Author Archives: Travis

Bayon Temple – the 200 faces of Lokesvara, Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia

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From Ankor Wat we cycled to Ankor Tom, literally Great City, passing through the south gate and towards the central Bayon Temple.

Bayon Temple is famous for the large carved faces protruding from above the temple. The hundreds of faces are that of Lokesvara the bodhisattva, Walking around the temple was quite surreal as openings led to being presented by the images of a large stone face. At the lower levels were a maze of passageways which were easy to get lost in.

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thydzikgooglemap(http://sonyaandtravis.com/maps/bayon-angkor-siem-reap-cambodia.xml,s)

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Angkor Wat, Cambodia – the largest religious monument in the world

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We arrived in Siem Reap late in the evening, and had an early night ready for a day of exploring the Angkor Wat temples. We stayed at the lovely Angkor Secret Garden Hotel, where we also hired bikes for $2 a day. Angkor Wat is roughly 7km North of Siem Reap and took us about forty minutes to cycle there one way. At the entrance, we purchased a three-day ticket and headed towards the beautiful Angkor Wat, which was met first once inside the complex.

It was unexpected how large the complex was, particularly the outer surrounding moat, it was also unexpected how many people were there. We wandered to the north-side of the temple, trying to keep away from the tourists entering from the central main entrance. We explored the north flanking library and walked past the water lily filled Reflecting Pond towards the entrance.

We entered the temple’s first level, which present us with a cruciform shaped cloister, known as the ‘Hall of a Thousand Gods’.  We explored the inner libraries which were surrounded by lush green grass. We climbed higher into the second level, which featured stone window pillars surrounding the inner gallery called the Bakan. These stone pillars, look like they have been carved on a lathe, and are supposed to mimic wood, which I totally agreed they did.

There was a long queue snaking around the edge of the Bakan for entrance to the inner gallery, after a little under an hour, we reached the eastern stairs. We climbed the steep sloped stairs, which  represent the ‘difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the gods’. At the top were beautiful views of the jungle that surrounded Angkor Wat’s perimeter, right in the centre was the Angkor Wat central spire.

Back on the first level we navigated the outer perimeter of the inner bas-relief friezes, highlights included Heaven and Hell, Battle of the Gods, Procession of Suryavarman II and of course Churning of the Sea of Milk.

We left Angkor Wat, though not the last visit, on our bikes towards Angkor Thom.

Far north-western outer-wall entranceView of the outer-wall from insideView of the northern library with Angkor Wat temple in the background
Pond full of magenta water lilies adjacent Angkor WatMagenta water lilies in bloomPond of water lilies at Angkor Wat
Cruciform terrace guarded by lions connecting the causeway to the central structureIntricate stone carved windows mimicking the look of woodCylindrical stone carving imitating turned wood on a lathe
One of the Buddha status inside the cruciform cloister called Preah Poan, Hall of a Thousand GodsInside the cruciform cloister called Preah Poan, Hall of a Thousand GodsTravis at the southern entry of the cruciform cloister
View of the second gallery from the southern libraryCylindrical stone carvings at the window openingsSonya at the southern library with view of the inner area
View of the second gallery's outer wallStone totems in front of the second gallery's out wallDevatas on the wall of inside the second gallery
Sonya reading the guide at the base of the steps to the inner galleryInner gallery with central shrine and four surrounding gopuraMonkey and Garuda costumes
The very steep stairways represent the difficulty of ascending to the kingdom of the godsNorthern view of the jungle from Angkor WatOne of the Buddha status inside the inner gallery
The central Angkor Wat spireStanding Buddha status inside the main inner spireDeep devata wall carving
Looking west, towards Angkor balloonThe battle of KurukshetraDeep carved bas-reliefs
The army of King Suryavarman IIThe army of King Suryavarman IIHeaven and Hell, the Hell
The Churning of the Sea of MilkAngkor Wat temple seen from the main entranceSerpent and lion at the main entrance

thydzikgooglemap(http://sonyaandtravis.com/maps/angkor-wat-siem-reap-cambodia.xml,s)

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Fried tarantula – a local delicacy, Skuon, Cambodia

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A little out of Phnom Penh on the way to Siem Reap is the small rest-stop city of Skuon. There is a particular snack that Skuon is famous for, deep fried tarantula, which gives the city its nickname of Spiderville. Piled up on a plate between some kind of fried beetle and what I think is quail, was deep fried tarantula. Naturally, I purchased one and stored it in my backpack to try when I got back to the hotel. Sonya was not impressed.

