Category Archives: Cambodia

An Artist’s Palette ~ Cambodia (part 3) by Lynne Mayhew

By Ron | Published January 28, 2011

Fishing Village (click to enlarge)

In addition to temples, visitors have discovered the floating village of Chong Kneas located ten kilometers south of Siem Reap, Cambodia, on the Tonle Sap Lake. The van ride took us past numerous rice paddies with flimsy stilt houses lining both sides of the narrow road. One could not help notice or watch the constant ebb and flow of daily life in the fields, in the houses, under the houses and along the road. So much going on in a relatively small area. The poverty slaps one in the face.

Arriving at the docks, visitors purchase tickets and board boats to ride out to the floating village. Our guide explains that the village contains about a hundred families, mostly Vietnamese. Unwelcome in Cambodia, these people have created a way of living. The village actually moves around according to the water levels of the lake and the season. It is a self contained floating village with residents engaged in fish farming (raising cat fish) as well as using traditional basket type traps. Men and women can be seen repairing or making fishing nets. Chickens, hogs, and produce are also raised on these floating buildings. Each house has its covered front or back porch where most of the cooking and daily life takes place. Laundry is hung everywhere. The village contains general stores, restaurants, and a school with a basketball court. The court is on the upper floor and is made with safety railings and a grille to keep the ball and the children from going overboard. Each family owns a small boat for navigating throughout the floating village to trade or buy from each other.

Child Size Boat (click to enlarge)

Children can be seen getting around themselves in anything that can float or be rowed. They are quite adept in showing the tourists the snakes they have, posing for a picture and then demanding a dollar. One of the floating buildings is used as an education center for visitors which have displays explaining the ecosystem, bird and fish life found on the Tonle Sap Lake. Aboard is a sample fish farm where the tourist can throw feed into the large opening on the first floor deck. There is also a crocodile farm below the deck which has at least ten large reptiles. They do not eat them, just show them to tourists. The eco center also has a nice gift shop, snack bar and small restaurant. On the upper floor one can get a better view of this incredible floating village, each house painted in bright colors, most of which are now faded or peeling. The TV antennas become noticeable and music can be heard from a café across the way. Heading back to the docks, we pass a church and a temple, also part of this floating village.

Wanting $2 and settling for $1 (click to enlarge)

General Merchandise (click to enlarge)

Also posted in Asia, Lynne Mayhew, Travel | Tagged Asia, Boats, Cambodia, Fish Shacks, Travel | Leave a comment

An Artist’s Palette ~ Cambodia (part 2) by Lynne Mayhew

By Ron | Published January 23, 2011

Angkor Wat (click to enlarge)

A traveler or a tourist does not go to Cambodia without visiting the ancient temples of Angkor, located near Siem Reap. This vast empire weaves throughout Indochina, but the royal roads lead to Angkor Wat, now a UN World Heritage Site. Built in the early part of the twelfth century by the ruler Suryavarman II, it is a Hindu temple or wat and is recognizable by its five towers which appear on Cambodia’s national flag. After years of civil war and trauma, the Khmer people once again look to these temples as a source of religious inspiration and pride. Angkor Wat is believed to be the largest religious structure in the world. While London had a population of 50,000 and was building cathedrals during this period, one million people lived in the Angkor kingdom during its height. ( read on….)

Also posted in Angkor Wat, Asia, Lynne Mayhew, Travel | Tagged Angkor Wat, Asia, Cambodia, Travel | Leave a comment

An Artist’s Palette ~ Cambodia (part 1) by Lynne Mayhew

By Ron | Published January 18, 2011

Cambodia Border Crossing - Visa Processing (click to enlarge)

We take the Hang Chau 2 speed boat from Chau Doc on the Mekong River to Phnom
Penn, a five hour trip which includes two border stops along the way. One is to exit
Vietnam and the other is to obtain our tourist visas to enter Cambodia. Both crossings are represented by shades of khaki and green, officers entrusted with the duty of checking passports and visas. I was wary that the stern officials at the Cambodian border would not process my visa since I did not have a separate photo of myself to turn in with my visa application. I stupidly left it in my suitcase stowed on the boat and not in my daypack. I was the last one to get a visa, much to my relief. Another hour by
boat and then, finally, Phnom Penn, capital of Cambodia comes into view with its blend
of old and new: remnants of stately French Colonial buildings in neo-classical style, traditional Khmer palaces and pagodas and added to this are western style skyscrapers competing for space in this growing and bustling city. The afternoon sun castes shadows over this jumble of architecture. As we arrive at the Sisowat pier, most noticeable is the stone-built embankment or esplanade along the waterfront, a city park along the Mekong. It looks inviting and peaceful with its benches, tall trees and landscape of flowers. A perfect spot for a plein air artist to capture the moment on canvas. But it doesn’t take long to discover that with a population of only two million compared to Hanoi’s four million and Saigon’s almost eight million, its traffic and pace is just as frenetic.

Cambodia Presidential Palace Complex (click to enlarge)

Inching our way through the tangle of vans, motorbikes and cyclo drivers, our guide takes us to the Royal Palace built by King Norodom in 1866. We remove our shoes and enter an ornate Khmer style building used to receive the world’s royalty and ambassadors on state business. Today, it is open to the public. Next to the palace is the official residence of King Sihamoni, Sihanouk’s son. Our guide emphasizes that the king is in residence (which means he is in country) because an official flag is raised. We were told that the elder Sihanouk, age 88, who is referred to as the god-king, is living in China and unofficially is in control of Cambodian politics.

