The Phare Circus

Pickup at 5 a.m.???  Yup, if you want to get a good 'seat' for the highly-promoted sunrise at Angkor Wat, that's when we need to leave our guesthouse.  Tim checks the local data and learns that sunrise is actually at 6:20 so we must be one of many (thousands??) as the drive to AW only takes about 15-20".  Not our idea of a time to get up (actually getting up is at 4:30) but when in Siem Reap . . .

We've already made plans to go to the Phare Cambodian Circus tonight so we'll just have to suck it up for tomorrow morning.  The Circus turns out to be a delightful and totally unexpected surprise.  It is a group of young acrobats who enact the story of Sorkhla (sp?) who as an old woman remembers the traumatic events of her life - especially the horrors of the Khmer Rouge years - and ultimately affirms the power of life and love over death and evil.

The Circus originated in Battambang as part of a healing effort to help children who'd been traumatized by the Khmer Rouge years.  Many were orphans and had witnessed unbelievable horror.  For some of the children, the traditional healing therapies were not working, and someone had the brilliant idea to begin doing acrobatics with them and the rest is history . . . now many years on, this troupe not only helps children, it supports schools, and helps their families who benefit from the children's success.  In addition to acrobatics (which they call a circus), there is a painting program, and a music program.

This troupe (I think there are several performing troupes) consisted on 7 young people - 6 men and a woman.  Using a minimum of props, a small orchestra, and the incredible athleticism of their bodies, they dramatized the major eras of this woman's life and contemporary Cambodia.  Each era was preceded by a poster-sized drawing - made on the spot - of the defining elements of the time, starting with a Buddha, moving to the bombing in the late 60's (thank you US), to the Khmer Rouge era, and ending with a tranquil landscape - modern-day Cambodia.

Photographs were prohibited during the performance but I did take one of the banner outside the tent.  It was a full house and a very enthusiastic audience - lovely evening!!

The Long Tour of the 'Lesser Temples' of Angkor Wat

It is impossible to describe the size,  scope, and splendor of Angkor Wat.  Suffice it to say, one of the pass options is for 7-days.  We get a 3-day pass and even then we don't begin to cover - much less absorb - anything approximating the wonder that is Angkor Wat.  This is one of the few times that I would have been been willing to pay for a helicopter tour which would be a spectacular way to see and appreciate AW.

A brief history:  at its peak (late 15th - early 16th c or so), the Angkor /Khmer Kingdom had a population of over 1 million people.  By comparison, London's population at the same time was around 50,000.  Angkor Wat is the largest religious site in the world and reflects a building boom that started in the late 800's AD, reached its peak in the mid-12th century with the building of AW, and then continued until the end of the Khmer kingdom in the early 16th century.   There are so many temples, revealing so many reigns, and so many religious fluctuations, it is the work of a lifetime to understand them.

Interestingly, early French explorers were instrumental in securing AW for Cambodia, and it wasn't until 1953 that Cambodia secured its independence from France.  (Please don't quote my dates or history - I think I've gotten the basics right!).  It is now one of the Seven Wonders of the World - and rightly so.  I've not found anything that explains what happened and why the Khmer Kingdom waned . . .

At the recommendation of Reinhart, our guesthouse host, we start with the 'Long Tour' which takes in six of the surrounding temples near AW.  (There is also an all-day tour which goes 50 km or so to the distant temples which gives you some idea of the scope of the whole site.)  Rather than give you the names of each of these, I'll simply show you the photos . . . and keep in mind, these aren't the 'biggies' of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom!!

An example of the efforts to prevent even more deterioration.

Experts think that the stones for all the temples may have come from as far as 50 km away!

Just one example of the heroic deeds of one of the rulers immortalized in stone.

Notice the cornice molding around the doorway - something we saw nearly everywhere in the temples.

Banyan trees reclaiming the jungle.

Reminded both of us of a rather traditionally-shaped Christian church . . . 

Walking causeway to what was believed to be a ritual cleansing temple.

On the return, we pass by a ramada with a group of men playing Khmer instruments.  The men are all missing limbs . . . victims of land mines.  We make a contribution.

Tolkien trees are everywhere . . . 

And a couple of the children we saw at the temples . . . sadly, not in school but acting as touts and able to count in a couple of languages, trying to sell us postcards ('ten for one dallah, madame').

And this sweet little one whom we heard humming and had to hunt to find her sitting in this opening . . .

It's hard to believe that this is just a sampling . . . we've been to six temples today, are aesthetically overwhelmed, and absolutely amazed.  Estimates are that there was more stone used in building Angkor Wat (the whole of the site) than in the pyramids of ancient Egypt.  I'm a believer . . .