Ta Prohm

Perhaps one of the more popular temples at Angkor (besides Angkor Wat itself), is Ta Prohm--famous for being a staging area for parts of Tomb Raider 2, but also famous for its atmosphere. Largely unrestored (though more restoration work is in place today thanks to generous donations from Germany, Japan, etc), the temple is a textbook example of how we might picture "ancient ruins"--crumbling evidence of once immaculate structures, now encrusted with lichen, jungle overgrowth, and bursting at the seams with trees.

In fact, my Khmer guide referred to Ta Prohm repeatedly as, "the temple with the tree."

Badass.

He also excelled at finding pictures in the tangled roots of the trees:

"This has the root like cobra snake."

Historically, Ta Prohm was built in the same period as the Bayon, by the same king. Built as a tribute to his mother, the temple grounds were an important monastery and place of study during its time. With, of course, the requisite dance hall. Which needs some work, by today's standards:

Here's the album: Ta Prohm.

The Bayon

Another temple at Angkor, the Bayon, is a rather famous temple set in a complex known as Angkor Thom. Built by Jayavarman VII (say that five times really fast), it's known for it's numerous spires, all sporting the four faces of the Buddha. According to our Khmer guide, there are 256 Buddha faces carved into the stone at the Bayon, and I was seemingly on a mission to take a picture of each one.

In contrast to the king that built Angkor Wat, Jayavarman VII was more into Buddhism, believing it provided a clearer path to enlightenment,and by some accounts, believing he himself to be the next incarnation. However, it doesn't seem to me that either religion was exclusive of the other; in several places you will still see recreation of Hindu mythology, and random carvings a smaller patron gods obviously carried from that tradition. Hindu ascetics were allowed to live side-by-side with the Buddhist monks--I can only guess that the people, who spent their lives in service to the king and building and maintaining his temple-cities, went with the flow.

Demon

An example of the two traditions consorting with one another is the entrance to Angkor Thom. Two major Hindu myths get recreated several times in just the four temples I saw at Angkor: The Ramayana (Rama and Sita vs. the Demon King) and The Churning of the Ocean of Milk. This last epic is the one you see walking the causeway into Angkor Thom: It tells the story of Gods and Demons joining together to stir a cosmic sea in order to obtain their immortality. I think. I was absorbing a lot of information this day.

God

As for the cohabitation of two previously competing schools of thought, not all kings were as open-minded. Jayavarman VII's story makes a great Khmer legend--the guy was kidnapped in a war, grew up in exile, returned to his homeland to oust the occupiers, became king late in his life, built loads of stuff--Angkor's roads, hospitals, libraries, rest-stations for pilgrims coming to the temples--and then he disappeared. So he's something of an enigma--credited for being an empire builder, even though no real account of his reign survives. And then, seemingly, he vanished. Siddhartha-ish, almost.

At any rate, the king who succeeded him wasn't really that into Buddhism. They wouldn't necessarily destroy former king's temples, but he made a point of removing what Buddha images he could from the Bayon, to relatively little effect,

Your face here.

considering what he chose to leave up.

Want more pictures? I got a million of 'em: The Bayon.

By the way, my accounts of these temples should in no way be interpreted as historical scholarship. What I understand about them is a mixture of several different points of view, those I've encountered through reading material summarizing the different scholarly approaches to the history of Angkor, and folk accounts from my loquacious Khmer guide giving the generally agreed upon historical points fit to deliver to tourists. How the culture developed thousands of years ago, and how Buddhism and Hinduism intermingled to drive the kingdom forward, is far too complex a thing to be able to articulate after one day's exposure to this evidence of a turbulent, yet somewhat prosperous, empire. What is interesting is that Angkor existed at all, outside the sphere of references we attach to ancient civilizations.

Up next: Ta Prohm, the temple "with the tree."

Thais Defeated

So, my Thanksgiving adventure consisted of a short little excursion to Siem Reap, Cambodia (literally, Thais Defeated, Cambodia) to check out Angkor Wat and its bevvy of ancient temples. In preparation for the trip an Australian colleague of mine, formerly an Angkor Wat tour guide, armed me with three different books about the Angkor period and the tumultuous history of Cambodia in general. He also gave me Khmer language lessons, but I've forgotten everything except Admin Loi Te, which means "I don't have any money." The spelling of that phrase, by the way, is a total invention.

The first thing I noticed about Cambodia was the smell. When I landed in HCMC, the smell was immediately distinctive to me as well, but it was more complex. It took weeks to differentiate the aromas in the bouquet--eventually, I settled on a description that included a strong sewer presentation, with an undercurrent of durian fruit and a soft finish of spent cooking oil.

Siem Reap smelled like a campfire. It was lovely in comparison.

Every person in Siem Reap who is not Cambodian is there to see the Angkor Wat complex. I have to admit, before coming to Asia, I had never heard of Angkor Wat. Turns out, it's a pretty big deal. A large majority of the country's income can be easily attributed to travelers coming from all over the world to visit the temples. I visited as many as I could in one day-- 4-- but you could stay there for a full week and still not have run out of things to see.  What you probably will run out of is the energy to care about seeing another temple.

And I took hundreds of pictures while I was there. So many that our tour guide worried that my camera's battery would die and wouldn't stop reminding me to charge the battery over our midday break.

I'll start with the main attraction, Angkor Wat itself. Something you'll notice about Cambodia is the rather strong influence of Indian culture, particularly Hinduism. During the "Angkorian Period," the kingdom was generally prosperous enough to allow each king to build a temple to whichever Hindu deity he aligned himself with. The glory of the temples showed each king's devotion to his patron god, and helped develop a sort of notion equivalent to the "Divine Right of Kings"--that is, each king is an instrument of the gods.

Angkor Wat would have been a major religious city back in the day. The King dedicated it to Vishnu, one of the primary forms God can take in Hinduism, generally credited with creating and keeping the universe in balance.

This guy right here.

The most "interesting" thing about Angkor Wat is that it is oriented to the West, which drives history scholars nuts trying to figure out its meaning. The west is often associated with death, the place of the sunset, the place where darkness comes from etc. So, people debate the King's intentions for building an enormous religious building with an orientation to the death part of the sky.

For the layperson tourist, it means that the sunrise at Angkor Wat is the most spectacular sight. In favor of avoiding the crowds, we elected not to see this wonder. You can google it though. I'm sure someone, somewhere, has a a backlit shadowy Angkor Wat against a purple pink sky, probably on prints you can buy if you're so inclined.

So without further ado, I give you the Angkor Wat photo album. I'll be back soon with pictures from Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, The Unknown Temple, and Tonle Sap Lake. Soon.

Callouses.....Materialize!

Got me a git-fiddle. It's a happy day.

To celebrate, I give you this picture I took of myself. The "Intelligent Auto" function of my camera evidently chose the "flophouse 1971" setting.

In other news, Angkor Wat photos are coming soon, I promise! Like, maybe even this week, if I get all my work done. For now, I'm soaking my fingers in cold water and choosing not to respond to the pain notifications being sent to my brain. I'm just happy I can still play.

As a footnote, the guitar, nylon case, and capo cost me around $30. In the shop I bought it from, they had an exquisite looking mandolin going for 900.000 VND (about $45). God help me. I'm in a place that's practically begging me to resume my favorite pasttime of collecting instruments I have no idea how to play.