around, through and on top of this temple. There are some amazing photos and the temple itself is just beautiful…

One of my favourite parts of this adventure however, was when we were in the big Ankgor Wat and we went into a sacred room called the ‘Echo Room’. This room was designed and built for the purpose of going into this small room, standing against the wall and pounding on your hear 3 times. Doing this is a symbol of leaving your worries, your pain and your bad vibes behind – sending them to no where and you listening to them leaving you (hence the echo within the room). From here you would leave the room, leave your worries and problems behind, bringing only good and peace into your life. Needless to say I was in there pounding my heart three times and leaving all my bull shit behind!!!

The next great thing we did today was the Elephant ride. We all go on the Elephant, as excited as could be and we rode it all the way to Ankgor Wat. It was such an experience... Beautiful. Although the Elephant also poo’d while we were riding it hahaha just poo’d and kept walking hahaha! But one of the other great things was the driver of the Elephant would sit in front of you at the elephants head and on the back of his T-shirt was a small pocket that said on it “Tips” HAHAHA! THE greatest shirt EVER I think… so… we gave him a tip :P

That was about all we did today… it took us all day but it was worth it. Such an amazing experience… immersing myself in someone else’s culture… and what a beautiful culture it is. Buddhists live by such a great message and it’s nice to see how proud they are of their own beliefs and culture.

Not sure what we are doing tomorrow yet but I know I will be going to bed early!

Until tomorrow…

Kim xx