My World in a Flashpack: Cambodia

A Lore Of Three Cities, Of Beauty And Violence
(Third Part)

June 2, 2012
By Emmie Abadilla
Manila Bulletin (Philippines)

It was not yet morning when I set out. The jungle engulfed me, a black wall with five sandstone lotus towers thrusting from its canopy. Closer, I saw the shimmer of water in the moat - Angkor Wat’s "baray," symbol of all oceans of the world.

On its edge, a shadow bent and straightened. A Khmer woman staggered out, lugging an armful of lotuses, freshly cut. Their long stalks trailed the grass, dripping, as she hauled them on her cart.

Behind her bloomed redented lotuses, replicas of Mt. Meru’s sacred peaks, home of the gods. Floating over a 900-year-old Hindu-Buddhist universe in stone, Angkor Wat’s beauty rivalled the temples of Solomon, the Parthenon of Greece and the Forum of Rome.

Yet, unlike other temples in the Holy City, the Wat faces the west, the direction ruled by its deity, Vishnu, the Preserver. Even in ancient Egypt, sunset was associated with Death. Hence, people believed Suryavarman II built Angkor Wat to be his tomb, just like the pyramids of the pharaohs.

Photographing Cambodia’s ancient Ta Prohm Temple, before the tourists arrive

Photo: David Cummings/Special to The Star

Jan 29, 2012
by David Cummings
Special to The Anniston Star

“Was that a big cat?” my wife, Lesa, asked as we walked down the dark path.

“I hope not,” I replied.

We were using our cellphones as flashlights as we walked toward Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia last November. It was a half-hour before sunrise, and we could hear cicadas and monkeys in the dense jungle.

Our driver had dropped us at the temple’s entrance road and had quickly left for the journey back to Siem Reap, the area’s hub of tourism. We hoped he didn’t know something about wild animals that we didn’t. We wished we had thought of flashlights.

There were no lights within miles. Jungle noises were the only sensory input as we shuffled along in the dark.

Big Buddha unearthed at Ta Prom

A two-metre section of a Buddha statue unearthed this week sits on blocks at the Ta Prom temple, in Siem Reap province. (Photo Supplied)

Thursday, 27 October 2011
Bridget Di Certo
The Phnom Penh Post

The largest Angkorian-era Buddha statue to be discovered since the Khmer Rouge regime ended was unearthed at Ta Prom temple last Friday, an official from the Indian embassy confirmed yesterday.

The Ta Prom temple, at the world-famous Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap, has been under restoration by a team of Indian Government-funded technical experts since 2004.

Indian Embassy First Secretary Saurav Ray said the Buddha statue, found in the Hall of Dancers at Ta Prom, was the “largest Buddha statue discovered so far in Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge era”.

“The statue is incomplete – missing a large buddha head with a naga snake fan and part of the base,” he said, adding that the portion of the statue found was a massive two metres high.

“We have had 151 local people employed on the restoration work, and this is an amazing discovery,” Ray added.

A view of ancient Khmer temples

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=judk1ybrnvM&feature=player_embedded

In awe of ancient AngkorBy Jojie Alcantara

Entrance to Bayon Temple (photo by Jojie Alcantara)

April 2, 2011
Manila Bulletin

Long before Angelina Jolie made Angkor Wat a thrilling destination to visit through her movie Tomb Raider, I was dreaming of seeing this mystical location in the dense jungle of Cambodia. How to get there didn’t occur to me.

As if teased by fate, early this year, my two buddies and I finally found ourselves packing for a trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for the ASEAN Tourism Forum. We figured that by leaving a day before the opening ceremony, we could travel back and forth in a day from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. You see, we figured a lot of things. We thought that Angkor Wat could be done in a day. And so we found out that Phnom Penh is six hours away from Siem Reap.

So we planned an elaborate itinerary that meant long bus rides from border to border.

Here’s how we got to Angkor Wat: We boarded Cebu Pacific from Davao to Manila, then to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) so we could stay the night and experience Vietnam for a day. Luckily, Cebu Pacific gave us a connecting flight of Davao-Manila-Saigon with the convenience of unloading our baggage in Vietnam.

