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Post by hwinpp on Nov 17, 2009 6:04:56 GMT
In February I joined a couple of people on a trip to Siem Reap via Kampong Thom, Tbeng Meanchey, Preah Vihear and Anlong Veng. This resulted in some photos that will be interesting for people who plan to travel in the dry season, which is actually the only season you can travel in the northwest without a load of hassle. I'll start off in Sambor Prey Kuk. It is now within half an hour of Kampong Thom. I went there in 2008 in the wet season and it took over two hours. Sambor Prey Kuk is the modern name of the ancient Chenla capital called Isanapura. Building began in the early 7th century but there are indications that there were several forerunner dwellings. There are about 150 temples and towers spread over roughly 300 hectares.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 17, 2009 6:14:12 GMT
About 3 hours along the track to the north get you to Tbeng Meanchey. It's halfway to Preah Vihear and the Thai border. On the way there we stopped at another solitary pre Angkorian ruin, Prasat Krapum Chouk. It's remarkably well preserved and I didn't get the impression it got many visitors. It would be better to have a local driver to take you there as you might miss the sign that's all in Khmer anyway. Our guest house The main road in Tbeng Meanchey Getting to Prasat Krapum Chouk
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 6:24:26 GMT
I absoutely adore traveling through the Cambodian countryside. And I love the exuberant architecture of the modern guesthouses -- they absolutely cannot stand to build a square box building!
More to come?
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 17, 2009 6:38:56 GMT
After overnighting in Tbeng Meanchey, where this critter was running around the entrance, we carried on to the object of our desire, Preah Vihear: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preah_Vihear_TempleBut because the Thais had been up to no good the night before (bombed the border further west) the army were a bit jittery and didn't let us go up. A bit disappointing (I was there the second time without being able to go up). This is all we could see After lunch and refreshments here we continued on towards Anlong Veng, one of the last KR occupied areas. Reaching Anlong Veng in the late afternoon we decided to have a look at the border and the market immediately as light was failing. This is what was left of the tribunal in which Pol Pot was sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life by Ta Mok, the one- legged butcher, ex- monk and onetime trusted lieutenant.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 17, 2009 7:02:58 GMT
We spent the night in Anlong Veng, there are lots of guest houses and restaurants around now, including a casino we didn't go to. There's an ACLEDA bank with an ATM now, check their website to see which cards are accepted. The next morning we went back up to the escarpment to see Ta Mok's house. And his truck And this shrine in his house. People up there still like and respect him. All new in Anlong Veng. You can see the central roundabout in the distance. The ACLEDA bank is behind where I am standing, it's on the road east out of town. And the new 118km to Siem Reap. And finally the view over the Cambodian plains from the escarpment:
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 17, 2009 8:15:22 GMT
I absoutely adore traveling through the Cambodian countryside. And I love the exuberant architecture of the modern guesthouses -- they absolutely cannot stand to build a square box building! More to come? I completely missed your post, Jack. Traveling in the dry season is hot and dusty. You can see the difference if you compare with some of my more recent picture posts of trips around Phnom Penh during the rainy season. That GH was indeed a nice surprise. As you can see it's very new meaning the air con worked all night and there was good water pressure even on the second floor. And how come you can see the pics? Did you find some software that gets around your office's firewall?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 12:49:23 GMT
Pictures 4 and especially 5 are amazing,with the bare trees. Primordial and very magical. I never tire of looking at shrines and temples. Thank you hw.
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Post by imec on Nov 17, 2009 13:54:01 GMT
thanks HW, this is great! I love those red things that pass for roads ;D (although the new one looks great). These temples often seem to be in the middle of nowhere... is that in fact the case? And why?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 14:14:26 GMT
And how come you can see the pics? Did you find some software that gets around your office's firewall? I saw the first set of pictures before I left home this morning. I haven't been able to see any of the others yet (although I will have seen them before you get back online tomorrow morning).
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 17, 2009 16:13:01 GMT
This is so interesting in so many ways, HW. Not to harp on this, but I'm surprised again that your seasons are so much like the seasons where I live. Something trite I fixated on: the earth is so red there. I guess that turns into the slickest kind of red clay in the rainy season, right?
As Casimira said, the wispiness of the trees adds to the "magical clearing" aspect of the site -- really beautiful. I am completely in love with the 2nd photo. Well, all of the pictures are outstanding, both informatively and photographically. Another one that appeals to me greatly is that ruined tower or stele with the tracery of bamboo in front of it.
HW, were you just careful in your picture-taking angles, or is the temple area really that deserted? Also, is it archeologically protected at all? The detail in that wonderful wall in photo #3 looks in danger of being lost to the elements, for instance.
Gosh, I hope you have another good chance to visit Preah Vihear. I can definitely see why you want to got there.
Do you know why Ta Mok's memory is still respected in that region?
Sorry for all the questions, but this is so interesting and it's a real treat to be able to talk about it with you.
That last picture is incredible!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 18:11:07 GMT
Now that I have seen all of the (fantastic) pictures, I demand that HW take a trip on the clay roads during the rainy season so that everybody can appreciate what an extraordinary experience it is. My very first time was before the road from Poipet to Siem Reap had been repaired. I had paid for the back seat of a pickup (with 3 other people = 4, although there was only room for 3 people total), which was both good and bad. On the good side, I was still mostly clean when we finally arrived in Siem Reap (after 8 hours on this 140 km segment), while the 10 or so people riding on the back looked like the mud people of New Guinea when we arrived. On the bad side, we teetered on too many two-plank bridges which made me realize that if we fell in the river, there was no escape possible, unlike the lucky muddy people in the back (who would get clean at the same time). Our longest delay was about two hours at a horrendous mud pit, where 6 or 7 trucks were already trapped. Most of the people were negotiating a change of vehicle in the waiting zones, i.e. paying vehicles on each side to turn around and go back where they came from, after a change of passengers and cargo. However, I truly believe that we had the very best driver in the world, because he got us through the pit, spinning his wheels in the mud, twisting the steering wheel from side to side, revving the engine, and we finally popped out like a turd after some determined constipated pushing (and too bad for the people in back). Unfortunately there was no way to take a picture of any of this. Even though I am a non believer, I was probably praying to the Virgin Mary and all of the saints. So that is your mission, HW. Don't forget your camera.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2009 23:03:49 GMT
Wow hw, nice pics.
