Early in February I went with my friend Vickie to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat and its temples. It was a beautiful trip, well worthwhile and also very enlightening about an old culture: The Khmer empire. In Vietnam I met up with the Cham empire and visited their MySon temple which was very similar to the Kmer ones.

Angkor Wat is only one of the biggest and well preserved temples, about 5 km from Siem Reap. But there are many others in the neighborhood. The furthest away was Mealea, about 30 km away. All of them are either Buddhist or Hindu.

I became very interested and impressed by the history of the Khmer. Their empire (which in the early stages was called Funan by the Chinese) started in 600 CA but really reached its size and glory with King Jayavarman II in about 800 and lasted till about 1400.

The Siem Reap slideshow will give you an idea of what these temples look like. Some were renovated others are in the state they were found... overgrown with trees. All of them date between the 8th and 12th century.

One day we also attended a cello performance by the Swiss Dr. Beat Richner, a Swiss pediatrician and cellist (Beatocello). He is the founder of the Kantha Bopha children's hospital in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, a very unusual, dedicated and successful countryman of mine. He performs on his cello to make some money for his foundation by giving concerts.

After six days of visiting Siem Reap and many temples, we headed for Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. We went by boat in an eight hour trip via Tonle Sap lake, the largest freshwater lake in SE Asia. A funny little aside:
The Tonle Sap river feeds the lake and ultimately joins the Mekong. It is unusual for two reasons: its flow changes direction twice a year. The reason is that from November to May (Cambodia's dry season), the river drains into the Mekong. However during the wet season it reverses its flow and feeds the lake. The world is full of miracles.

In Phnom Penh I was very much reminded of the Khmer Rouge time with Pol Pot from 1975-79. I read a biography of this horrible character. In his past he studied in France and was a well liked teacher in Cambodia. But he was a very secretive person about whom it is difficult to write a biography because so much is unknown. In any case, when he took power in Phnom Penh in 1975, he and his regime were very cruel. At first they emptied the whole city of Phnom Penh and then killed and persecuted the residents and the rest of Cambodia's population. They planted so many land mines all over that even today, after much cleaning up, there are still occasional accidents. All of this is one of the reson for the many handicapped citizens today.
If you are interested, I can recommend a book I read while there: Loung Ung: First they killed my father - the memory of a Cambodian daughter.
The writing is such that I felt as if I were in the middle of the events.

Perhaps the most distressing fact is that Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge became more powerful because of the United States' heavy, indiscriminate bombing of eastern Cambodia during the Vietnam war. They wanted to destroy the Viet Minh's supply line to the south which went through Cambodia. Though they supported the non communist government, when Pol Pot came to power they supported him partially. (I should say "we" rather than the way I phrased.)

So much for my Cambodian trip. I really want also to visit Myanmar and Laos in the future. I have been living on my boat in Singapore already almost three years. The condition of residence is that I leave the country every 90 days and then return. Well I have learned to take a multi passenger taxi trips to Johor (across the straits in Malaysia) and return the same day. But I have really become interested in the region and its history and am planning to use the excuse of a visa renewal to see more.

In the meantime I am back in Singapore busy with volunteering for the development of On Lok type projects, relearning Mandarin, taking water color lessons, taking care of the boat, swimming and enjoying this interesting place.

SEE SLIDESHOWS BELOW!
AFTER YOU WATCH THE SLIDES ON CAMBODIA, PLEASE VISIT MY BLOG ON THE ORANGUTANS !!!!!!!