The Stuff that Dreams are Made Of

January 10 (Day 3)

Angkor Wat - We spent an entire day exploring this monumental edifice, starting and ending the day in the same spot atop the towers without even consciously setting out to do so. It's interesting to note that there are more Khmers + Japanese here than anyone else, by far, and they've both been great for people-watching in their own ways. It's obvious why the Khmers dig it so much... Just look at the carvings and faces on the statues... It must be thrilling to see the same beautiful faces with their almond-shaped eyes and full lips gazing back. The Japanese are HILARIOUS to watch and have become a fun part of the experience here... They're really into photography and each person in a group has his/her own, distinct pose. Some even hire costumed dancers to pose with them for photos.



January 12 (Day 5)

The Bayon - Struck speechless, again. Ho-Lee-Shit this one's a mind-blower! Over a hundred faces gazing out towards the cardinal points. Buddhas. What to say to that?! The pale green lichen softens the stone even after the work of the elements for over a thousand years.

I was thinking about Cambodia in general today and how it's really grown on me. SO much about it on the surface is unimpressive. It's dusty + characterless and the cities look like any crappy burb of San Jose, L.A., or even Honduras. But these OTHER things - The way the kids talk that are trying to sell you bracelets + cold drinks is just about the cutest, most endearing English either of us have ever heard in our LIVES; The fact that there are more 2-wheeled vehicles on the road this side of Holland; That you can rent a bicycle and they don't ask you for a scrap of info or collateral, you just drive off and pay when you return it; The lack of copyright laws here making music, books + movies basically FREE and readily available to all; The fishing villages that have somehow remained trapped in time; The sauciness of the people in general, especially the women, rivals that of the Cubans; That anything and everything is available here for a price - All this makes it unique to other countries we've traveled through and makes us intrigued to delve deeper.



January 14 (Day 7)

Preah Khan - Telescoping corridors through an infinity of doors. Huge slabs of stone overhead, under foot, encircling me like a womb. You would think I'd feel intimidated inside this mass of stone, but instead, it cools... It comforts. What a MASSIVE amount of human energy to create temples such as this - Stones brought from far away mountains, YEARS of work, THOUSANDS of skilled builders + craftsmen... And all eventually abandoned for the jungle to reclaim... And now, for us to journey through like explorers. To be IN such a spiritual space... Stone crumbling, Birds calling, Mind reeling, Golden yellow leaves fluttering down through filtered light... Wow!

The tree! It's been so long since I've seen any of my old photos that I'd forgotten... And at first I didn't even fully understand what I was seeing... The beautiful, arcing twin had been struck dead by lightning! This used to be the famous "entwined tree"... Still impressive, but to have seen it before and not to have known! The continuation of our exploration of the temple brought many more deja vu/dreamlike moments... There's something about these places I'm revisiting - Architecture. There are so few places that I've returned, but they've all been monuments in some respect. There's something about how I feel when I'm there that's transcendent... Like my idea of what "heaven" might be like. The spaces have power... Mana.

I keep being reminded of some of the Buddhist principles -
"Impermanence" - Of man vs. nature. Nature WILL win. You can see it happening before your very eyes in these temples where trees are both supporting + tearing the structures apart.
"Mindfulness" - We've been asked if it's harder to get inspired now that we've been traveling for so long. Does every day become a little more the same? The answer, at least for me, is a resounding "No!" We've both seen MANY temples + ruins in our lifetimes and we're STILL wowed. I had much the same feeling on the Annapurna circuit + in Ladakh, India. Each day COULD'VE been JUST another mountain or JUST another monastery, but if you slow down enough to become mindful then experience becomes the people and the light, the serenity... The things that are sometimes SO hard to appreciate in our hectic, western lives. Mindfulness is a choice for us westerners and doesn't come naturally, even here. I'm working on it.

We finished off the day, and our week-long visit, with a return to the Bayon. The golden glow had already left, as had the tourists, so we had the place virtually to ourselves. We stayed until a guard finally asked us to leave. We hadn't even had time in the week to squeeze in a second visit to Angkor Wat, so to compensate we now opted to do as the local tourists do every evening - Find a vacant spot on the banks of the moat and drink beers by candlelight while watching the triple-towered silhouette fade to black.



January 15 (Day 8)

Phnom Krom - Wow, what a week! Darin equated it to the end of "burn" week and our beaten-down, overwhelmed, emotionally-drained exhaustion does bear remarkable similarity. What to say about Angkor? Words are mostly inadequate. Even having been here before I find myself still at a loss. The sheer expanse + number of temples alone has something to do with it, as does the setting. Biking through this forest "park" from temple to temple gave us a deep appreciation for both these points. Another facet that I hadn't clearly articulated until Darin pointed it out was the people-watching. In a place like this, people are so awed that they let their guard down... They're silly. They laugh easily. I found it much easier to let my guard down as well this time because of the change the country has undergone in just the past 7 years - There's ALOT more money here now. This time, we weren't subjected to scores of begging children, lepers + landmine victims always reaching out to you. The children are still around, but they're WAY more charming + less desperate. We saw but one leper in the entire week, thankfully, and landmine victims have started up bands at each of the major temples (The Phnom Bakheng Sextet, etc.) and even sell cd's! Cambodia + Cambodians have had a ROUGH history, until just recently, but with political stability the tourists have come flooding in. It still is a poor country, but the trickle-down effect of the dollar seems to be making life a little bit easier for everyone, and it shows. Thailand isn't the ONLY "Land of Smiles".

Check the "link" for more Angkor temple photos