Ruins

Cambodia – Part 3 – Siem Reap

Posted on by Ginny

Archaeology is not what you find, it’s what you find out.” ~ David Hurst Thomas (Archaeologist)

 

You’ve seen the films, the exotic shots of ancient civilisations, the anticipation as the intrepid hero is on the trail for fortune and glory. In his path ancient evil is not far behind. Traversing temples, eating monkey brains and beetles and rituals and sacrifices are all just part of the plot. When I first studied archeology I was led by this fictional story, only to find that archeology was more about collecting data than the stories. It didn’t take long to realise that my imagination couldn’t cope with the day to day drudgery. However I appreciated the work. I loved reading about past archeologists and looking at images of before and after a dig. It’s a pity that it took me 35 years to find my hobby. I first remember my love of ancient sites. The moon and the sun pyramids of the Aztecs. I thought to myself how come I didn’t know about this. I was fascinated, although it would be 10 years later before I took a couple of units of archeology and anthropology to appreciate the past at Uni. Since then I have become a passive lover of ancients sites and have had the opportunity to visit some of the worlds most amazing sites, which doesn’t include Egypt, yet. So it was a no brainer that I would visit Siem Reap. I deliberately didn’t read much information, I wanted to go with a clear mind. I had no idea what I was in for and as it would turn out, it wasn’t just the visit to the many sites in this region that made the 4 days of discovery an amazing experience.

BACKGROUND FIRST

Before I set out to decide the areas I would like to explore, I spent a few hours doing my due diligence by going to the Museum. My knowledge of the Khmer empire began in Thailand at Sukhothai. I also visited the royal palace in Phnom Penh where I came across some interesting reliefs and murals that told the story of this once mighty empire. The Museum gave my head a full work out and as much as I could try I knew I needed to read more. I think in retrospect I should’ve understood the physical geography a little better. So after learning about textiles, the technical aspects of art and carvings I was ready to choose the sites, so I spent the day lying by the pool and learning about the appropriate sites to visit. Very nice indeed, that’s the way to study.  Then with my notebook in hand the next challenge was that I needed to work out how the hell I was going to get to them all. This is the thing about just turning up at a place and not really knowing what to expect. On the positive the excitement of something new on the negative trying to work out how not to get ripped of. The hostel I was staying at was for the under 25s and they weren’t to interested in 4 days of getting up at 5am and returning at 7pm. The Chinese tourists were either paying for a private car or tour buses that shuttle you around like cattle. I did have many tuk-tuk drivers who promised me the world but most couldn’t speak English, only knew what the travel brochures told them and they wanted to take me to as many sites they could fit in one day. To me it was quality and also my ability at the time to traverse the many sites with my healing broken foot.  I am not going to explain every site I visited here as the video does show you and really you need to come and see for yourself.  But lets just say, the expanse of this empire was indeed mighty and their show of power intimidating, magnificent in detail and size.

