S.E.Asia─2015: Khmer Kingdoms

We left the house January 1, stayed overnight in Portland and the next morning at 6:40 started our flights; landed in Bangkok January 4 at 6 p.m., 19+ hours in the air, some 29 hours in transit.  (We lost a day at the international date line.)  We easily passed through Thai immigration and were met on the other side by our guide holding a sign with large print: "Mr. Johnson."  He introduced himself, took control of our luggage and guided us past other guides, handlers, shills, through the doors into the heat, by cab drivers, and cabs to a small van and we were on the way to our hotel.

The next morning at 8 he showed up to guide us through the 8 or 9 million people who live or work in the city.  First we visited the flower market

where Deb stopped to smell the roses, so to speak.

Along the way, we tried a tuk tuk, the Thai version of the ubiquitous auto rickshaw.

Then on to the Grand Palace compound near the Chao Phaya River, about 54 acres of temples, palaces, pagodas, stupas, pavilions, offices, and other structures, crowded with officials, monks, worshipers, tourists, and us.

Deb was especially taken with some of the tiles decorating walls,

I with sculpture such as the 20 foot tall Yaksha guarding an entrance to Wat Phra Kaew, the temple of the Emerald Buddha.

According to legend, the well-traveled Buddha (actually Jasper or jadeite─sources differ) was carved in India about 43 BCE, taken (or looted) to Sri Lanka some 500 years later, then to Angkor, and thence to various capitals in S.E. Asia before King Rama I looted it from Vientiane and with great ceremony in 1784 moved it to its current home.  It is considered the palladium of Thailand and kept in the main building of the temple on the high altar where it is clothed in gold, the garments changed three times a year, for the summer, rainy, and cool seasons.

The palace grounds go on and on, the buildings ranging from spectacular

to utilitarian depending on their purpose and when they were built.  We spent the morning dodging tourists and admiring art and architecture.

 Phra Thinang Dusit Maha Prasat─the throne hall

Temple of the Emerald Buddha

The golden garudas that line the wall of the temple.

Wall painting of a scene from the Ramakien, the Thai version of Ramayana.  I was especially taken with a pair of bronze lions guarding the temple of the Emerald Buddha.

We had hardly scratched the surface but my legs and resolve weakened so we found the car to drive to a restaurant.  The traffic was so bad, our guide told the driver to meet us later, and we hoofed it faster than the vehicles in the street.  The river-side restaurant turned out to be tourist-focused and served probably the worst meal of our whole trip, steam-table stuff offensive only to anyone with a desire to taste anything, much less taste Thai food.  After, we boarded a "long-tailed" boat─a narrow vessel with a large gimbaled engine on the rear deck and a long drive shaft out the back that could be shifted in any direction to steer.

Bangkok's average height above sea level is six feet, so canal life seems reasonable.  We headed up river to view life there.

Houses along the canals were built on teak or concrete posts and this afternoon were largely deserted,

but as we puttered by, a few hawkers paddled canoes out to try to sell us souvenirs.  We resisted.

The next day we drove northeast toward Nakhon Ratchasima until we reached our first Khmer era ruin: Phimai.  The structures date from the late 11th to the late 12th century, and comprise the largest and most important religious sanctuary in Thailand.

We entered the complex across a Naga bridge guarded by stone lions

and then walked through a number of doorways

until we arrived at the inner courtyard and the main Prasat─the temple.

The temple marks the northern end of a major Khmer highway from Angkor.

The next day we drove to Phnom Rung, a name derived from ancient Khmer "Vnam Rung," meaning "vast mountain."   It dates from the 10th to 13th centuries, dedicated to Shiva, and as it was built on top of an extinct volcano (1,319 feet high), there are a lot of stairs, starting with an up and down

to the processional walkway lined with 70 sandstone posts topped by lotus buds.

Thailand's Department of Fine Arts spent from 1971 to 1988 restoring the structures at which time the park was officially opened.

In 2005, the temple was submitted to UNESCO for consideration as a future World Heritage Site.

My favorite sculpture here was a Nandi, Shiva's companion and mount, with a sign I'm sure Shiva would find disquieting.

We visited Muang Tam (c.1000 CE), about 8 kilometees from Phnom Rung.

 

  Its primary deity was Shiva, although Vishnu was also worshiped.  Evidence shows that it was abandoned about 1300 CE but was reoccupied about 100 years ago.  It was formally opened only in 1997 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the King's coronation.  Among its interesting carvings are lintels

including this one showing Shiva and Uma riding Nandi.  (See sign above.)

