The many faces of Bayon Temple

VBoth Kurt and I enjoyed Bayon temple the most. With its many faces which once were Buddah however changed to become the many faces of the king. The temple itself is set in the middle of Angkor Thom a complex containing a few temples including Bapuon which we hadn't intended to visit though ended up there anyway, an 11th century temple with incredibly steep steps built to reach the top. Keeping in mind that those tiny steps are built on top of the original even tinier steps!!! 

Bayon is beautiful we arrived as dusk was setting in, originally I had thought that I wanted to see Bayon at sunset instead of doing Angkor Wat and dawn and I'm so glad I made that decision.

The temple has so many dimensions and outlooks, stunning from any angle and with the sun setting over the smiling faces looking out to the horizon it is completely mesmerising.

I hope one day I get the chance to return and spend a little more time exploring and admiring the temples it's hard to do them in a day so next time I will take longer. 

Ta Prohm - 'Tomb Raider'

I can completely see the appeal for film makers in Ta Prohm built in the 12-13th century unlike the other temples this one has been left in the condition it was found. The photogenic and atmospheric combination of trees growing out of the ruins and the jungle surroundings have made it one of Angkor's most popular temples. Currently some parts of Ta Prohm are being restored which kind of took some of the magic away for us..hammering and crane noises etc though the deeper you get the further away everything else seems and now we could focus on well..the now :) it makes you want to climb and jump across boulders and swing from ropes and be Indiana Jones or Lara Croft. 

It's an incredible place full of what feels like magic, overgrown cotton trees with enourmous root bases wrapping and interlacing through the temple walls. It makes you want to find out where they've had to venture from just to work their way to where they now rest. 

The corridors, tunnels and hidden passage ways make this temple one of my favourites, it genuinely feels like a crumbling maze under your feet. 

The Temples of Angkor-Angkor Wat

OI am by no means a 'temple enthusiast' however I can certainly appreciate an ancient wonder of our world or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5..... 

Temple hopping is a fine art and I definitely do not have wat it takes...(get it?). 

We left around 8:30am and skipped the sunrise because I preferred sleep and also wanted to avoid the endless throngs of uber keen tour groups with their enormous cameras and that charming early morning hocking, gagging and spitting during the beautiful sunrise. I have seen enough to actively avoid those buses in particular :( yet another reason why I loved Phnom Penh a wee bit more than Siem Reap.

Any who I'm getting off track, first stop Angkor Wat.

The largest ancient religious structure in the world and it certainly takes your breath away..every step closer to the structure you begin to see the details, the carvings, the out lay and your mind starts to create a picture of what it would have been like in its hay day. Built in the 12th century by the King Angkor Wat is built to honour Vishnu as oppose to Shaiva which all previous temples were built in honour of. Arriving there just as all the early morning buses and tours are leaving its a much nicer atmosphere, you can see the corridors when they are almost empty, you admire the carvings and the intricacies of every minute detail. 

Walking the halls and trying to understand the stories of these Hindu and Buddist deities, that being said you can purchase a guide at the entrance legitimate or not, we just wanted to wander however I did get suckered into buying a little guide book on the temples (don't worry mum you can have a read). Little tip for anyone who wants a 'guided' tour without paying for the guide: pick a corridor and stand somewhat in the middle ish...wait for 10 minutes whilst admiring the carving work then just wait for the English speaking tour guides to pass you, they come from both directions to ease traffic congestion so as one finishes speaking another one has stopped to begin, not all of their information is the same which makes it interesting and it just so happens that your standing where you need to stand to hear what they have to say when they stop with their group ;)

Angkor Wat is beautiful it pays to stop and take it in, the sheer size is mind boggling just imagining where and more importantly HOW all this stone was brought here and just how long it must have taken not only to construct but to begin each one of those corridors, columns and arch ways. Currently a lot of it is being restored so it can remain in a state that is safe to visit. The decades of visitors show in the shine of the bottom half of the carvings years of hands rubbing and touching them. It is the only temple still in full use as oppose to the others which have in some cases been left to ruin.