YOUR ONLY AS STRONG AS YOUR WEAKEST LINK

It’s funny, that most good stories always include a back story, sort of like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, minor players to the big gig.  This wasn’t any different, as it was the Tuk Tuk drivers that added to my discovery about the history of the Khmers, including my tuk-tuk driver Rus.  When I first met Rus my intuition kicked in and I knew he wouldn’t let me down. We worked out the best routes and what I was to expect. Well to the best of my knowledge anyway. I felt really comfortable talking to him and he was honest with me.  So we worked out a price and set the ball rolling. For the many tuk tuk drivers it is pay day, the money they can earn helps with the basics of life.  The other businesses that profit from Siem Reap’s archeology enable the people to prosper in many ways. However like all touristic places there are also the normal pitfalls, culture clashes, lack of infrastructure, alienation.  I have already commented on a previous posts about this and Rus was quite aware of many of the issues.  He didn’t enjoy the loss of community and the building of mega size hotels with casinos that bring in thousands each week.  They fly in spend two days, give all their money to Chinese owners and nothing left for the locals.  Rus also knew, rather than just being a driver and be stuck in a revolving door, he needed to aim higher he needed to go back to school and learn about the history of his ancestors and also his own local history.  He also realised that being able to communicate also required many hours learning other languages.  When I met him he was still learning and happy to.  He was aiming to save money for his young children who would need more than just a basic education.  He also was the bread winner for his mother and father who were subsistent farmers and his younger brother was a cowboy, his role was to look after the farm animals because he did not have an education.  Rus did not want this for himself or his family.  So Rus started small and over the past few years has been able to earn more.  He needs extra cash for repairs on his Tuk Tuk and is also hoping to buy an environmentally cleaner, faster and stronger Tuk Tuk like some of his friends have.  With many people going on organised tours to the main sites he needs to take people to places a little of the beaten track. A point of difference from the major travel companies.  He says he is learning every day new understandings of the past and proud and honoured to be a spokesperson. Similarly with his friends I met who were also Tuk Tuk drivers.  Over time I got to know the other drivers and if Rus didn’t know an answer to my question there was always someone who did.  Like community education.  They also worked in teams using their mobiles to warn other drivers when buses or when the Lexus cars would be arriving.  They would know the bus route and they made sure I and other tourist using Tuk tuks could visit various sites without hoards of people.  Of course this did not always work out but you know that when its Chinese New Year you really only have yourself to blame.  Of course the Chinese like any other group of people should also have the ability to visit this area.  Its just a little sad that the mystery of the place has now been lost to an over saturation of tourists. I wish I went 20-15 years ago when this incredible area was only a paragraph in the lonely planet. Yet without tourism I wonder what Rus would be doing.  Like he says “in Cambodia you have to make the most of the opportunities because you never know when you will end up with nothing to show for it.” The history of the Khmer and their ruins are evident of that.

Video of Siem Reap

 

An education from Past to present

Posted on by Ginny

After returning to Bangkok to collect my over weight backpack, I chose a route that would take me to northern Thailand then over the border to Laos. I really wanted to catch the overnight train to Chang Mai however the 2nd class sleepers where booked out for the next few days and I really didn’t want to spend anymore time in Bangkok.  So I took a nine hour bus to Sukhothai instead.  There was of course a bonus, I needed to learn a little about Thailand’s history and the Sukhothai historical park seemed just the place.  Its literal meaning the dawn of happiness’, the capital of the first independent Thai Kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries.  The park comprises the ruins of royal palaces, Buddhist temples, the city gates, walls, moats and the water dyke control system of ancient Sukhothai.  This would surely help me because of my lack of Asian history.  I spent two days at the site.  Although not as mind blowing as Machu Picu, set up in the Andean mountains, or as vast as the Egyptian Pyramids, the Sukhothai site is still a work in progress so to speak.  Beautifully manicured areas and amazing ruins still being excavated and processed.  Actually the place is so big you really need a push bike to see it all and in retrospect I wish I had done exactly that.  However on one day I walked around the main site and the next I spent strolling around other ruins but most of the day I spent in the museum and it was here that I learnt more than I ever could imagined.  I am often in awe of the people who help reconstruct ancient sites.  I do wonder however why these places always make the ancient life look so idyllic.  Like “let’s make the world great again”.  If u know what I mean.  I also wonder who controls the narrative, as many large artefacts have been recreated.  But maybe that’s just me digging deeper than I should.  Religion and past empires are often shown in some glorified way, so we in the present feel some sense of gratitude.  Don’t get me wrong, The ability to design, then construct such monuments and the array of intricate features from such a long time ago is mind blowing.  I am still not educated enough to understand everything to do with buddhism however here is a link for further information about  the various Sukhothai monuments and features.  I’d rather not try.

