After a lunch and a much needed nap (these were a necessary feature of our time in Angkor) we set off again—this time to Preah Rup. Compared to what we had seen it was a plain temple but Chenda brought it to life for us when he talked about cremation rituals. Standing before a large stone grave-like receptacle, he told us how the fire was formed below, and how perfume would be placed in the wide groove around the top rim. The eldest son walked around the fire three times—similar to a present day Hindu ceremony. Then Chenda took us to small roofed area where, over a shape like a yoni, he told us that when his brother died recently he performed the task of cleaning the bones. Several large white bones were selected (dark ones might bring bad luck to the family) and were washed in preparation for internment in a small silver stupa-shaped urn. While we were gathered around the yoni, Chenda also told us about the placement of Shiva Lingas (Linga and Yoni are male and female principle representations). The direction of the channel from the Yoni must always face North and further to that if Cambodians wish to conceive they always sleep facing North. Never would they sleep with their head to the West—since West is the direction of death.

We then passed by the East Mabon Temple—only a short stop there but enough time to appreciate that on each corner and each level two-metre high carvings of elephants stood facing outwards.

From the temple of cremations we went to the hospital temple—Neak Prean—by now we really were getting a grip on the scale of this enormous city of temples! This temple was quite different. It did not rise but was recessed into the ground. Chenda explained that the temple used four basic symbols—the elephant representing water (faces North), the lion representing fire (faces South), the human representing earth (facing East) and the horse representing wind (faces West). Khmers came to Neak Prean to bath in the hot springs and be treated with natural herbal medicines.

At many of the temples small bands sat playing Khmer instruments. Band members were usually victims of war with missing limbs, scars, and some were blind. Their music added a great deal of ambience to the experience of the temples. At one temple all of the players were children. Of course at every temple we were besieged with sellers—’only one dollar’ was their catch cry.

The last temple we saw on Day 10 was Preah Khan, ‘The Sacred Sword’, where we marveled at the two-story library—with columns rather like Greek or Roman style. Chenda pointed out the best carvings and led us to the area devoted to dancing. The walls and carvings had a lovely red glow and the Apsara carvings were among the best we saw.

This night we saw traditional dancing at the Koulen Restaurant. At last we saw what a dancing Apsara might have been like. The dance was surprisingly slow with concentration on twisting and bending of the feet and knees. The best dancer had remarkably long fingers and palms that could bend back gracefully. One dancer was double jointed—she could bend her arm backwards in a very disturbing way. The girls were beautiful—with high cheekbones, big open eyes and wide full lips.

Day 11 Our last full day at Angkor. By now we were getting exhausted and many of us certainly had ‘temple legs and feet’. My ankles would disappear around lunchtime and I wouldn’t see them again until the next day!

We had a long drive through the countryside where at last we had a glimpse of the lives of ordinary Khmers. The road was lined with small wooden houses on stilts with storage below. We stopped briefly at one little house. Chenda showed us a cashew fruit and cooked us a cashew. This was one of the primary products produced here. At the back of the house a man was tending his huge wok where he boiled the fruits from palm trees to make small sugar blocks and a little girl sat sewing reeds to mend the roof … her brother squatted nearby cuddling his puppy.

We arrived at Banteay Srei—Chenda’s favourite temple and it became the favorite for many of us too. It was the first temple to be restored and is referred to as ‘a jewel in Khmer art’. Banteay is 10th Century, one of the earliest and it is special firstly because of the beautiful warm-toned sandstone that it was created from. It is not a large temple, nor grandiose, but very human in scale. The carvings are simply perfect—deep and rich in stories and the characters of Hinduism. The stories of Shiva were played out in the carvings above the doorways.

By now our group was becoming well versed in the divinities and trying to grasp the particular signatory features of the individual deities and how you can tell who is who. For instance: Shiva rides a bull, Indra an elephant, Vishnu a Garuda (if he is in war mode), or a snake if he is in meditation, Scanda, the son of Shiva rides a peacock, Yama, the God of Death rides a water buffalo, Brahma rides a swan and the Bodhisattva a horse, and Ackay rides a tiger. Some of us thought we had all this under control till we saw a carving of someone on a pig!