Beyond Angkor, Cambodia, a Khmer kingdom emerges from the jungle

Preah Vihear temple in northern Cambodia was built between 893 and 1200 at the edge of a cliff in the Dangrek Mountains. (Susan Spano / For The Times)

Near Siem Reap, Cambodia, the Khmer Empire's monuments are revealing their secret hideaways in the jungle as land mines are being cleared and roads are being built to get to them.

March 6, 2011

By Susan Spano

Special to the Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Siem Reap, Cambodia — When French travel writer Pierre Loti took an ox cart to Angkor shortly after Westerners rediscovered it in the 19th century, he found creeper-choked ruins and the profound silence of the Cambodian jungle. Siem Reap, population 100,000, now at its threshold, has scores of fancy resort hotels, a pub street, a new branch of the national museum and an international airport where millions of tourists arrive every year to see the fabled temples of Angkor.

The Khmer Empire, which ruled much of Southeast Asia from 800 to 1400, built monuments all over Cambodia, but the rigors of getting to them, many in rough territory ringed by land mines left after Cambodia's long civil war, kept many travelers away.

The situation has changed. In some areas mine clearing has been completed, and with Cambodia at peace, the government has launched a road-building campaign, bringing long-lost Khmer sites beyond Angkor within reach of travelers who dream of encounters with Cambodia's ancient wonders à la Loti.

John Burgess lecture reflects on ancient and present Cambodia

Saturday, January 29, 2011
By Yvette Villasenor
The State Hornet (Sacramento State U.)

Students and faculty gathered Friday evening to listen to an art lecture presented by John Burgess, the journalist and author behind "Stories in Stone."

Burgess began his career as a journalist in Thailand in 1971 as a sub-editor for The Bangkok World, an English-based paper. Later, he found himself interested in the scripted stones that lay in the heart of Angkor, Cambodia, where he got the idea for his book "Stories in Stone."

As students and faculty filled the lecture room, Burgess began his lecture on his adventures and findings of the Sdok Kok Thom inscription and the enigma of Khmer history he found in Angkor. He also shared his experiences about Cambodia's architecture, scripture and overall culture.

"Angkor has remained largely off the map for the world's consciousness," Burgess said.

Restoration of Ta Keo temple begins in Angkor Archaeological ParkRestoration of Ta Keo temple begins in Angkor Archaeological Park

By Nguon Sovan

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Work on the restoration of the deteriorating Ta Keo temple in the complex of Angkor Archaeological Park began on Saturday afternoon under the financial aid of China.

"The restoration work will be taken eight years to complete ( 2011-2018) under the financial support of 40 million Yuan (about 6 million U.S. dollars) from the government of China," Bun Narith, director general of Apsara Authority, which is in charge of management, protection and conservation of Angkor Archaeological park, said during the opening ceremony of the restoration work on Saturday.

This is the second phase of Chinese government assistance for safeguarding, conserving and restoring Angkor activities after the first phase on the conservation and restoration of Chausay Tevada temple from 2000 and ended in December, 2008, costing 14 million Yuan (about 2 million U.S. dollars).

"China is one of more than ten countries that has trained Cambodian archaeological experts, and helped financially and technically to conserve and restore ancient temples at Angkor archaeological park," he said.

The opening ceremony was presided over by Cai Wu, minister of the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China, and Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, Minister of the Council of Ministers, as well as officials from UNESCO and Apsara Authority. Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Pan Guangxue, other government and UNESCO officials, as well as more than two thousands people from all walks of life attended the ceremony.

Cai Wu said that he was very pleased to have a chance to see Angkor Wat, which is the world heritage, and to assist Cambodia in ancient temple conservation activities.

"The assistance to restore the temples will reflect the symbol of eternal friendship on culture cooperation between the two countries," he said. "Cambodia and China has a long history of friendship and bright civilizations, and China is committed to help Cambodia to preserve its cultural heritage and expand cooperation with Cambodia on all sectors."

