Imagine an Empire

December 31, 2011

Angkor. The Angkor Empire was a powerful South Asian kingdom during the ancient era. They flourished in battle, economic trade, and the arts. One cultural aspect they are most known for is their distinctive and exquisite architecture and mythical carvings. When in reign, Khmer kings would build new capitals and temples to signify their strength and devotion to a higher power. This collection of various capitals is located in a region called Angkor. Though all the remnants of a metropolitan have diminished over time, the solid stone temples have maintained some of its original structure and detail. Surrounded by a dense forested park, Angkor extends across a vast area. It is actually considered the world’s largest ancient city. The complex encompasses 100 stone temples and is said to have housed over one million people during the kingdom’s peak.

Now to the temples…

Imagine walking down a pathway, bordered by giant deity-chiseled stone figures and surrounded by a primeval moat that keeps outsiders away from the precious estate. Each stone figure towers over you, making you feel insignificant compared to the god-like warriors of this ancient kingdom. The pathway leads you to a gate that not even the most powerful of armies can ascend as it seems to rise as tall as the heavens. The pinnacle, mountain tiered towers that line the tops of the barrier display the transcendent and looming design of a well-defined mystical face. You are now entering the South Gate of the Khmer kingdom. 

 

We explored several temples, some of which I’m still mixing up. Here are some of the temples that I can remember:

Angkor Thom. As an extravagant assortment of ruins and standing pillars weathered from war and age, this temple recaps a mythical past you can’t really begin to imagine. Stepping onto the ruins, I felt significant and insignificant at the same time. I’m standing in a spot in which Khmer kings and warriors have stood before. But then again, I’m actually standing in a spot that millions of random tourists have walked across many times, reminding me that I am just a commoner, just a minion of this present world.

Religious Tolerance. When the Khmer temples were built, the concept of religious peace was kept in mind. For years, wars have been fought in the name of religion. Hinduism and Buddhism are examples of religions that aren’t as compatible. In an attempt to create religious tolerance, the temples were built to have a combination of both religious characteristics and traditions. The temple’s towers were built steep and mountainous, a distinctive feature of Hindu temple construction. Buddha’s face is also placed on the tops of these towers to show the union of both religions. Some believe that the face actually resembles one of the most influential Khmer kings instead. Numerous Buddha statues and carvings are placed throughout the interior of all the Khmer temple as well. Unfortunately, rebellion broke out and Buddhism was attacked in many forms. Many Buddhists and monks were killed, all the Buddha carvings were cut out of the walls, and all the Buddha statue’s heads were cut off. The only Buddha-like relics left are the faces on the towers. They were a bit too high and big to demolish.

Four Faces. Each tower has four faces; each one looking in different directions. These faces represent the real human characteristics: compassion, charity, equality, and sympathy. It was created as a way to exhibit what traits one needed to have in order to be considered a real human. The four faces are also said to be made as watch guards, watching over every part of the kingdom from every side. It’s like you have eyes in the back of your head…and the sides.
  

Angkor Bayon. This temple is well known for the multitude of well-maintained stone faces on its steep towers. There are 54 towers alone in this temple, each of them presenting four Buddhist-looking faces. So there are over 200 faces that can be seen within the ruins. Another rumor is that the face is actually a combination of the famous King Jayavarman VII’s face and Buddha. Another important feature of this temple is the elaborate carvings, displaying real-life war scenarios. This temple, along with many others, is supposed to represent the universe. Its immense facility represents the entirety of the universe, the towers represent the mountains and the landforms, and the moat around the temples represents the water from the oceans.

Nose Kisses. I kissed Buddha! I actually didn’t do any of that saliva swapping deal. Rather, we gave each other a nose kiss. Well, several actually if I’m being honest. A popular thing to do at this temple, and some others, is to take a picture of yourself lining up your nose with the Buddha’s nose. The towers are actually too tall for you to do this up against the face. But with a camera, placed in the right spot and direction by a photo taker can get you a nose kiss from Buddha. It’s just perspective.

Terrace of the Elephants. We reached this massive raised platform overlooking acres of lavish grassland, bending stretches of earthy roads, and the distant foliage of a nearby jungle. This is what the ancient king would see, sitting on his throne. People would gather in this large field and royalty and nobles would assemble on the stage for ceremonies and special events. Events included extravagant elephant parades, entertaining competitions, and an exhibition of the king’s army. The name of the terrace was given because of the elegant and detailed design of elephants all along the perimeter of the stage and as pillars to the stairs leading up to the king’s seat. Standing upon the terrace, overlooking the impressive view kind of makes you feel a bit regal.

Tomb Raider Temple. Ta Phrom is well known for its role in the movie Tomb Raider, a reason it is also called the Tomb Raider temple. This temple is completely surrounded by a jungle like forest. Vegetation tightly encircles the ruins and trees rhythmically spiral around the stone walls and pinnacles. This temple was originally built by one of the Khmer kings as a tribute to his mother. It later became a Buddhist monastery and education center. This temple was magical looking. Stones of the broken structure seem almost deliberately placed upon each other in a disorderly manner. But it works despite its chaotic looking appearance. The chaos makes it look more rugged and tough. One momentous attribute of this structure are the trees that grow from the roofs of the temples. As the tree’s height exceed the elevation of most temple structures, its roots dangle from the rooftops and are submerged deep into the ground. Legend has it that a spiritual bird dropped a seed onto the roof of the building, causing the tree to start growing, even from such an odd location and environment.