Soon we were on our way to see Banteay Samre—the temple built for the slaves of Angkor. This was a smaller, darker temple—it was very quiet and many of the walls and carvings were covered with a green black mold. Of course it was smaller—a temple for slaves could never be as grand as that for the king!

Finally on that morning we called at the Temple of the Leper King back in the Angkor Thom complex. There were new things to discover even here. This temple had corridors with rich, deep and terrifying carvings—mostly related to Yama, the God of Death. Prisoners and criminals would be led through these corridors and told of the horrors that awaited them in the after life if they were going with Yama to his world.

To the side and above the terrace is the statue of the Leper King; though this was not the real one—it rests in the Museum in Phnom Penh. He crouches looking outwards across the Royal Enclosure. There are many theories about who he is—one is that the king was a leper himself and he built the hospital temple because of it. Another theory says that he got his name because of the lichen that grows on it.

We had seen all the temples on our program now—and in the bus on the way back to the hotel for lunch Chenda put us through a little quiz to test what we remembered and we had not remembered enough!

We had no time for a rest after lunch on our last day in Siem Reap; we were to go to the Floating Village. This was quite an astounding afternoon and for some even a shocking place to visit. Soon after we were out of town the road became very dusty and we ‘danced’ over the bumps. The houses became more fragile and since the road was often narrow as we passed we could see right into the main rooms. The people had very little furniture in fact they had very little of anything at all. There were occasional splashes of color from bright rugs and in one window there were tiny paper windmills spinning in the breeze.

The road was along the top of a dike and Chenda told us it is washed away every year and has to be rebuilt. As we neared the end of the dike we all grew quiet and stared. The poverty, dust, living conditions and general squalor was shocking. But Chenda assured us that they can still make a living even in the dry season through the catching of small fish for drying and exporting. I opened the window for a moment to photograph the tiny fish spread out to dry but the stench hit us immediately. Even some 2 hours later it lingered in the bus! How do the people cope with the smell? Further on the canal beside the road became a river and eventually the river opened onto the great lake.

There were all sorts of houseboats on the river—they even had a hospital and an environment centre (surrounded by mess). We arrived at the Tourist Centre and loaded onto long boats—loading was amusing since we had to step onto a garden chair then onto the boat itself.

Then we set off to see the floating village and the way people live. They were very used to being observed—many smiled and waved. Nevertheless it was a strange experience for us. The houses were like shacks on rafts though many were nicely painted and with pot plants and touches of color. After a short stop at a floating shop we returned passing the ice cream-man-boat, a robed monk on a houseboat call, and children boating their way home from school.

The journey back to town, as always, seemed faster than the journey to the Floating Village and we went directly to the artisan’s store. This was our first serious shopping opportunity since we left Saigon and we were eager to see what they had. It was all very expensive…but we managed with some conniving and secrecy to buy a carving for Ursula to commemorate the trip we made to Cambodia under her wing.

We made two subsequent shopping stops and then somewhat satiated we assembled for the final dinner of our tour at the Thai Restaurant. Anais and Claire Lise Schumacher made their wonderful speeches on our behalf to Ursula, and Shigeko presented the gifts. The night was full of amusement especially when Peter Casaula wanted us to have a meaningful exchange with

the table of Japanese gentlemen sitting beside us. Shigeko did the honors of explaining MVP to them and told us about their purpose in Cambodia—there followed a round of bowing, laughing and photographs, and a most unusual rendition of Auld lang syne—it was all very fitting for our last night.  Next day we headed back to Manila but for many our hearts and minds were still in the temples we had seen.
At Banteay Srei

Nothing prepares you for Angkor Wat — it left an impression that dominated and distracted my thoughts for days to come — an experience of another time and another world….

photos by Ursula Illner with photos from Carolyn Fitzpatrick, Sony Ng, and Rose Wehrli