1-18-2010: Bayon Part two, More pictures

Nearly every square inch of the temple seems to have been ornamented. This door jamb has a repeating pattern of birds (Garudas, perhaps?) that remind me of Chinese style crests.

Although the temple seems pretty intact, some outer areas are still being reassembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle with the help of modern equipment like this crane.  In an open courtyard, heaps of stone are piled, perhaps waiting to be set back in place some day.

All of the columns in this hall are carved on all four sides with apsaras, dancing in pairs on lotus flowers

The temple is still home to various Buddhas, some set in niches. This one is draped with yellow cloth and has fresh flowers and incense offerings.

1-18-2010: Bayon and the Churning of the Ocean of Milk

5:00 AM wakeup call, by 6:30 we’re on the road to Angkor Wat. George had assured us it’s essential to get out early to get the best light for photos; we will also avoid the tour buses and the heat of the day. That’s ok, but we refuse to get up to see the sun rise. (Late night in Asia is work time for us; when it’s morning in America and we need to return emails and phone calls).

At this hour of the day, the air is a pleasant temperature and the streets are still quiet. We don’t have far to go - the main temple groups aren’t far out of town.

The first stop is to get a pass to visit the temples, at a fairly new and organized station where we handed over $60 (each!) for a laminated seven day pass with our pictures printed on it. The passes will allow us entry to all of the temples in the area. None too soon; as we are getting ready to leave, there is a tour bus pulling up behind us, passengers spilling out and lining up at the window to hand over their money and get their pictures taken. The race is on!

Just past the ticket station, we enter the huge archeological park with neatly kept grounds and large grassy areas for parking vehicles under the trees. We can see Angkor in front of us, its distinctive silhouette against a hazy sky; groups of people are gathering on the causeway to the temple.

We decide to go on to another nearby temple called Bayon which we should have to ourselves for a little while. It is a temple set right in the middle of what was a city called Angkor Thom; the town is long gone but the stone temple and outer wall remains.

In its day, the Khmer empire was a powerful and wealthy one, marked by periodic battles with the Cham people and the Thais. Stone temples were erected to give their Gods a home, while people lived in houses made from wood. It must have been awe-inspiring for the people of the time to see the contrast between their impermanent housing compared to the intricately detailed and extravagant buildings of the Gods. Even the palaces of the kings were made from wood, though all traces are gone, erased by time.

Only the stones remain.

Angkor Thom was a small town by today’s standards, only about 9 kilometers square, surrounded by a high wall set in a perfect square shape, which was in turn surrounded by a wide man-made moat. In the center of each side of the wall was a gate, and in the very center of the town walls sits the temple we have come to see. Angkor Thom, which means something like "big city" in Khmer, was believed to support a population of over a million people.

Just outside the walls, we stop in front of one of the gates; a tall stone gate that seems oddly compressed, the opening tall and just wide enough for an elephant topped with Howdah (platform for sitting) and parasols to squeeze through - or in these days, a bus. The narrow opening would have been a defensive way to restrict the entry of a marauding army by forcing them through a narrow opening. Topping the gate is a pointed tower, richly detailed; Nagas and Garudas, and as I stare at the tower I see a large face smiling down on me. (Garuda is a mythical Bird/Man that is very powerful. We can talk about him later).

Leading up to the gate is a causeway lined with statues. On the right side is a row of scowling demon figures called Asuras, and on the left a row of serene Devas (demigods); both sets of figures are holding something that turns out to be a giant snake with many heads, called a Naga.

The statues illustrate an Indian Myth called “Churning the Ocean of Milk”; the Devas (minor deities seen in picture above) seem to be engaged in a tug of war with the Asura Demons (picture at left), using the King of the Nagas as the rope. The story explains that the Naga was wound around a mountain which was set in the middle of the Ocean for this occasion, and the alternate tugging of Deva and Asura caused the mountain to turn and “churn” the ocean of milk. The object of the exercise, which took thousands of years, was to dredge up from the bottom of the ocean, an elixir called Amrita which was supposed to bestow immortality on whoever drank it.

I guess it’s a good thing the Naga-King volunteered for the job!

The churning of the milk produced many side effects besides the elixir; from the froth were born many precious objects such as jewels, the moon, various goddesses and beautiful celestial dancers called Apsaras. That’s the short version of the story; typical of Hindu sagas, the telling of it can no doubt go on for days, but I doubt you have that much time…

With the Bayon temple finally in front of us, my first thought was that if it weren't for the symmetry of the towers, it could be mistaken for a pile of rocks or a weirdly eroded geological formation. As we approached, faces began to appear eerily in the rock towers, and it became obvious that we were seeing something extraordinary.