Sok An expressed grateful thanks to China for the technical and

financial support for the conservation and restoration of Chausay Tevada temple in the past and now continues to restore Ta Keo temple.

"The start of the restoration work of Ta Keo temple is not the first project that China has helped Cambodia," he said. "China has helped Cambodia a lot to the development of the economy such as bridges, roads, irrigation systems, schools, hospitals, and the project to restore Chausay Tevada temple that finished in 2008."

"On behalf of the government of Cambodia and Cambodian people, I would like to thank the government of China and her people for valuable donations to conserve ancient temples as well as help to develop Cambodia all the time," he added.

"We hope that after the eight year restoration, Ta Keo temple will be as good as it was in original shape in the past," he added.

The restoration work begins after three year possibility studies by Chinese and Cambodian archaeological experts.

Ta Keo temple was built by King Jayavarman V and Suryavarman I from the late 10th century to the early 11th century and the kings dedicated this temple to Hinduism, according to the document from the Ministry of Tourism.

The monument of Ta Keo temple comprises of three level pyramids consisted of five rectangular terraces and five upper towers. This half finished massive pyramids rises to more than fifty meters high and this incomplete temple was built using so-called Khleang architecture.

The temple is located in the central zone of the Angkor archaeological site.

[Indian] President Patil praises ASI's [temple] restoration work in Cambodia

By Rakesh Mohan Chaturvedi

Siem Reap (Cambodia), Sep 16 (PTI) - President Pratibha Patil today said India was proud to have been involved in conservation and restoration of ancient monuments in Cambodia and hailed the ever growing cultural and business ties with the ASEAN nation.

Speaking at a banquet organised in her honour by the Governor of Siem Reap province, Patil lauded the Archaeological Survey of India for its commendable job in the restoration of Ta Prohm temple here.

"India is proud to have been involved in the conservation and restoration efforts of Angkor Wat from 1986 to 1993 and is currently working for Ta Prohm Temple," she said.

Earlier, the ASI team working here for the restoration of Ta Prohm, a temple built by King Jayavarman VII in honour of his mother in the 12-13th century, made a presentation to Patil on the subject.

She was impressed by their work and praised their effort.

ASI, which was involved in restoration work in the 1990s of the world famous Angkor Wat site located here, undertook the project to renovate Ta Prohm in 2004.

The project got underway in 2006 after some studies and the work of ASI at the historical temple, that has been damaged several times when this country moved back and forth from Hinduism to Buddhism as the official religion, is scheduled to be completed by 2013-14.

"We have no complaints about the 17.43 Crore funds till 2010 (the earlier deadline) given to us for the restoration of the Ta Prohm temple. This amount is likely to be revised further," D S Sood, Assistant Superintendent Archaeological Engineer and ASI team leader said.

The Ministry of External Affairs is funding the project.

He said the ASI had earlier planned to restore the whole Ta Prohm temple - also called Tree temple as trees have grown on the walls of the structure - but International Coordination Committee (ICC) for restoration of Angkor Park Area recommended only five enclosures to be renovated.

The ICC, which consists of 11 countries including India, sends a team twice every year to assess the progress made in restoration work.

Angkor Wat and other ruins, legacy of Khmer empire dot Cambodia's countryside

Friday, September 17, 2010
The Associated Press

SIEM REAP, Cambodia — Tourists gather every day before dawn to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat, a 12th-century temple and the grandest legacy of Cambodia's once mighty Khmer empire. Even at 5 a.m., the heat and humidity is enough to make the visitors break into a sweat.

More than one million people come annually to see the remains of the Khmer temples that dot the sprawling Angkor region, 230 kilometres northwest of the country's capital, Phnom Penh.

For Cambodians, the temples are nothing less than a symbol of their nation; an outline of Angkor Wat adorns the national flag.

A nearby temple, Wat Thmei, also includes a reminder of a dark chapter in recent Cambodian history. A memorial stupa houses bones and skulls from the victims of the "killing fields," who were executed by the brutal Khmer Rouge regime that ruled in the late 1970s.