Then we drove to the border, crowded with cars, tour buses, tourists, and hawkers, where our guide introduced us to two young men who were to see us through.  Exit was easy, the official stamped our passports and we walked into an area that at first I thought was Cambodia but which turned out to be a special area with a booming casino, off limits to Thais and Cambodians, air conditioned with nice bathrooms.  Outside, backpackers and budget tourists waited in long lines in the 90+ heat and humidity to process into Cambodia.  Our new guides led us to a table at an open air restaurant across from the casino and told us to wait, took our passports and US$100.  Turned out, there was a VIP entrance for those with the right information and money.  Some 10 or 15 minutes later, the two returned with our passports completely processed and led us through the sweating crowd, showed our passports to a border guard, and brought us to our Cambodia guide, Long Vudthy, who suggested we call him Mr. T.  We climbed into the air conditioned car and started the drive to Siem Reap, Mr. T talking most of the way, telling us about Cambodia and the country we were driving through.  When we arrived at Prumbayon Hotel in Siem Reap, we were ready for martinis by the pool.

Angkor Archaeological Park, some 154 square miles in size, contains the remains of capitals of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th centuries, more than anyone can see in a week, definitely more than I could keep track of.  T took us to Banteay Srei, a temple complex finished in 967 CE of red sandstone, a material that allows for intricate carving, including undercutting, which, I was amazed to see, has survived more than a thousand years.

Then on to others.  Our favorite, without questions, was Ta Prohm, a complex started in 1186 CE by Jayavarman VII in honor of his family.

It housed more than 12,500 people (including 18 high priests and 615 dancers) with an additional 800,000 in the surrounding villages providing services and supplies.

The organization involved early with restoration, the École française d'Extréme-Orient, decided that Ta Prohm would be left largely as it was found, as a "concession to the general taste for the Picturesque."

A wise decision, I think.

Angkor Thom was another site that captured us, especially the 75 foot tall towers at the city gateways.

The openings are about 11 by 23 feet and would originally have been fitted with wood doors.

A causeway spans the moat in front of each tower; these have a row of devas on the left and asuras on the right, spirits in Vedic texts who struggle with each other for power.

But of course, the crowning site is Angkor Wat itself, a destination I've dreamed of for years.  Words and photos are inadequate.

And I'm not alone: two million visitors a year, in the most recent count, with an estimated annual increase of nearly 20 percent.

We arrived early and there were already tour buses filling the parking areas and crowds filling the causeway and entrances but Mr. T knew this site and led us to paths less traveled.  He showed us bullet pocks from Khmer Rouge days but concentrated on the art.

The first level includes long bas-reliefs illustrating scenes from the Ramayana and from Suryavarman II's court.

Angkor Wat was constructed to create the world as seen by the eleventh century Khmer.

The central towers represent Mount Meru, home of the gods, the walls, the mountains enclosing the world, and the moat, the oceans beyond.  Even the dimensions of the structure have cosmological significance.  We, however, were taken by the spectacle.  On the second level, mummers dressed in traditional costume for a dollar would pose for photographs.  In New York, we resisted this charade, in Cambodia, not so much.

In Khmer days, only the king and close advisers climbed to the third level; today anyone dressed appropriately with bare head and bare feet and the entrance ticket may make the ascent.  And they do: it's a continuous conga line.

Mr T led me up and then around the crowds at the first openings waiting to take photos to other windows with similar views but no waiting.

When I scheduled our trip with our Cambodian travel agent, I questioned if three days would be enough time in Siem Reap and was assured that it would.  On the one hand, we visited major sites and much that most tourists miss; on the other, more awaits: a week would not have been enough, perhaps a month, a lifetime.... We saw a lot but the experience seems incomplete, seems as if we barely penetrated the world of the 8th to 15th century Khmer.  At home, I have books; I will continue to explore.

We liked Mr. T.  He was knowledgeable  about the monuments and the countryside.  In the evenings, he taught computer skills to children too poor to afford school.  His father had been military adviser to the king when the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh.

T was 16 when they caught him and tried to get him to reveal where his family was hiding.  He knew that no matter what they did to him, he would not talk.  If he told them what they wanted, they would kill his family.  They beat him so badly he lost his right eye, the ring finger on his right hand, and they smashed his foot.  After that, he told us, nothing in life bothers him─"Everything is fine."