The French architect Maurice Glaize** described it much more elegantly: “from afar the Bayon has the appearance of a muddle of stones, a sort of moving chaos assaulting the sky. Gradually the chaos becomes ordered, and one perceives the profusion of towers as being made from a combination of elements grouped at the centre in a sort of bunched sheaf. It’s no longer the building that matters, but only its symbolism.”

**Maurice Glaize worked as a conservator of Angkor from 1937 to 1945. More about the 'discovery' and restoration of the Angkorian temples in a later post...

On closer view, the towers turn out to be four sided with stone giant faces sculpted into each side, some of which still wear their lotus crowns. Originally there were many such towers (up to 54?) though no one is sure of the exact number; now only 37 remain. Many of the faces are badly worn or damaged but there are enough of them left to give a feeling of what it must have looked like when it was originally built.

The serene faces have an enigmatic smile and while some seem to have eyes closed in contemplation, others have open eyes with an infinite gaze. The stone is gray and spotted with lichens; the lichens obscure and distract the eye from picking out the details but as the morning sun moves it picks out individual towers and brings out fascinating details. The temple has a cramped feel but thankfully there are not many people exploring the ruins yet so it is possible to find a quiet corner to contemplate and marvel and watch the sun gild a peaceful face tower or explore the many nooks and galleries within the main tower.

The gods and their devotees are depicted here too, of course, since this is their home. Devatas (female demigoddesses) with elaborate headdress stand gracefully by windows and doorways and Apsaras still dance on nearly every column. Bayon was built by a man who considered himself a God-King, and scholars believe the faces on the towers were modeled on his face. What is certain is that this king initiated a frenzy of monument building in the late 12th century, and that although the temples are Buddhist, they bear many references to Hinduism as well. Some think that the King considered Buddha and Vishnu to be the same entity.

I could spend many hours here and not get tired of exploring…but that will have to wait. The tour buses are arriving and the sun is getting warm.

Time to move on.

Pair of apsaras dancing in their typical poses under a window. Can you spot the small lions at their feet?

Lintel from one of the doorways (see picture above- this is the horizontal piece over one of the doorways). The Demon like figure (lower center) is called Kala; he is a giant, and the god of destruction. He is commonly found above doorways. Above Kala is a small praying figure which has unfortunately lost his head to looters.

Central tower: if you look closely you can see the figures seated cross-legged and praying (left side of picture near the middle), as well as two of the face towers on the right.

1-17-2010: Siem Reap and the Wats of Angkor

When it came time to think about where to go when our month in Thailand was up, Mike asked me where we should go for his birthday.

Well, I said, we haven’t been to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat yet, but where do YOU want to go?

So here we are, in Cambodia, sitting on the second floor open air terrace of a café called Red Piano in the town of Siem Reap. We’re enjoying a sultry breeze (augmented by the overhead fans), drinking fresh lime sodas, eating baguette sandwiches and watching the activity on the street below. The air has a slight tinge of smoke to it because it’s dry season and the locals are burning the dried leaves that have fallen from the trees. By the way, this café is locally known as the bar Angelina Jolie and crew liked to hang out in when they were shooting “Tomb Raider”. The menu boasts a cocktail she supposedly invented; Cointreau and lime juice and tonic water over ice if I remember correctly and named – wait for it – Tomb Raider Cocktail.

We’re visiting with an old friend of Mike’s. George Mann has lived in Thailand for many years and has traveled extensively here. He’s a photographer/photo journalist whose latest project is leading photographic tours tailored to small groups (1 to 5 persons.) He has joined us here for this trip and we’re looking forward to his expertise as we explore the sights. (small plug – if you love photography and want to go on a photo safari of very photogenic places in Asia, George is your man. Oh, sorry, no pun intended. You can find his website and contact info here: http://angkorroad.com/ )

The town has a lovely French colonial feel; the low buildings only have two or three stories open to the air. The streets below have little traffic besides pedestrians, scooters and bicycles and the ever-present Tuk-Tuk. The local incarnation of the Tuk-tuk is basically a scooter with a covered trailer that looks a bit like a horse carriage with a bench for passengers.

Most of the activity in the French Quarter of town centers around a couple of streets and boasts a covered market full of tourist clothing and souvenirs, a collection of restaurants and bars (on Pub Street!) and some small massage/”spas”, where the big thing seems to be Doctor Fish. A Doctor Fish Spa is a large tank of water (see picture), like an aquarium containing a few hundred small fish that nibble the dead skin off the feet of anyone brave enough to stick their feet in. Yea, I know, it sounds pretty gross but it seems to be a hit with the Chinese and Korean tourists.