Today, Angkor is a vital contributor to the poor nation's economy, with almost all visitors to the country travelling to the ruins. After a hot day visiting the temples, tourists head to the bars and Western-style air-conditioned restaurants in the nearby town of Siem Reap.

[India's] FRI team to embark on mission to save trees at Cambodia’s ancient Ta Prohm temple

Fri Sep 10 2010
Gautam Dheer
IndianExpress.com

A team from the Forest Research Institute (FRI), the country’s premier forest research organisation, will soon travel to Cambodia, to save one of the major attractions of that country. Its task will be to save the Speung trees, many of which stand over 60 metres tall and are over 100 years old, at the ancient Ta Prohm temple in Siem Reap province.

The trees, which add to the charm of the 800-year-old temple, are currently facing a serious threat and it is up to the FRI team now to save them. There are 33 such trees which have been classified in high risk category after field surveys and need urgent treatment and restoration.

The team of experts from the FRI will be visiting Cambodia in November to deliver the prescription for treating these trees.

Director FRI Dr S S Negi told The Indian Express that an expert team of the FRI had carried out an assessment of the trees in the temple complex and concluded that the trees, some with 13-metre girth at the base, are unhealthy and need urgent intervention. “It’s a prestigious project for us,” he said. “These massive trees bear the risk of extreme hollowness (heart rot), which could even uproot it, and suffer from exposed roots, fungal infections and surface decay,” Negi said.

Ancient [Baphuon] temple nearly restored

Oct 28, 2009
AFP

SIEM REAP (Cambodia) - ON A muggy afternoon in Cambodia's ancient Angkor complex, workers in hardhats hunch over the world's biggest jigsaw puzzle, painstakingly assembling sandstone blocks.

Walled-off from camera-toting tourists, they are finally close to completing an astonishing reconstruction of the fabled 11th century Baphuon Temple.

'This is not easy to plan like a construction project is,' says architect Pascal Royere from the French School of Asian Studies, who is leading the rebuilding team.

Restorers dismantled Baphuon in the 1960s when it was falling apart, laying some 300,000 of its stone blocks in the grass and jungle around the site.

But before the French-led team of archaeologists could reassemble the 34-metre tall temple, the hardline communist Khmer Rouge swept to power in 1975.

Up to two million people died from overwork, starvation and torture as the regime tried to re-set Cambodia to 'Year Zero' by eliminating reminders of its past - including the records to put Baphuon back together.

Alone once, and lost in Angkor's eerie spell

Wed, April 16, 2008
Carleton Cole
The Nation (Thailand)

Just a dozen years ago the temple complex still offered visitors all the solitude they needed to dream Khmer dreamsPublished on April 16, 2008

If I had to pick my favourite photo of my 1996 trip to Cambodia, it would be a shot of the sunlight playing with shade on a stone carving of an apsara. But if I were asked what was my most remarkable photo, I would have to choose a picture of a long bas-relief cloister where there's nary a soul in sight.

Perhaps the pictures in themselves aren't worth a thousand words each, but they dramatically illustrate this fact: In 1996 Cambodia had 260,000 visitors, and last year there were more than two million.

In 1996, what has become a virtually risk-free trek from Bangkok to Siem Reap by land or river was still a few years away. The US government discouraged overland travel between Phnom Penh and the gateway to Angkor too, since there was still a chance of being ambushed by Khmer Rouge holdouts.

A dozen years ago there was no need to get up before dawn to make sure you could walk among the Angkor temples in splendid loneliness. There was no jostling for the best shots of the ruins at dusk.

The ancient complex was all but empty throughout the day, save for a few intrepid adventurers - and clusters of local people, mostly children, who tried to reel in riel from the visitors, or better, US dollars, in exchange for batik fabrics, T-shirts and all-purpose krama scarves.

Nowadays, thanks to the peace that came to Cambodia in 1998, visitors complain that the temples are despairingly overrun.

The Indochina War came to an end in early 1975, but 33 years ago tomorrow the even greater horrors that would paralyse Cambodia were just beginning as the Khmer Rouge seized Phnom Penh.

