The REAL Ancient City

Siem Reap is a charming little city. The name means “Siam (Thailand) defeated” and is a swipe at the Thais, who ransacked the kingdom in the 1400’s. So far I have learned that the Mongols defeated the Burmese and forced them to abandon their ancient kingdom (Bagan), the Burmese sacked Ayuthaya, the ancient capital of Siam, and the Thais sacked Angkor, the ancient capital of Cambodia. Not in that order, but the animosity between the countries runs deep to this day. The ancient kingdom of Angkor started around 612 A.D. by a ruler from India and continued until the 15th century when the Siamese (Thais) invaded. That is 800 years (!!) of amazing architecture that starts as primarily Hindu and later includes the concepts of Buddhism.

Cambodia is certainly the third world, Asia “full-on” as my sister would say, but there are pockets of Asia “light” here in Siem Reap brought on by the number of tourists from all over the world. It is clear how much tourism helps people, and I think of Burma being penalized by the tourism boycott. There are a lot of Americans here, something I notice because I recognized but a few in Thailand (we Americans are easily scared by unrest, and I believe the political protests of December are keeping many away from there).

Today I saw some temples (surprise!), going around the countryside by tuk-tuk. By the end of the day I was covered in the fine red dust which coats just about everything. I then visited the landmine museum, which documents the removal of landmines from the Cambodian countryside. There are an estimated 3-6 million of them still out there, and they still kill and maim thousands of people every year. I also bought a couple of books on the Khmer Rouge to learn more about the atrocities that affected every person in this beautiful country, a genocide that happened in my lifetime.

A few people have asked me what my purpose is for traveling these several months, and I always replied “do some writing” which seemed to satisfy them. While I am writing (hey, does a blog count?), I have realized what is more important is for me to learn, to understand, and to appreciate.