Trying to cram what we initially thought was going to be three temples in a day we had limited time though enjoyed all of it, some eager travellers could spend days on this one temple...easily. 

One funny moment and of course it's an animal....Macaques....cheeky Macaques dotted the temple and they were VERY easy going though I wasn't tempted to try and pat one after seeing the little crazies running around Phnom Tamao! I caught sight of a big male casually walking past us and he quickened his pace a little, instantly without even looking up I said..."he's probably after someone's plastic bag thinking there is food inside...". Next minute there's a little bit of screaming and the Macaque is now behind a tourist that has a plastic bag of bananas attached to his backpack (hanging below the pack). Clever guy gave up the goods and it was a feast of epic proportions! 

Also bring a 'sweat rag'....mine was my bandana, it was like my body was rejecting water and throwing  it up through my skin (not even joking).

Siem Reap and Motos

Ok so I missed a couple of days...blogging is hard work!!!

To recap I left Free the Bears on Friday and flew to Siem Reap on Saturday morning, I really could have just stayed another night I'd say..I loved Phnom Penh and Phnom Tamao and Free the Bears....ok I LOVE CAMBODIA! Did not think I would become so attached in such a short few weeks. 

Kurt arrived on Sunday morning after prancing me into thinking he would miss his flight which I wasn't impressed at then but now I can laugh because he's waaaay too good at being able to pull one over on me! Siem Reap is vastly different to Phnom Penh it's so much less chaotic and busy, it feels almost sleepier though being the city that ALL the hotel giants plant their big hotels, it's all big, beautiful 5 star hotels and not nearly as many guest houses and hostels though in saying that the staff everywhere are just as personable and polite and wonderful anywhere you go. 

A lot more shopping and handicrafts plenty of opportunity to barter and to be honest now that I can count 1-20 in Khmer I seem to be winning the bartering they say "8 dollar" I say "boun" (4) they laugh and say "ok" then continue on in Khmer before I stop them to say I didn't know anymore than that.

On Monday we did a Moto tour with 'Siem Reap Moto Tours' and it was a little nerve racking at first with my not knowing how to operate a two wheeled vehicle on any kind and Kurt being the master of dirt biking in my eyes. Bless him he was so patient no screaming down the roads at high speed but at a leisurely pace that I could follow until I was more comfortable.

Side note: Kurt just informed me of my 'blogging face'....described as facial contortions while my brain goes crazy trying to recall things.

Anyway I managed to somewhat master the Moto and is was a ridiculous amount of fun going through the ruts on the red roads, dodging pot holes, negotiating sand which nearly tossed my off my bike a couple of times and to my astonishment held it together and recovered LIKE A BOSS!

We stopped at a couple of quiet villages and met some local ladies who were weaving baskets using grasses, the ones they use to cover food on the table, they take one full day to make and $5 to buy at the market. Makes me wonder where the ones we get at home are made and how, machinery or hand made?

Everywhere we went children ran and waved, screaming "hello!" and with all my skills I managed to not fly off the bike when I waved back ;) apparently they rarely see westerners out that way and I'm not surprised, we were really out there! We rode for 2 hours to Beng Melea temple just as every single tour bus and car was headed in the opposite direction (just as expected). For the first temple I was seeing I was surprised just how massive the complex was! Built in the 12th century in memorial for the king and built of course by the king (no surprises there). Some had been destroyed during the war though a huge amount of it remained standing in all its glory. It's beautiful to see the jungle reclaiming what once belonged to it, vines growing from the ground up over and through the structures. Our guide took us off the path whether that's actually aloud or not I'm not actually sure BUT as this was the King's memorial and unlike Angkor Wat I'm sure it was almost aloud but not quite aloud for reasons of personal injury if it occurred, though I'm thankful he did take us around because I wouldn't have seen half of what we saw though I won't be attempting that at any other temples.