In late 1978, after the worst of the so-called auto-genocide in which some 1.7 million Cambodians perished, Vietnamese forces liberated the country's east and south from the cruel Khmer Rouge overseers. The invaders backed the Maoist extremists into a squirreling crescent of land along the Thai border.

But even as late as 1996, the rulers-turned-rebels still controlled vast areas just several kilometres from the Angkor complex.

At the Tha Phrom temple that year I was the only visitor. Or so I thought - until I heard someone shout, "You!"

I looked back to see a lone soldier headed my way, and for a minute stood paralysed, thinking he was Khmer Rouge. As he came near, though, I saw with relief that he wore a government-flag patch on his shoulder, with its silhouette of Angkor Wat.

"I show you temple," he said, in what sounded part question but mostly statement. Wherever I wandered among the elegant old grounds, where centuries-old trees climbed over the even more ancient stones of the temple, he was close behind.

"This temple was built under King Jayavarman VII," he said, adding nothing to what I'd already read in Lonely Planet.

As we parted ways after the "tour", a few of his colleagues showed up. I half-smiled and nodded at my "guide" and, keeping my head down, walked back to my car and told the driver to go on to the next temple.

Instead of starting the engine, he asked, "Do you have a dollar? That's the usual fee they ask for."

Unsure of who had lost or gained face, I diplomatically went back to pay the soldier a dollar. He smiled and let me take his photo.

These days, with the broad stream of visitors pouring into Angkor, such extracurricular activity is barred by the government.

While I felt relatively safe throughout my trip, only about 13 kilometres away were the pinkish stones of the Bantery Srei temple - the Citadel of the Women. Two years earlier an American woman had been killed near there by Khmer Rouge soldiers.

It was still too close to the frontline to consider a visit in 1996, but my future wife went in '98 and proudly announced that I'd missed the most elegant temple in the area.

I imagine I'll make it there some day, and if there are too many people scrumming for photos, well, they can be Photoshopped out once I'm back home.

Angkor Wat: Enduring architectural achievement

7 Feb, 2008
Nivedita Choudhuri
TNN (India)

The Angkor temple complex in Cambodia represents one of humankind’s most astonishing and enduring architectural achievements. Even after hundreds of years of neglect, the dozens of spires and thousands of feet of intricate stone carving – all without the use of mortar or machines – stand as a monument to what ancient civilizations were capable of.

But this is not yet another story of how yet another Indian tourist was bedazzled by the sheer magnificence of the iconic Angkor Wat main complex... There are literally hundreds of temples and shrines in and around what is known as the Angkor temple complex and Angkor Wat is only one of them, although it is by far the most famous.

You’re getting my drift, right? While the sheer scale of the main temple is breathtaking, there are many of other temples there that are almost as spectacular, and are often more interesting to tour too since Angkor Wat is more crowded.

One of my favourites is the Bayon. Built as the state temple of Khmer ruler Jayavarman VII in the early 13th century, the Bayon’s most distinctive feature is the multitude of face-towers which rise up to its central peak. There are more than 50 towers and most are carved with four faces on each cardinal point.

The Bayon is also unlike most other temples as no walls surround the terrain. The temple has two sets of bas-reliefs carved at different times. Those on the walls of the outer enclosure were carved earlier and deal with historical subjects, from battles with the Chams to scenes of daily life. The bas-reliefs on the inner enclosure are taken from Hindu mythology.

The Bayon is at the centre of Angkor Thom, one of the largest Khmer cities ever built. The city gates have face-towers and the wonderful south gate has two rows of gods and asuras lining the bridge across a moat.

The Bayon, my driver told me, is best seen during early morning as the sunrise creates an eerie effect on the faces.
My husband and I passed on next to the Bapuon, which was the state temple of Yasodharapura in the 11th century. On the way we passed an amputee musician who was playing a cello-like instrument. A small crowd had gathered around him as the melodies rose through the air. Some people stepped forward and dropped dollar bills into a bowl.

