Angkor Wat and Bahgkok

We spent the afternoon at Angkor Wat; it’s massive and surprisingly well preserved for what it with stood over the 700 years of neglect. We spent four hours in the temple and came to the understanding that this massive structure was solely for the purpose of paying homage to the king of the era and the gods that he worshiped, no one lived in the temple and once the king died all work stopped and the temple became passé as the new king started construction on his own temple to honor himself.

We stayed at Angkor Wat until sunset so as to catch the opportunity to photograph the temple in the setting sun light as its image reflected by the pools in its foreground. Our guide Thai and driver Mr. Sun provides wine, beef jerky and the best cashews I have ever had to toast our visit to Angkor Wat.

I feel luck that I had the opportunity to see Angkor Wat before it becomes fully commercialized; I have no doubt that if the Cambodian government shows some stability over the next several years international investors will come forward with money, knowledge and ambitions to turn Angkor Wat into one of the worlds premier tourist attractions. Currently Germany, Italy, Japan, France, and the U.S. all lead restoration efforts on one of the temples locate in the Angkor area, thus establishing some level of involvement in the future of the area.

Wednesday morning we were on our own so we made our way to the Angkor National Museum. I regret that we did not go to the museum on the first day that we arrived in Siem Reap. The museum did an outstanding job of putting the history, the religious influence, and the meaning of many of the icons in focus. We stopped on the way back to our hotel for lunch which cost $3.75, a meal that would have cost $18.00 in Birmingham.

Our afternoon was spent at the killing fields where over 3000 people were killed and buried; this was one of 3200 such locations that served as execution mills between 1975 and 1979 as the Khmer Rouge attempted to rid Cambodia of anyone who resisted or was opposed to the revolution. They took over the high school building and turned it into a prison. After a three step interigation designed to get the prisoner to revel 10 other enemies of the revelation 30 to 40 prisoners were marched a quarter of a mile to an open field with strip pits where their heads were bashed and throats slit by the soldiers who were between 15 and 20 years old. The bodies were dumped in shallow graves and the process was continued each night from 6 pm to 12 am. The killing fields are now home to a Buddhist Monastery as well as a memorial to the victims. It was an excursion that I could have lived without but the trip would not have been complete if we had not gone.

I would highly recommend a visit to Cambodia; if you’re adventurous and interested in one of the 7 manmade wonders of the world. This part of our trip could be done on your own without the assistance of a tour company. The hotels are all new and inexpensive, the local transportation is cheap and the food is good and inexpensive. The only irritant is the street argents, young children selling postcards, local crafts, and books. They latch on to you, give you a well rehearsed sales pitch and then a hard close, that all failing they attempt to physically wear you down until you either buy or find refuge in your bus or van. Upon telling a 10 year old girl, “Sorry I don’t want your postcards,” she replied, “Sorry dosen’t pay the bills.”

Our excursion to Cambodia complete we caught an hour flight back to Bangkok.

Bangkok is a big city, 6 million people all trying to get from here to there. We added 5 more travelers for the balance of our trip, a Brooklyn couple now retired in Fort Lauderdale, a Hawaiian couple and Victor a 60ish gentleman from Chile now living in Miami. Victor and I will get along well. Our group from the Cambodian leg includes a couple from the Palm Springs area, our friend Michael and Marcia and Jerry and Jennifer all from Vero Beach, Bill from Green Bay and Deb. I need to elaborate on Deb; she’s a delight, from Washington DC works for the United Health Organization, 45 years old, attractive, physically fit, and Jewish, looking for the right man. I just may know someone that she should consider, Deb and I have been talking about my friend currently living in Chicago.