That last one in #4 is just amazing.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 18, 2009 3:10:12 GMT
Civilization in Cambodia seems to go right back to the Bronze Age, 4- 6000 years ago. The area has been continuously inhabited since then. There's still a lot of stuff around that was built before the Angkor Empire but most is from around 800- 1400 AD. In a place called Kampong Kdei, NR6 (the main highway from Phnom Penh to the northwest) went right over an 800 year old bridge until 2005, with all the trucks, buses and cars barreling accross it! The roads have improved immensely since I arrived here in 2006. But there are still enough 'red' roads around to have some dirt bike fun with. The road Jack wrote about was legendary. It went from the border to Siem Reap which is where Angkor is located. 155km but at a bad time of the year you could spend 8 hours on it. I've been lucky, my longest trip was just 5 hours and now that it's been paved, good taxi drivers do it in about 2 hours. The whole overland trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap can now be done in about 7 comfortable hours. Right. One problem I had when I lived in the northwest was that I couldn't keep my white shits and t- shirts white. They're all slightly redish now and the shirts I've had to replace completely. There does seem to be something magical/mystical about Cambodia. To me the Khmer language must be the language that the people in Lovecraft's Cthulhu fantasy worlds must have been speaking, the people are sooo superstitious, the countryside so peaceful yet containing among the worst horrors of humanity. This is a bit of a touchy subject in Cambodia. There's very little money for pre Angkorian temples, and even less for even older digs and research. The reason is that the Cambodian government (including all past governments) sees Angkor as the fount from which Khmer civilization sprang. So anything built after 800 gets lots of government support, anything built before gets none. Sambor Prey Kuk has been plagued by robbers for ever, temples collapse in the rainy season but I've never seen anybody digging there. Preah Vihear on the other hand was built by what the Khmers consider their greatest king, Jayavarman VII (the guy whose face served as a model for the Bayon faces). So it gets funds. That and of course the fact that it's ownership is being contested by Thailand. He wasn't so much a 'political' Khmer Rouge as a 'military' KR. He was quite successful fighting the VN in the Mekong Delta, he was successful in the rearguard action after the VNese invaded, and later on, after he had been driven to his mountain hideout in the Elephant Mountains he successfully kept the Thais out of Cambodian territory. He had Pol Pot tried and put under house arrest (and a lot of Cambodians believe he had him killed too). And he and Duch were the only KR cadres who actually served substantial amounts of time in prison. Thanks, D. The view is spectacular. Some locals told me that on clear days you can see the Great Lake but somehow I doubt this, it's about 130km away... As for my mission Jack, I'll see what I can do.
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Post by cristina on Nov 18, 2009 3:55:06 GMT
HW, your pictures and text are fascinating to me. I confess too much ignorance about any part of Asia and your posts really make me want to know more. Right. One problem I had when I lived in the northwest was that I couldn't keep my white shits and t- shirts white. They're all slightly redish now and the shirts I've had to replace completely. I'm not sure that I want to know more about that, though.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 18, 2009 4:10:36 GMT
It's the fine, red dust, Cris. What were you suspecting
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Post by cristina on Nov 18, 2009 4:16:31 GMT
It's the fine, red dust, Cris. What were you suspecting LOL! Nice try.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 18, 2009 16:15:47 GMT
HW, your pictures and text are fascinating to me. I confess too much ignorance about any part of Asia and your posts really make me want to know more. What she said! Thank you so much for your really complete and clear answers. I'm afraid I might exhaust you with questions, as every detail makes me want to know more. What a great and delicate thought about the Khmer language and Lovecraft! What are the Bayon faces, please?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2009 18:04:22 GMT
Since HW is sleeping the sleep of the blessed at the moment, I will answer about the Bayon. The Bayon is one of the two most famous temples of Angkor Wat. The faces all look like this. The whole temple looks like this. In the movie Apocalypse Now, much use was made of Bayon faces.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 19, 2009 2:01:55 GMT
Look carefully at each and every tower, each one has four faces.
In Jack's second picture, check out the second tower from the right. You can see the face in profile.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 19, 2009 3:17:30 GMT
Oh -- you're right! It is perfectly in profile. Those towers with their faces and their eternal, enigmatic smiles are so surpassingly beautiful that it's hard to believe they came from the hands of mere mortals.
HW, did you have a strong interest in Cambodian history, politics, etc. before you moved there? From the way you write about it, you must feel very at home there.
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Post by hwinpp on Nov 19, 2009 3:54:21 GMT
No. I actually came here by accident I was looking for a job in Laos after I left Germany. I live here, I'm not considering leaving, they're interesting times now and yes, I'm interested in the country. Phnom Penh is still so small I've met quite a few people who've written books on all aspects of Cambodia, so it remains interesting. I bought a visa for Cambodia in 1991 but chickened out
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Post by Deleted on Nov 19, 2009 6:11:28 GMT
1991 was still a bit early to go. I met a couple who went around that time, and they said there were no working streetlights in Phnom Penh at all in those days and there were just some braseros to mark the main intersections at night. Trying to walk anywhere at night was extremely dangerous, not only because of the thieves but also all of the manhole covers had been stolen for the metal, so there were unexpected black holes everywhere.
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