Bapuon is essentially a massive five-tiered pyramid set within a long enclosure, but its ruined condition obscures its former importance. It is in the process of being restored, and parts of the temple are closed for work.
The Elephant Terrace, Leper King Terrace and Phimeanakas are a few minutes’ walk from Bapuon and can be covered in no time at all. The Elephant Terrace is a huge platform at the heart of Angkor Thom and its bas-reliefs showing hunting scenes with elephants are particularly striking. The Leper King Terrace is another massive platform with carvings of mythological scenes.

Phimeanakas was the state temple of King Suryavarman I in the 11th century. We didn’t feel like climbing the steep and narrow steps of the Phimeanakas and decided instead to rest for a while near a pond on the temple premises...


If we had hoped for a few minutes of peace and quiet, we were wrong! A couple of urchins materialised out of nowhere just as we had made ourselves comfortable and started chiming “one dollar, one dollar” in what they thought, I’m sure, is a very Yankee accent.

The dollar is ubiquitous in touristy Siem Reap – the town closest to the Angkor temples – and its surroundings and the humble Cambodian riel is all but forgotten!

A little more than 20 km north of Angkor sits the small but remarkable temple of Banteay Srei. The isolated and semi-wooded setting at the foot of the Kulen mountains should have been just perfect, but the mess of souvenir shops and restaurants outside the temple takes away some of the charm.

Banteay Srei was not a royal temple. It was built by one of King Rajendravarman’s counsellors in the 10th century. The temple’s miniature proportions and superb decorative carvings in pink sandstone act as a magnet for visitors.
Most of the lintels and pediments are within the inner enclosure, and show Shiva, Durga and Vishnu, among others.
Sightseeing over, we decided to while away time in the souvenir shops that were stocked to the brim with brass and bronze figures, masks, colourful cloth for sarongs and hats, paintings, jewellery, gems, woodcarvings, T-shirts with temple prints and kramas.

A krama, by the way, is a sturdy garment that can be used as a scarf, to cover the face, carry children or for decorative purposes! It is fairly inexpensive and makes for an excellent souvenir. We haggled hard and managed to bag some lovely brass figures of Ganesh and Vishnu for a fairly reasonable price.

Unlike other temples at Angkor, Ta Prohm has been left as it was found. The walls, roofs, chambers and courtyards have been repaired to stop further deterioration, but the temple has been left in the stranglehold of trees. The unrestored state of Ta Prohm, coupled with the size and complexity of its layout, makes orientation a little difficult.

Do watch your step: the interiors are pitch dark and my husband and I both tripped in our enthusiasm!
On the final day of our tour, we went on an outing 30 km beyond Angkor Wat to a mountain region of waterfalls and riverbed carvings. The appalling road surface notwithstanding, an excursion to Phnom Kulen is worth it just to look at the hundreds of lingams carved into the bed of a river flowing down the peak!

In the early 9th century, King Jayavarman II ordered that part of the river be diverted so that the lingams could be carved. According to legend, he declared himself king on this peak and with him began four centuries of Khmer rule that produced the exquisite Angkor temples.

Phnom Kulen also represents a change of scenery for those who have spent days looking only at temples and wish to see something of rural Cambodia.

Regardless of how much you have read about it and how many photos you have seen of it, the Angkor temples will astound you. You don’t have to be a serious temple enthusiast to enjoy the wonders of this incredible site. It’s a world made to impress.

Making Angkor's Tourism Sustainable

The face and breats of this Apsara dancer are shiny from people touching and rubbing them
(Photo: http://dpmac.com/angkor/trip-reports/07-08/07-angkorwat.html)

January 14, 2008
Mara Hvistendahl
World Changing

When UNESCO designated Angkor a World Heritage site in 1992, it aimed to protect the area –- once the capital of the Khmer empire -- from encroaching development. Cambodia was just emerging from decades of political strife during which restoration work had halted, and with the UNESCO designation the emphasis shifted back to conservation. But now, fifteen years later, Angkor has other problems. It's become a zoo.