Today we went through the flower market, a general market, and a food market all full of activity, color and accommodating people. Then we were off to catch our boat that took us through the extensive canal and river system that was a major part of Bangkok’s transportation system in its early days. Today the river serves to move heavy cargo and the canals to supply daily markets throughout the city. Our first stop was at Aura Temple, a series of ornate towers the tallest of which stood about 100 feet tall. Deb and I climbed to the 70 ft point, as high as you could go for a magnificent view of the river and the Royal Palace. The steps were at a 70 degree angle producing a real thigh burning climb in the 97 degree heat. At mid day we stopped by “Rurn Kyun Yaai” for a cooking demonstration followed by lunch. The cooking demonstration was on Red Curry Rice and our hostess Surajit Rmphansaeng should have her own TV cooking show. We were in her home right on the canal which had been a wedding gift from her in-laws. This was not of the quality of your home but a far cry from the two homes that we visited in Cambodia. The upstairs was full of musical instruments, and attractive furniture. Surajit’s son, Basketball, assisted with the preparation and serving and her daughter, Book, attended the University. (the names are correct) Lunch consisted of five courses and was far superior to the Thai food that we get in Birmingham and we have good Thai restaurants in Birmingham. I presented Basketball with one of my Best of Us – Best of US ball caps which brought a big smile to the 15 year olds face.

Back in the boat we wound our way back into the heart of Bangkok stopping at the Royal Barge Museum. This is collection of decorative longboats that the numerous Kings of Thailand used to move up and down the river; there were no pictures allowed in an effort to promote postcard sales. We bid farewell to our boat driver and hoped on the bus stopping at a tailor shop. Needing a new blue blazer I told Jack, a young salesman, that I wanted the highest quality fabric and finest workmanship. This warranted a trip upstairs to see the good stuff. My blazer “top quality blazer” started at $345 but after several trips to the front door by me we setteled at a price of $250 and a pair of tailored slacks for $57. I have to go back tomorrow evening for a fitting and my new duds should be ready the following evening before we leave Bangkok. I realize it’s all a bit of a sales gimmick for the tour company to collect a commission but I think I made a good deal, besides they served “Elephant Beer” as we were being sold so I got a bit of a buzz for my $307 as well.

Friday morning started at 6am with a walk to the park where we joined 3000 other people for morning exercise. Just as we saw in China two years ago morning exercise is an important part of the Thai people’s life. There were hundreds of groups dressed in different colored tee-shirts doing different forms of exercise, some with fans, some with swords and others doing conventional forms of exercise. The six of us joined a group of about 100 people doing stretching and breathing exercise. After a half hour we introduced ourselves to the leader and the 83 year old coach and were offered front row positions the next time we attended.

Our tour was offering an optional tour for the day but we opted out and chose to find our own way around Bangkok. Our group wanted to experience the public transportation system and not be tied to regimented schedule. We found the subway system to be clean easy to understand and foreigner friendly. We emerged not far from Chinatown where we became emerged in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok daily life. For two hours we rubbed shoulders with the citizens of Bangkok, I saw no more than a half dozen people who were tourists, we asked questions, photographed, and moved through their crowded stalls of merchandise and were never hassled, threatened or treated rudely. The Asian people don’t get mad, they are always kind, and greet you with hands together below their chin and a bow.

With more ground to cover and temperatures in the mid 90’s we contracted with two Tut-tut drivers to shuttle us from site to site. They agreed to carry the seven of us for an hour for 50 baht per Tut-tut this is equal to $1.50. We went to the Standing Buddha, the Lucky Buddha, and one of the key temples in the city. We then went to the Expo Center a tourist jewelry scam, that if we stayed over 5 minutes our Tut-tut drivers got a gasoline voucher. For lunch Michael had found a restaurant that had been written up in the New York Times and Washington Post as a real find. The place seated no more than 20 people and we were the only patrons at 12:30 pm. We were greeted by a plump woman who obviously owned and ran the establishment. The menu became a problem, so she announced that she was going to prepare the food put it on the table and we could eat what we wanted and leave what we didn’t like. We were presented sticky rice, stir fry vegetables, yellow curry chicken, sweet pork, sweet and sour fish, something banana, crispy noodles, and red curry pork. Michael and I had two 24oz beers everyone else had sparkling water of soda. It was a magnificent meal, everything was eaten and Nita and my share of the bill came to 456 Baht or $14.50 including tip.

We caught two more Tut-tuts and resumed our sight-seeing.