We stopped and tried some Palm juice which is alcoholic and tastes like " KAPOW!" and then ok time to jump on the motos. I tried the most sugary of sugar cane juices which is like "KAPOW!" hope your ready for a nap in an hour...

Cruised through the red roads and jungle, past the 100 year old Palm trees and rice fields across some crazy Dr Seuss bridge which I didn't succeed very well at (have a look when my videos are finished on my YouTube channel). Despite how annoying and surprisingly slippy sand is I had fun trying to negotiate those paths too, all part of the challenge and happily I feel like a have a new skill :) don't expect me to go jumping on a Moto in Phnom Penh though....I saw enough tourists covered in bandages and heard horror stories of doctors scraping off the scabs and re bandaging the wound and obviously then they wouldn't heal :( 

All in all though arrrrgghhhhh AN AMAZING DAY!!!!! Had so much fun, so stinky and grubby but I definitely recommend it :) 

we looked so pretty checking into the STUNNING 'ANANTARA Angkor Resort and Spa' with a beautiful welcome and as is the custom they gave us facewashers scented with lemongrass on checkin for refreshment...they were given to us white and we gave them back red with dust, dirt and sweat. Cannot believe this place!!! Gotta love those work perks!!!

Sugar Cane Juice

" I think I can, I think I can!!"

Too hot for Kurt

First temple 'tick' :)

Check out that burnt arm....we both forgot sunscreen....ooooooops! 

Total 'Long Way Round' moment ;)

Kurt's riding style

Time to relax!!!! 

One last day to go :(

Quietly devastated that the day is almost here where I have to leave Free the Bears and I really wish I could stay longer despite the predicted temperature of 37 degrees and a hell of a lot of humidity. 

I just finished reading 'Smiling Bears' by Else Poulson, I didn't even realise bears could smile but they do!!! An absolutely incredible read if anyone has the opportunity I read it in 4 days and I am NOT usually a reader, a million references which I have noted so I can go back and find all the books she speaks about, an incredibly passionate soul. 

Just finished packing my bag :( and thank you to all those beautiful souls that bought a tshirt they are safely tucked away in my pack and I will hand deliver them when I return, I guess that means a weekend trip to Dubbo for a visit ;) 

I have melted in the Cambodian sun, my DNA is all over the exhibits providing probably a few months worth of enrichment for the Bears! Not even an understatement...I could have gone swimming in my sports crop and my clothes often came out of the wash smelling worse than when I put them in, worth it? Wouldn't take back a single poop scoop!!! I cannot wait to get home and go through all the footage I have and currently sitting at 60 gig of material. More adventure to come though Kurt arrives on Sunday in Siem Reap (I get there Saturday, so I'll by the pool haha) and we will be exploring Angkor Wat and the rest of the city!!! 

Sadly it's time to put my KingGee work shorts size 87R and the 'R' is for rediculously BIG! to rest. They have been with me since Symbio, my time with TWPZ and FTB and now they will be sweated in, painted on and serve their purpose elsewhere (yes I was weirdly attached to those shorts). I am incredibly impressed with the steel caps I bought off eBay they were from Rivers $25 :) not one single blister and I'd never worn them before!!! They too are being donated onto Imogen who's here at FTB for 19 weeks (jealous!) and I doubt her converse will last the time :/

Now onto my FOURTH book this trip 'Tomorrow when the war began' by John Marsden, I've been pestered to read this for ages and it just so happened to be on the shelf, WINNING!

Ok I'm not going to waffle on anymore, I honestly wish I could be here longer but who knows I might be back at some point. I have learnt so much in such a short time and the Bears are as happy and healthy as they could possibly be, they are loved and cared for, enriched all day everyday and in the best possible place considering they cannot be released. I'm proud to say I have done exactly what I have set out to do and I'm going to keep the pace going at home, my 2015 goals are slowly being met one by one. It's only the start of an incredible year and I've had the kickstart of a lifetime! 