In the early 1990s, Angkor drew a few thousand people a year. Today, a sign in Siem Reap, the town that borders the park, boasts that Angkor has reached the two million mark. Tour buses -- many of them labeled in Chinese and Korean, suggesting the boom is exacerbated by development in Cambodia's Asian neighbors -- clot the road outside the flagship temple of Angkor Wat. I witnessed people climbing temple facades to stage vanity shots. In some temples, carvings on the walls are shiny from touching (the are a particularly popular target). Some tourists go one step further and apsaras' breastsbuy a ceramic pot or antique beads – fueling the looting of valuable sites. According to Heritage Watch, an organization that monitors the Cambodian trade in artifacts, nearly 20 percent of visitors to the country purchase an antiquity during their stay.

Even conscientious tourists leave their mark. As massive hotels with swimming pools sprout around the park, the water table is suffering. Cheaper guesthouses reportedly dump sewage directly into the Siem Reap River. In the chaos of rapid development, real estate ventures aren’t always carefully vetted; it appears a South Korean company started on a golf course inside the park before Cambodian authorities intervened. And while tourism dollars are benefiting many local residents, development is hardly evenly distributed. Siem Reap is thriving, its property values skyrocketing. But the surrounding area still contains some of the poorest villages in Cambodia.

These issues aren’t just a problem at Angkor, of course. Earlier this year, Christian Manhart of the World Heritage Center, which administers the World Heritage Fund, admitted to the London Telegraph that "conservation versus tourism has been an issue for a long time. Before, we slightly ignored it and it was a big, big problem for many sites.” Today, the World Heritage program has a sustainable tourism program. But many sites were designated for protection before these mechanisms were put into place. Now, the challenge is to stave off future damage.

So what can be done? The Cambodian government is apparently considering restricting access to certain temples. But a holistic approach that addresses the boom in Siem Reap is needed as well. Heritage Watch carries out campaigns to educate locals and tourists alike about looting and promotes sustainable tourism in Siem Reap and beyond. The organization also certifies local businesses as "heritage-friendly" -- a designation that indicates clean environmental policies, support for the local economy, and contributions toward preservation.

Such efforts are critical to the scattering of temples that still remain relatively untouched. A hundred miles north of Siem Reap lies Koh Ker, at one point the Angkorian capital. Because of their distance from other tourist attractions, Koh Ker's unrestored temples and towers get just a few dozen visitors a day.

That will soon change. With a new road in place, the drive from Siem Reap to Koh Ker is now down to two hours – short enough for tour buses to travel there and back in a day. Hopefully this time around the tourism the site attracts will be sustainable.

Jungle gem

The temple of Angkor Wat gives it name to the vastly bigger archeological park.
(Susan Hegger/P-D)

Click here to hear and see more from Susan Hegger's Cambodia trip

04/01/2007
By Susan C. Hegger
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH (Missouri, USA)

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA — The traffic at the South Gate was hectic. Pedestrians clogged the narrow bridge as motor scooters veered in and out, coming close but always just missing a startled tourist or two. Cabs, buses and minivans maneuvered through the gawkers, most with awestruck looks on their faces and cameras slung around their necks. But whether on foot or on wheels, everyone moved to the side to let the lumbering elephant caravans through.

It was a typical morning at Angkor Wat, the ancient capital of the Khmer kings in modern-day Cambodia and reportedly the largest religious monument in the world.

From one glance at the South Gate, we knew we were entering someplace very special and important. Leading to the portal, on both sides of the road, was a line of stone figures, each one clasping the body of the Naga, a long serpent, holding it in their grasp for eternity. The gate itself was imposing and ornate, with four faces of the Buddha smiling down on all those who entered. As we passed through the gate, monkeys scampered among the stones.

The South Gate is a majestic sight, one that prompts a sudden gasp and then a whispered "ohmigod" when first seen. Yet even so, it couldn't quite prepare us for how vast and monumental Angkor Archeological Park is.