The local currency is called the Riel, worth 4000 riel to the dollar, but no one really uses it – they all prefer American dollars. That makes the exchange rate easy unless your bill is less than a dollar. They don’t use the coins here so any change below a dollar is returned in Riel. If you have no dollars, don’t worry, the local ATMs dispense crispy new dollars.

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Cambodia sits cradled between Vietnam to the east and Thailand to the west like a pearl in an oyster shell. In the days when the Khmer kings were building their exquisite temples around what is now the small town of Siem Reap, the neighboring kingdoms were the Thais in Thailand and the Cham people in what is now Viet Nam.

Before we came to Cambodia, I had a vague awareness of Angkor Wat, that it was probably the most famous temple in all of South-East Asia. What I didn’t realize is how many temple complexes are scattered around this area, artifacts of an old civilization and a dynasty of god-kings who built their own monuments to the gods they worshipped.

I started reading about The Khmers and the temples, and the more I read, the more fascinated I became. I have long been aware of the Indian influence on the South-East Asian cultures but I never realized how deep those roots were.

The Chinese and Indians first came through South-East Asia (Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia) in the first century when the area was becoming a hub in a huge trading network which stretched from the Mediterranean to China. They came, not as conquerors or occupiers, but as traders (and, evidently) teachers. They brought culture and religion and their spell-binding stories to inspire the local Khmers. From what I can tell, Hinduism and Buddhism came to Cambodia at roughly the same time through the Indian traders.

The stories they told about the exploits of the various Hindu gods evidently made a deep impression on the locals, who incorporated them into temples and contemporary life.

Well, that’s it for tonight. We have to get up early tomorrow for our first day of temple crawling and I can hardly wait.

1-12-2010: Guava girl in the Big Mango

As foreigners in Bangkok, we are always aware that we are aliens, tall, pale and awkward in a crowd of small,thin Thais with honey colored skins. In a game of "one of these things is not like the other", we stand out.

Thai people even have a special name for us westerners; Farang.

In an amusing twist of Thai linguistics, the word Farang can also mean Guava. Normally a neutral word, "Farang" can take on a mocking tone. Especially when referring to especially unkempt packpacker types with ratty hair and beach clothing. Thais take great care to be well groomed so it's not surprising that they would call them "Bird-Shit Foreigners" - Farang Khee Nok.

Bangkok is not a particularly beautiful city but is exotic and fascinating, an international modern city where people are rarely in a hurry. We live for part of the year here, renting by the month in the heart of the central business district on the 41st floor looking out over the world below. Here in Thailand, we can afford a little more luxury even though the value of the dollar is not high (even here!).

Life here, for us, is not a vacation. We can often be found at a Starbucks for hours at a time, hunched over our laptops answering emails and using Skype to make calls to customers through a Wi-Fi internet connection. But it's not all work, we do take time to play.

We love living here. Bangkok is such a fascinating, vibrant city, a city of intense contrasts; A place where dull gray concrete buildings give way to glittering, brilliantly colored temples or modern glass shopping towers, Jasmine-scented air and exhaust-choked streets. It is hard to pinpoint why we like it here so much; I have thought about it a lot. It’s not a beautiful city but is profoundly fascinating with beauty that is found in small doses in sometimes odd places.

Christmas decorations are finally coming down, artificial trees dismantled, thousands of strands of white twinkle lights unwound from palm trees. The Firework displays from the ‘western’ New Year celebration are done, gone are the miniature alpine villages with the seven dwarves (courtesy of Disney), nutcrackers, snowmen, and Santas. You may think a “Christian” holiday somewhat anomalous in a Buddhist country, but the Thais love a party and what’s better than a holiday where you get presents?!

As Christmas is slowly removed, red and gold decorations are just now starting to appear; dragons and tigers for Chinese New Year and hearts for Valentine’s Day which fall on the same day. In a few weeks the malls will be awash in red lanterns and red and gold decorations and the city will be full of vacationing Chinese from Hong Kong, Singapore and China.

As a foreigner in Thailand, we get 30 day visas to stay here but once our time is up, we must leave for what the ex-pats call a 'visa run'. For some, this means heading to the nearest border for a few hours before returning but for us, it is just as easy to take the opportunity to travel. If you know us well, you know we tend to be creatures of habit and like to return to places we like, but this year we resolve to go to some new places.

Problem is, where to go? There are so many choices. You probably also already know we have a hard time deciding...

Christmas at Central World Shopping Center

Getting your picture taken in front of the Christmas decorations is a family tradition.