It did take a lot of courage to eat it, even though it was clearly dead, my  body seemed to naturally resist eating it. The legs and body was quite crunchy, the flavour masked by the chilli spice-mix. The abdomen was slightly soft and more difficult to swallow, not helped by the idea of eating the spider’s insides.

Pile of fried tarantulas
Fried tarantula ready to eat
Travis eating tried tarantula, yummy

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  5. Angkor Wat, Cambodia – the largest religious monument in the world

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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Prior to our bus ride to Siem Reap, we decided to visit one of the sorrowing relics from Cambodia’s painful history. The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, formally a high-school, was converted to infamous Security Prison 21 during the Khmer Rouge rule.

The compound was disheartening and eerie, barred window rooms barely touched since their use, a single bed with iron shackles used to constrain the prisoners. Some rooms still had blood stained floors with even footprints visible.

Building B was quite emotional, a photo collage of the hundreds of men and women who were sent to Security Prison 21. Pol Pot was very detailed with documentation , for all prisoners who arrived at the prison, photos were taken of them. Some of the people were even photographed smiling, unaware of the horrors that they would be witness to.

Out of buildings B, C and D, building C was the only one left untouched to preserve the initial prison design. Barbed wire remains around the ground floor, stopped anyone from trying to escape,  the large rooms were converted into tiny cells, less than a metre squared. The upper levels were the same, though this time separated by wood, a decision probably made due to the floor height already making it difficult to escape.

The last builder, D, was the most chilling, with sections of instrumentation used for torturing the prisoners. Two water torture apparatus can be seen, one used for water-boarding, and the other for water submersion. One of the final rooms housed a number of skulls of the victims.

Entrance to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
One of the large cells in Building A, Security Prison 21
One of the large cells in Building A notice the shackles on the bed
Building B seen from Building A
Bloody footprints still seen in the rooms
Hard beds in the rooms of Building A
Original iron shackles lying on the bed
Security Prison 21 - Security of Regulation
Original school play equipment converted into instruments of torture
Portraits of the many people sent to Security Prison 21
Hundreds of shackles all used to constrain the prisoners
The exterior walkways of Building B inside Security Prison 21
Preserved Building C with barbed-wire around the ground floor
Barbed-wire fence and entrance to Building C at Security Prison 21
The lower floor of Building C, converted into small cells
View through the barbed-wire of Building C towards Security Prison 21 grounds
Upper floors of Building C, rooms converted into wooden small cells
Sonya at the walkway of Building C
One of the rooms with a genocide display
Barbed-wire fence outside Building C of Security Prison 21
Room of instruments of torture, a water boarding device can be seen
Bone fragments and skulls from those murdered in Security Prison 21
A map made from the skulls of victims in Security Prison 21
The original high-school grounds converted to Security Prison 21

thydzikgooglemap(http://sonyaandtravis.com/maps/tuol-sleng-genocide-museum-phnom-penh-cambodia.xml,s)

At the entrance was a list of “The Security of Regulation”

  1. You must answer accordingly to my questions – don’t turn them away.
  2. Don’t try to hide the facts by making pretexts this and that – you are strictly prohibited to contest me.
  3. Don’t be fool for you are a chap who dare to thwart the revolution.
  4. You must immediately answer my questions without wasting time to reflect.
  5. Don’t’ tell me either about your immoralities or the essence of the revolution.
  6. While getting lashes or electrification you must not cry at all.
  7. Do nothing, sit still and wait for my orders, if there is not order, keep quiet, when I ask you to do something, you must do it right away without protesting.
  8. Don’t make pretext about Kampuchea Kromin order to hide your secret or traitor
  9. If you don’t follow all the above rules, you shall get many lashes of electric wire.
  10. If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shows of electric discharge.

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