Apart from visiting the ruins I decided to get a little more aquatinted with the local area. What a way to do this by riding a bike for a day.  We rode around the lane ways of Sukhothai, meeting local market owners and learning about the use of various foods.  We then road through the farmland a combination of rice fields, tobacco and a range of other vegetables and fruits.  The scorching sun made the ride at times unbearable, I don’t know how the farmers and their workers face up to it day in day out.  If somehow wearing their wide brimmed hats with cloth draped down their neck and back, gives them some sort of relief.  To think that is also meant to be the colder months.  At times we would pull over under the shade of tree just long enough so our sweat would cool us down, then back on the bike pedalling at a decent speed.  I suppose what kept me going was the music the played along our journey.  Every 100  meters or so a loud speaker hung from an electrical pole and sounds of traditional Thai flutes lulled me into a time gone past.  Although I have never been to Thailand in a time gone past.  You could hear it from the rice fields from quite a distance and without me asking I am sure it is a way to help the farmers work in the hot sun.  It certainly helped me continue to pedal.  We eventually made it back onto a main road and 5 km’s further to a house owned by a friend of the tour guide.  It was the first time I had been into a locals house and we weren’t there for a tour, but for lunch.  We must have looked like cooked lobsters as I peeled myself of the seat.  I even had problems trying to organise my thoughts and missed the opportunity to have a hose down.  Not to worry, before I had time to say sà wàt dee I was whisked away and given a towel, a foot bath, herbal tea, fresh water and enough food that I couldn’t lift my leg over the bicycle seat for the ride back.  This was more than I hoped for, especially when we met the rest of the relatives.  After we had finished our lunch we were introduced to the family and excitedly introduced to a young boy.  At first I wasn’t so sure why this boy was special, even though he was very cute.  However before long I realised what all the fuss was about.  I kept on hearing boy girl, boy girl, for a second I thought there was going to be a show with boy girls parading around like in Phuket.  Then to my surprise they were pushing the young boy towards me.  He was fully made up and I was a little envious of his eyebrows.  I was then told that they were very fortunate that their family, a large one at that have a boy girl.  They were very excited for me to meet their special child that all the kids performed a song for us and of course guess who had the staring role.  Not only did he have the starring role but a very spoilt child to boot.  He seemed to have the best of everything, the first and last of everything also.  I was fascinated not because they had a boy girl but maybe because they are revered in similar ways to that of the Fa’afafine’s, who are men raised as girls and identify with that gender in Samoa.  I did notice the night before during the market festival, many boy girls also performing.  They weren’t seen as odd or even left out, the complete opposite.  For a second I wondered why I was so intrigued that there were so many boy girls.  Should I be curious? I was told there were many families all over Thailand that have Boy girls and unlike many countries they were proud and saw themselves are privledged to have a boy girl in their family.  Unlike some of the stories I have heard about the Fa’afafine’s where abuse is often common.  However I must note, was he lucky he had a great family because I am sure just like the Fa’afafine there would also be disturbing stories.  However with this only one experience to go on and the belief that boy girls in Thailand are treated with honour, I was pleased to see an inclusive system of respect.  Finally, as I write this I am wondering why I am writing to you about boy girls, why would you care?  Well one reason is that in our society we often see gender differences as an affliction as a curse, arguing over semantics like what toilet should they go to.  How refreshing it is to travel to a country that doesn’t seem to have this affliction.  Oh and how we could learn so much about how to treat a small group of beautiful people who just want to live their lives like everyone else.

I could continue to write about the bike journey as we cycled at a slower pace along the river.  Riding past rickety homes held up by whimsy poles to protect the houses from the rising water when the river floods, old men repairing their equipment sitting under large trees and women crouched down lighting small coal fires in pots ready to cook dinner.  I could also write about the fisherman we met catching small fish by net as his wife drank a bottle of rice whiskey and danced a better version of my bogan dance.  Or the fun we had at the bar we went to, sipping a Mojito and listening to 1970’s hits like Bonney M.  This was all in a days work and more than I could learn ever from a text book, a newspaper, a documentary or a you tube video.