One very full day

For starters, it's far too big to be explored on foot, which explains all of the bicycles, cabs, motorbikes and even the elephants on the roads. It makes more sense to ride to each of the major complexes — and given the heat, it's definitely more pleasant. Comprising multiple structures, each of the major complexes is also much more expansive than I had imagined. The size and scope of the park underscored what an amazing place this must have been at its peak from the 9th to the 13th centuries. (While, in retrospect, two days would have been better, we did see in one very full day, without feeling rushed, the major sights of the South Gate, Bayon, Central Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat, which the park is often called.)

Once through the gate, our guide Sarin Soeum, more familiarly known as Kea, took us to what he later called his favorite spot — the temple of Bayon in what's called Central Angkor Thom. Actually, the word "temple" may be somewhat misleading; Bayon is an intricate complex of terraces, towers and galleries in which you could spend hours exploring, beginning with the bas reliefs depicting historical scenes on the exterior walls.

Bayon is his favorite, Kea said, because of all the stone images of a serene Buddha. Indeed, his face adorns all four sides of many of the towers, a nod to the four cardinal directions. (Some suggest that these Buddhas may resemble King Jayavarman VII, who built Bayon.) Indeed, from one particular vantage point, where we crammed into a narrow corner, we could photograph three radiant Buddhas in a row. But no matter where we looked, the stone faces were everywhere.

Just as remarkable was the fact that Bayon, as well as all the temples in this park, is still a living shrine to Buddha. Time and again, we'd enter an alcove or dark tower only to discover visitors praying while a monk tended a colorful altar crowded with burning candles, incense and other offerings to a saffron-robed Buddha.

If Bayon was Kea's favorite, I'd have to say that Ta Prohm, a sprawling, one-level monastery-temple complex, was mine. Where Bayon is out in the open, Ta Prohm is like a hidden and mysterious jewel. We reached it only after a short walk through the jungle. As we approached, it appeared sheltered by the surrounding jungle. We noticed hints of the red paint that once covered all the buildings.

What makes Ta Prohm magical, though, is the way the jungle has claimed it. The curling, curving roots of fig and silk-cotton trees seem to devour the walls; trees seem to sprout from some of the towers. It's a literally dazzling sight: nature and human creation fused, entwined in a symbiotic embrace. (Maybe that's why people — and I confess I was one of them — lined up at various choice spots for a picture of themselves framed by these enormous roots.)

The crown jewel of the park is, of course, the spectacular temple complex of Angkor Wat, which covers a square kilometer. Unfortunately, we came up to the temple from behind. That gave us a terrific sense of the immense size of the complex, but it robbed us of that first indelible, breath-taking impression. You know the one from countless photographs: Angkor Wat with its beehive-like towers at the end of a causeway. The million-dollar view finds the reflection of the temple shimmering in the reflecting pool.

We explored the wat or temple right after lunch, in the heat of the day but before the crowds for sunset swarmed the site. While the temple was originally built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II in honor of the Hindu god Vishnu, it now houses dozens of Buddhas, said our guide Kea.

I could barely absorb it all: the walls of carvings, ranging from flowers to dancing celestial beings; the array of Buddhas, including a beautiful lying Buddha; the one shrine to Vishnu, with his many graceful arms; the elaborate architecture.

Heights and mosquitoes

I even conquered my fear of heights, temporarily at least, to climb the exceptionally steep, narrow steps to the temple's highest spot. I grabbed hold of the handrail, focused only on the step ahead and ascended. At the top, I looked out and gasped: How am I going to get down? I couldn't even see the steps I had so gingerly trod.

I postponed my panic to wander around. In one corner by a shrine to Buddha sat a group of five elderly Cambodians and a monk. They were burning incense, laughing and taking turns telling fortunes. It was a lovely scene, another reminder of the reverence in which this place is still held. Then it hit me: These people walked up those steps, and they're going to walk down. Both my triumph, and fear, were deflated.

That evening, the sky was so overcast that there wasn't a sunset to bathe Angkor Wat in a reddish glow. But we were content to sit by the water-filled moat, sip Cambodian wine, nibble on frogs' legs and watch the temple fade into darkness — at least until the mosquitoes took over.

shegger@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8348