Two questions every keeper should pose to their animals; 

Who are you? and What can I do for you?

-Else Poulsen

THIS..... is a smiling bear, 'Angel'

An example of enclosure size for Moon Bears = HUUUUUUUUUUGE!!!!!!!!

One of many varieties..colours, shapes, smells, consistency and content, as if I wouldn't post one haha

Training day and Cikananga!!!

 

I have to say I had a really good day today I felt like I got to put some of my course knowledge to good use. 

Mr Ping the keeper of house 3 with the Moon Bears is such a lovely human his English is limited and I have worked with him a couple of times now, he absolutely adores those bears! Especially Brandy the 'golden' moon bear but shhhh we don't play favourites. He works on some training and conditioning with 'Taylor' a big female, we worked with her this afternoon in the house before scatter feed. He asks her to climb, to sit and to 'target' placing a yellow block on the ground and says "Taylor target!" and she responds by touching her nose to the block to recieve a piece of banana. As limited as our communication is I asked Mr Ping if I could move the block around to see if she would go for it. He didn't quite understand at first but I showed him moving the block higher onto the bars and have Taylor target it. He asked and she correctly responded touching the block again at a new position right away. Mr Ping was so pleased! He said "I not try this" smiled and thanked me. The look on his face was pure joy that Taylor whom he had trained was so clever and responded positively so quickly. I felt such a sense of pride in myself that I had shown him something new, that he hadn't attempted yet because he's normally on his own and can't move the block quick enough to 'click' and reward. 

Again in our 'lost in translation' conversation I said I'd work with him tomorrow and we will do more training with Taylor and see how good she is moving the block around to different places and points to challenge her. I doubt she will struggle, it's incredible how intelligent these creatures are. Even the Moon Bears in house 2 surprise me, watching one of them lifting the pin out of the slide lock and then finding out that they can actually open the slide in this way. They realised that a while ago and since then introduced caribeenas because the bears can't use them ;)

ATTENTION ALL READERS!!!

I saw a news report this morning about a trafficker that had been arrested in Java and 34 animals including a 4 month old sunbear cub and a baby orangutan were handed over to 'Cikananga' wildlife rescue centre where a volly I was working with Natasha is due to start her role as volunteer coordinator in June. She had finished working with Chikananga last month and they are absolutely desperate for volunteers and funds, even more so now that they have to care for all of these animals! If your reading at home please please PLEASE google the centre and if you can spare a few dollars donate to them as they are in urgent need to support their new arrivals! Their aim is to rehabilitate and to release wherever possible if an animal is healthy and not human dependant but they need our help. I am going to attempt to volunteer when I can at some point and I had decided this long before this had happened on Saturday. 

If at the very least if you cannot donate please simply look at their site, be aware they exist and pass on the information. I know Tash will be putting in the hard yards to push for the word to get out and new volunteers to come, any industry workers, animal students, volunteer or animal enthusiast this place is one of those rare ones where you will be highly involved in all that goes on because they have limited staff and volunteers. This story hit so close to home for me and now having a personal connection I really want to help in anyway I can! 

www.cikanangawildlifecentre.com

Chinese New Year

So Chinese New Year started last Thursday and Phnom Tamao rescue centre was bustling with people, it was a hard day though the amount of people aloud me to see some things which made me sad. It showed me how important education of the next generation will be in this country, simple things which being an animal lover is hard to comprehend over here. 

