Angkor Wat is something you just have to see for yourself. This is the second time I've visited the temples and they were just as exciting this time as they were the last, minus the droves of Korean tourists. The temples were built over a period of several hundred years by rulers who names I can not even get close to pronouncing, or even spelling. Many were built in the 11th and 12th centuries and took many years to construct as the stones were carved out of a holy mountain nearly 50km and floated on rafts down a small river where they were assembled and further carved. Most were built with the single intention of pleasing a god, usually a Hindu or Buddhist one depending on the religion of the ruling king at the time. Along with temples there were several moats and giant lakes built. One of the lakes was 5 miles long and 2 miles wide and was built for no apparent reason. Anthropologists first thought it was used to hold water in the dry season so the occupants could farm rice year round, but investigations have found zero proof of that. Within the temples there would have been many statues and carvings of the deity, but during Khmer Rouge and subsequent civil war, the temples were plundered and much of the art was sold off. Many of the faces or heads were broken off and sold to art collectors. What remained is housed in several museums in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. The temples were still astounding nonetheless. The only drawback is that Angkor Wat seems to be a tourist hot spot for Koreans. There were swarms and swarms of them everywhere, and they have some interesting mannerisms to say the least. To finish off the day our Tuk-Tuk driver (Chet) took us to hilltop temple to watch the sunset. We got to know Chet pretty well while we were waiting for the sun to set. He invited us to his house for lunch if we gave him a little money so his wife could buy a few things to prepare. We jumped at the chance to see how a Cambodian actually lives. We gave him ten bucks and arranged to meet him the next day. He made sure to tell us that he rented and he only had one room without a table or chairs. He seemed embarrassed about it be we all assured him it was no big deal.
The next day he picked us up and took us to his place which turned out to be about a 10 room apartment complex. Chet told us his rent was 50 bucks a month, which was more than most cambodians pay, but he could afford it because both him and his wife work year-round. The room was very clean and about as big as most houses master bedroom. We were excited about the food, but we had no idea the feast that awaited us. His wife had cooked a whole chicken, as well as a whole fish. There was heaps of steamed rice and sliced carrots, cucumbers and cabbage. We all agreed it was the best meal we have had the entire trip. In the end we all abandoned our forks and spoons and started to do it there style, with our fingers. Chet showed us that for this meal most people crab a slice of vegetable, pile some rice and meat on, then dip it in this home made sauce and chow down. The sauce was some kind of tamarind-chile thing and it was unreal good. Al ended up eating the ducks head. Chet kept telling him to stick the whole thing in his mouth and chew off the good parts. Ashley and I cracked up while Al put it in his mouth, but just couldn't get it cleaned off like Chet had hoped. He was also the only one brave enough to try the Chicken heart and lungs, which had been cooked along with the rest of it. In the end our lunch was one of my most favorite thing we had done so far. We all thanked Chet's wife for the meal and got back in Chet's Tuk-Tuk, and headed for the landmine museum.
The Landmine museum was created by a former Khmer Rouge (I will talk about these guys later) boy soldier who was tasked with laying the mines while he was in service. At the age of ten he was forced into duty by the Khmer Rouge. He was given an AK-47 and taught to shoot it. He was also taught how to lay landmines. Several years later he defected from the Khmer Rouge and joined the Vietnamese Army, where he laid landmines intended to keep the Khmer Rouge out of the countries capitol. The museum is filled with all kinds of pictures and stories of the de-mining operations he carries out. Since he became so familiar with laying the mines he is apparently good at disarming them. He estimates that he has disarmed around 50,000 mines. Seeing as Cambodia remains one of the most heavily mined countries in the world this is only a fraction of what is estimated to be remaining (several million). It was a neat museum and the proceeds benefited a group of orphan kids who lived at the museum.
Chet took us back to our place and we thanked him for everything. The next day we were headed to Batambang to ride the "bamboo train."
Garrett
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