Located adjacent to the Palace is the Silver Pagoda. It gets its name from the 5000
silver tiles covering the floor. Again, we remove our shoes and enter. The silver floor is
roped off from foot traffic. Absolutely no photography allowed, so we just file it in our
memory. In the center of the room is a tremendous standing solid gold Buddha draped in
saffron (orange) colored cloth. Other Buddhas in various positions are placed around the
room. The most common is the one sitting in the meditative or lotus position. Another
Buddha is sitting but has one hand pointed to the earth. It refers to the story of Buddha
(Siddharta Gautama) being tempted by the evil one Mara. Siddhartha tells Mara “as earth
is my witness”, I will not succumb to your temptations and he doesn’t.

Carving on Pagoda Door Frame (click to enlarge)

Our guide does not want us to miss the Wat Phnom Temple located on a hill overlooking the tree-lined avenues. “According to legend, the first pagoda on this site was erected in 1373 to house four statues of Buddha deposited here by the waters of the Mekong River and discovered by Madam Penh. The main entrance to Wat Phnom is by the grand eastern staircase, which is guarded by lions and Naga (mythical serpent) balustrades.” Excerpt from Lonely Planet guide book.

After taking our shoes off and entering the temple we notice many Cambodians lighting incense and praying for their dead ancestors. It is a ritual practiced daily by devout Buddhas.

Outside, our guide, Mao Virak, shares with us his family’s story of living through the Khmer Roughe genocide.

Also posted in Asia, Lynne Mayhew, Travel | Tagged Asia, Cambodia, Travel | Leave a comment

Cambodia’s Past ~ One Man’s Story

By Ron | Published January 7, 2011

Mao Virak (click to enlarge)

Wat Phnom is a Buddhist Temple that has stood atop of the only hill in Phnom Penh since 1373. Late in the afternoon, as the sun was setting over Phnom Penh, we stood at its entrance talking with Mao Virak, our guide. Predictably, our conversation turned to the Killing Fields and “did you know of anyone who lost loved ones?” Everyone did. In the mid 1970’s the population of Cambodia was eight million. The Khmer Rouge killed two million people, a fourth of the country’s citizens. Our driver lost four family members and his wife’s family, six. At that most peaceful time of day, at the most serene place in Phnom Penh, Virak shared his story:

On April 17, 1975, the Khmer Rouge marched into Phnom Penh and began the systematic evacuation of the city and turning the entire country into a prison. They started by sending all intellectuals to the countryside for “re-education.” Virak’s father was a literature teacher and therefore considered an intellectual. In 1976, when Virak was seven, the Khmer Rouge soldiers came to his house and took his father away. The young boy ran after him but was turned back when one of the soldiers clubbed him with a rifle butt. He would never see his father again, a victim of the “Killing Fields.” His mother, brother and he fled to a small village in the countryside. When Virak was nine, the Khmer Rouge took him from his family to a concentration camp with several hundred other children. They lived in a cave and were forced to dig and carry dirt to construct rice paddies. The children barely survived on the little rice they were given and the roots and leaves they were able to scavenge. After two years Virak escaped. Not knowing his way home and afraid to ask for directions, he finally found his mother and brother’s village. What a tearful reunion. After two years his mother believed he had been killed. Feeling unsafe and fearing retributions from the Khmer Rouge, the family fled as refugees to the Vietnam border. The trek was fraught with danger. At that time, in late1978, the Vietnamese were invading Cambodia to liberate the country from the Khmer Rouge. They were advancing on the very roads Virak’s family were traveling. Fearing for their lives at the hands of the Vietnamese army, they left the highway and walked through rice paddies they knew were peppered with landmines. On January 7, 1979, Cambodia was liberated and soon after that Virak, his mother and brother returned to Phnom Penh. At that time there were only a few hundred people there. Most all of the over two million residents had either been killed or had fled the city. They went to their old home and found it was too damaged from bombs to live in so they took up residence in one of the hundreds of uninhabited houses in the city. Virak’s mother was able to find work in a shoe factory. Because of famine and civil strife life in Cambodia remained difficult for many years.

Today Mao Virak has a family and is a successful licensed tour guide. His mother is living in California and hopes to become a US citizen this year.

Presidential Palace in present day Phnom Penh, Cambodia (click to enlarge)

Also posted in Asia, Travel | Tagged Asia, Cambodia, Khmer Rouge, Travel | Leave a comment

Postcard from Angkor Wat, Cambodia

By Ron | Published November 9, 2010

Cambodia is quite a contrast to Vietnam – slower paced and less frenetic. Also a much smaller and less densely populated country, with a population of 14 million vs. 87 million in Vietnam. Prior to the Khmer Rouge genocide in the mid 70,s the population was 8 million. The Pol Pot killed over 2 million. Every family was affected. Paraplegics, victims of land mines, are a common sight.

Most of the images below are of the Temples ( Hindu early on but mostly Buddhist) of Angkor Wat built between the 8 th and 14 th centuries by a variety of ruling kings, each trying to out do the other. The bigger temples required up to 40,000 elephants and hundreds of thousands of slaves.

You will also see a few pictures of present day temples, etc.