The poor lions across from the bears had a bit of a rough day, I could see one of them was just fed up with people, he sat at the front of his enclosure at the fence line and was visibly irritable, his wild eyes caught mine as crowds swarmed in front of him. Almost in a stubborn way he refused to move away and growled at people directly in front of him and of course the apparent reaction for some people here is to throw things at the lion to get a great photo...something which unfortunately is a familiar thing at home too. He would launch at the fence to the great delight of visitors and me being me I couldn't stand it so I just kind of sauntered over and tried my best to emulate what they were doing that they shouldn't trying to withhold my crankiness. They did understand though and just stared at me and I just stood there until they moved on, it just goes to show how little is understood in the way of what is considered to be cruel, taunting a lion by throwing things obviously isn't considered to be. Same thing with feeding animals, I caught a couple of people throwing pieces of muesli bars and snacks to an enclosure that holds 8 bears. The bears lined up at the fence waiting to catch a scrap, unfortunately there obviously isn't enough to go around so what else is to happen apart from the bears becoming aggravated and fighting with each other....again much to the delight of the visitors. Same deal again here I just stood there, emulated and waited until they left. 

It's just something that the Cambodian people don't understand and Free the Bears works with local schools to educate children and give them an understanding of what is considered to be cruel and why hunting and owning an illegal pet isn't a good for them or the animal.

In the wake of this countries sad history people were looking for a way to survive, a way to feed their families and repairing their lives and this would always come before anyone even thought of the suffering of animals...simply unheard of. I completely understand this, it's a nation thrown into turmoil and looking for a resource for money and bears happens to be one, they did it out of necessity not out of greed unlike some of the canned hunting that goes on in Africa egged on by rich tourists.

So for the future of wildlife here education is key, for the country to begin to repair its environment education is key...

Very simple things that at home people don't approve of such as littering...eating my lunch I watch a little girl open her bag of chips and through the top seal on the ground, it actually really shocked me just to see it in person and I was genuinely surprised at my reaction despite seeing the country side with more garbage masses than grass.....again a people that doesn't understand the long term reprocussioins of single handedly ruining their environment due to a lack of education and government services such as garbage pick up etc that we have, its simply not done...good luck ever finding a garbage can here.

Probably the hardest thing I saw that day was the beggars... everyday entering the sanctuary the older generation is lining the road holding a bowl or hands in prayer form begging for money. Maybe any given day we'd see roughly 10 people but on Chinese New Year, it was around 50 or more lining both sides, old men, women and very young children, begging for money as you drive past and this is all they have to do. It seems once your unfit to work or too old to be useful you end up begging as there is nowhere for you in society, though I wonder where their families are? There are grandparents teaching their grandchildren to beg because people feel sorry for children and cough up the money in turn these children will never recieve an education because collecting money and picking up cans for a 0.50c per kilo return is much more worth it to their families. 

Children and elderly or disabled people will beg everywhere and you never know where that money is going, more likely it is going to someone controlling that sector of a cities poor population almost like a mafia scenario. No matter what you give them it's likely it will be sold on even food, so as a tourist I cannot do it, in my own mind as much as it hurts I can't give in to it. Mothers carrying babies on the street begging because it will likely bring in more money if they hold a tiny sleeping baby then seeing them later counting out their dollar bills from passers by...it's heartbreaking but I cannot give in not knowing where that money will end up. The hardest part leaving the sanctuary on New Year's Day was going back down that 5 km stretch back past the faces and every single one that we passed locked eyes with me, it chipped away more and more, every face that passed until finally my heart felt like someone had squeezed it to within an inch of life.

I know this is not the most pleasant post to read but it is a reality and a harsh one at that. But it opens your eyes to what you may not see though you cannot help but feel.

Bears Bears Bears!!!

I don't even know where to begin every moment I'm spending at the sanctuary is rewarding and memorable. The sounds they make I never EVER expected to come out of a bear! From the audible "NOM NOM NOM" to the noises they make when sucking a paw, something they learn as a coping mechanism during their previous captive lives.

They act and sometimes look like big dogs, lumbering around, rolling around, playing with each other and chasing around. The younger four year olds make the whingiest noises when awaiting their morning porridge and snacks, they honestly sound like cranky toddlers. 

The dexterity they have in their paws is something that you just have to see to believe, delicately pealing bananas and eating the flesh, holding leaves in between their claws and nibbling on it as a royal would. 

I could watch them for hours and thankfully I CAN! The way they run volunteering here is not as a military would, it's all in Cambodian time. There's no pressure to have something done in a certain amount of time and no one gets grumpy when you take a moment to appreciate what the animal is doing especially when it comes to filming or photography. We can take photographs of whatever we like which is a testimate to the confidence this organisation has in what it does and how it does things. The Bears spend 90% of their day outside in their enclosures, some of which are enormous plenty of room to explore and search for their food which we attempt to expertly hide to no avail.

To be continued...

Differences...

The cultural differences here are so vast from driving to communication the more you see and hear the more you understand.

I explained previously how the driving is here though now it's all about the culture right now, simple things we do can be taken to offence, things like touching a child or baby on the head which is a right  reserved for Monks. Khmer people also do not yell or raise their voice to one another even in heavy discussion or argument it's all very quiet, so when we see a foreigner yelling at a driver over 2000 Riel (0.50c) it's pretty insulting to them and the Khmer people around them seeing this will shake their heads and look at us as if for us to take note and share our disgust of how rude that is and completely unnecessary. 

No matter how regularly a Cambodian may see foreigners they smile and play along if we attempt to speak their language. As with most cultures do they appreciate the effort, currently our security guard here at the house is trying so hard to learn English. Every night he brings his little notebook with the 'Gangnam Style' cover and we teach him new phrases and he practices them with us over and over. Last Friday I spend 3 hours teaching him and he is so eager to learn! To the point where we kind of have to end the session by distracting with something else or he keeps going :) 

He comes in everyday and speaks to us in English the very best he can and he spends his nights practicing his English and pulsing the taser he carries around throughout the night ;)

Phnom Tamao - Free the Bears

I cannot express enough how good it feels to finally be here, the past few days have been just the start of an amazing opportunity to expand my knowledge, learn from some incredible keepers and see some animals that I never would have laid eyes on IN MY LIFE!

It felt really intimidating at first, coming to a place that represents such strength, perseverance, compassion and hope and wondering what I could contribute that would help. I have a ridiculous amount of respect for everything FREE THE BEARS stands for after first finding out about the bile trade a few years ago. The years since then I found out more and more, eventually finding Free the Bears and following along loyally since that day.

Everything feels so familiar and so good! After a year of training with some of the most supportive and inspirational people it's amazing how simply I just slip back into the routine and not just the routine...those good ergonomic tips come back to mind, "bend your knees when you shovel shit or you'll wreck your back in 20 years". 

So here I am pooper scooping a new species....Sun Bears and Moon Bears (or the Asiatic Black bear). Everyday is a new surprise with these little beasties, one cage immaculate and the next looks like there was a music festival and someone overloaded the portaloo....then rolled in it (pics to follow don't worry I wouldn't let you miss out on that!). The past few days have consisted of 'bear balls', bamboo treats, chopping up porridge and other goodies, re-painting one of the cages and starting on a bear hammock! I won't mention the WH&S but here's a hint for mummy and daddy....burning holes in nylon straps with a red hot piece of steel ;) 

We toured Phnom Tamao Wildlife Recue centre yesterday and it is enormous!!! Between 2001-2013, 55000 animals were seized from traders and from homes where they were pets including a current total of 80 Burmese Pythons and one Reticulated Python, around 60 odd Gibbons (Pelated, Yellow cheeked and White cheeked), Silver Langurs, Slow Loris, two Leopards, Siamese crocodiles and the newest additions...12 tiny Australian Sugar Gliders.

When you see these animals it's sad to see they cannot all be released however not so much if you could imagine where they would have ended up. I found it confronting to realise the amount and variety of animals but when I saw those tiny little sugar gliders all huddled together......I had no idea that this was still happening at home to that degree and how easy it seemed that they had been smuggled out.

Just confirms even more in my mind that I'm here for the right reasons, to learn, to educate and contribute whatever I can to help and share the reality of our world and the animals. I'm taking in as much as I can and my passion is stronger than ever. 

Every day is something new, something inspiring and something unforgettable.

One hundred and thirty-seven, the number of Sun and Moon Bears currently with Free the Bears in Cambodia.

Seven, the number of houses containing these Bears live in soon to be eight once completed :)

Namaste

I met a French woman named Elisa short for Elisabeth, she was travelling solo as well and had the most amazing life in order to do so. She volunteered in a meditation centre in Paris for 3 months of the year, worked n a hospital for 3 months of the year and travelled for 3 months of the year before starting the cycle over again. What a life!! Elisa has been studying meditation and Buddhism for 30 years of her life and she has a beautiful insight into so many different things. I had dabbled in meditation though not very successfully I thought however she gave me some tips.

1. When a thought comes, you acknowledge the thought and send it away or say that you will think about this after meditation.

2. Your knees when sitting should always touch the corners of your mat just like Buddha giving you a connection to the earth and during your meditation you should not move though this comes with time and practice.

We decided to visit Wat Langka in PP just a short walk from the guest house for the 8:30am session on Sunday morning. This session is open to all locals, foreigners and expats, it went for an hour and as we got there early we had the opportunity to explore before meditation began. It is a beautiful place and as we went upstairs the monks had laid out all the cushions and mats for the session. 

As we went in as is the custom we remove shoes at the entrance and silently take or place on a mat and begin. For the first 30 minutes I managed very well, I was acknowledging and sending thoughts away and concentrating solely on the awareness of breath ie. when a thought comes I send it away and focus back on my breathing....in........and out. 

I was honestly amazed with how well I managed to keep my concentration and allow my mind to be still. The second half hour was more difficult, I was becoming aware that I was concentrating on being still, so my thoughts continued and I often wasn't quick enough to catch them and stop them before they went onto the next...very silly things like what I'm doing tomorrow and what Free the Bears will be like, a couple of occasions required me to open my eyes and switch legs because my foot had gone dead or I had pins and needles. Though in that time it was nice to admire the intricate details of this temple and its ancient paintings of Buddhas history and life. 

I found my self smiling at Buddha because Buddha was always smiling back.

When we finished we bowed and gave thanks as is the custom and left feeling calm and quiet. I certainly feel like I have more of a connection or understanding of the temples and what they represent having been there and experienced it for myself. 

As a tourist in South East Asia it's very easy to walk into yet another temple and go 'snap' 'snap' 'snap' with your camera and walk out saying "well that was nice". 

We continued to walk to the very first Wat in PP Wat Phnom on a small hill at the top of the city, this is said to be the place where a woman named Penh went to the Mekong and pulled four statues of Buddha out of the water she took them to this hill and built a little bamboo house for them to keep them safe and allow her to give offerings and becoming the reason behind the name of the city Phnom Penh. This now being a place for locals to come and bring offerings and being a Sunday the place was filled with local families, we took the time to sit inside and watch families bringing lotus flowers and incense, fake money and fruit plates to offer. We sat and admired the glistening gold throughout the temple, the ornate statues throughout and the stories that unfolded the deeper you focused on the paintings and their intricacies. A very young boy in blue denim overalls and his older sister were ushered in by their grandmother to say blessings to us which was very sweet. 

I'm very grateful to Elisa for the insight she shared with me and I can only hope to carry these thoughts forward in my journey and in life.

As we were leaving we passed a monk with a lotus flower, we stopped to ask if we could take a photo of him and he smiled, as we thanked him he stopped me and looked at my GoPro ...."memory?" he asked......it certainly was.

Namaste.

The Killing Fields and S21 Prison

'It's really difficult to picture what actually went on here not that long ago, you wouldn't imagine that behind the smiling faces of the Cambodian people there is such deep sadness and loss. When I left PP this morning everything was as it was the day before but as soon as I started to head outside of the city the reality of what happened to this country starts to reveal itself. People started to look poorer, there were no more children in school uniforms like in the city, the smell changed, the overal feeling changed. 

The Killing Fields are 30 minutes outside the city which doesn't seem like much but they are worlds apart. Once I reached it there was an incredibly somber and sad feeling washing over me, as soon as I was inside I started to imagine what it must have felt like to be herded into those big military trucks one by one and in the pitch black be driven to this place, moved into a shed and then one by one being taken out and slaughtered as silently as possible. That sad and somber feeling changed to a heavy feeling, everything I saw just weighed on my thoughts more and more. 

I can't really explain how I felt when I started to see bone and cloth protruding from the earth beneath my feet, they had already exhumed as much as they could years earlier but as the yearly rains erode more soil more remains appear. 

A child's skull

This is a memorium with 9000 skulls inside, 17 level of them on four sides up the very highest possible points, all with descriptions from age to cause of death.

These poor souls suffered immensely even in death..bullets were too expensive so the people were left to suffer the most horrific deaths which included being clubbed with an ox cart axle, axed in the head with a garden hoe and having their throats slit with the serrated edge of a palm frond. Mothers were stripped naked and killed but not before watching their children swung by their feet into a tree known as 'the killing tree'.

The Killing Tree

In memory of over approximately 100 infants and children killed on this very spot.

You can never prepare yourself for the way you will feel in a place like this, it saddens the soul to know 9000 or more people were senselessly murdered and for what reasons? Things like wearing glasses, being educated, having a trade and believing in pretty much anything other than Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. But why did the infant children have to die? Pol Pot said "to be rid of the grass you must pull it up from the roots..." otherwise it would simply grow back or in his case, there may have been an uprising or rebellion from the next generation.

They had a little museum there with some information and some original weapons used...the dents all of the axle was more than a little unnerving, it just left me with a very sick feeling however there was more to come.

I must say the now Genocide Museum looks very out of place where it is currently though it wouldn't it if had remained a simple high school, now it's a memorium to cruel torture and suffering. 

One prisoner to a room shackled to their bed attached to a pivoting steel rod to secure them with a rice bowl for when they were actually fed. I cannot put myself in their shoes...I have nothing to compare it to, just reading about their torture methods is harrowing. One in particular was stringing a prisoner up with their arms behind their backs on a rope, the guards pulled the rope hoisting the person into the air by their arms and then when they passed out from the pain their head was dunked into a vat of sewage water to wake them up again to continue the torture. This I imagine wasn't the worst they did, things like pulling out fingernails one by one, whipping till the skin was opened and pouring salt water on the wounds or simply beating someone until they either told you the information or died from the torture. 

The hardest thing for me to comprehend was the faces in the photographs of the people. Some even smirking or smiling in their portrait taken by the guards on entry, no doubt having no clue what they would soon be put through...some were so very young, the thought that they would have most likely died of starvation before anything else is just heartbreaking. There was not a trace of mercy, none.

There were photos of people who had died from torture, foaming at the mouth, eyes wide open and incredibly haunting..I won't soon be forgetting those images, though they are nothing compared to the reality. One of the 7 surviving prisoners of S21 was there signing his book about his experiences, he is 74 years old and such a small smiling man you would never even think he had suffered these atrocities. Bou Meng's wife was slain at the killing fields while he was at S21 and while he was tortured for information he also offered a valuable skill of painting which may well have saved his life! He was asked to paint Pol Pot realistically and if he didn't like it Bou would be killed. His paintings meant he would recieve food regularly unlike many other prisoners and this kept him gong him while his skills were required.

Such an honour to meet this man, so smiley and pleased with his life now, I'm glad he has found a means to profit in some way from his previous life and that which was stolen from him. He can now live freely and comfortably.