The World’s Largest. It is said to be the world’s largest religious monument. When people come to Cambodia, they come to Angkor Wat to bask in its glory. This structure is really that big. It takes a couple hours just to explore the complex and climb up and down the steep towers. Just like most of the other temples of Angkor, the structure has several towers built in a pinnacle and mountain shaped form. Religious carvings and statues are positioned at every step of your exploration. Even with the headless Buddha statues, you still feel the essence of deep spirituality completely embody your senses. It was beautiful and devastating at the same time. They call it ruins for a reason. After some wear and tear, you can’t even fully imagine what it might have looked like during its glory days. But nevertheless, it has a disastrous and transcendent feel that captivates your attention and discourages your eyes from turning away.

One thing I’ve noticed about this site, and many others in Asia, is the relaxed regulations. If this structure was in the States, you wouldn’t be able to climb in or around it and everything would be closed off with gates and posted signs with disclaimers. Especially with ruins, not everything is perfectly upright or even in its build. Random bumps, unleveled surfaces, and protruding rocks and ledges jutting out are quite typical when you are walking around, let alone climbing. You can easily trip on every other step. I know I’ve never stumbled over my feet this much in my life. I’ve eaten it already too many times and I’ve had some food causalities when bringing my meals home.

But even while falling and even hurting myself, I can’t sue anyone. There aren’t exploited standards over here to allow you to sue over each little hiccup. It’s just common sense. If you stand too close to the 45 feet high ledge, you need to be careful and aware. You shouldn’t heavily drink and then go swimming in the rapids. Many times, tourists are the ones that get hurt or die, not the locals. Though, that makes sense since locals are more accustomed to the environment. Even some of the tallest structures don’t require handles or to be tapered off, permitting you to climb over everything and anything. This helps for a better exploration of the attractions. I do really like the lax regulations. I got to climb around as if I were in a jungle gym or rock climbing without gear. I would climb up the peaks of the structures and squeeze myself onto the small ledges on the sides of the temples. It was fun to scale the sides of the temples. It makes you feel so small compared to these gigantic structures. And if I fell, it was my own fault for not being more careful or even just climbing it in the first place.

Young Vendors. It was both amazing and disheartening to see the amount of kids soliciting tourists. And they were young, too young. Many of them were around seven years old to ten years old, while a good sum were four and five years old. Yes, a few preschoolers tried to sell me some bracelets. I was distraught by the whole concept. Why weren’t they in school or playing with friends? I tried talking to some of them personal questions, instead of feeding the industry of child solicitors by buying the bracelet or postcards. I asked them questions like “Why aren’t you in school?” “How old are you?” “What’s your name?” Some would either robotically respond to my question with their same sales pitch, “How about two for one?” and some would generate a one-worded answer and immediately go back into robotic sales mode.

I continued asking more questions, completely ignoring the baskets of trinkets they kept pushing at my face. After a couple minutes, I think I broke a couple down since I finally was able to have an actual conversation with them. Surprisingly, they knew more English than I would have thought. Despite their automatic selling lingo, some of these kids spoke better and more English than many of my 12^th graders. They were able to respond to my questions, ask me follow up questions, and even give a reacting response like “really” “that’s nice”, which can be a difficult concept language learners to grasp. My favorite part of the conversations is when they would ask where I was from and I would respond, “I’m from Thailand.” The kids both look at each other with a confused expression across their face and then turn back to me replying, “But you don’t look Thailand.” I know, I know. I’m not from Thailand. But technically I am a resident of Thailand. After Cambodia, I’m not going back to the States. I’m going back to my home in Thailand. That qualifies, right?

These kids were so cute, despite their quick and random transitions back into robots. They seemed very interested in me, as I was with them. I was in such disbelief that there English was as good as it was. Maybe it’s because it’s a tourist town. People know that they can survive and do well if they learn English. They are motivated. I wish my kids were more motivated. I found out some interesting information regarding school in Cambodia. Many Khmer kids do go to school but they only go for half days. So there are morning classes and afternoon classes. Some students will go to regular school in the morning and then head to another school to learn English in the afternoon. But sometimes, it becomes discouraging to go to school at all since resources are not provided. If a student wants to use a textbook, they have to purchase it themselves. It is supposedly a crooked system since the teacher ends up pocketing the money. I guess their salary is extremely low so they rationalize. Just like every other country—a low salary for an essential and respected job. I didn’t actually get this information from the kids. Although I’m sure they could have relayed a similarly complex message with their English skills.

Person Highlight

I met Milan on a tour of the Angkor temples. She is an American woman with a meek and pleasant demeanor. She was originally from the Bay Area (yea-a!) and after a short vacation in Japan, she fell in love with the country and moved there permanently. Just like me, she moved there to work as a teacher. After a year or so, she found herself at an international school fair and was picked up immediately by an excellent international school in Tokyo. She became the school’s art teacher, as she studied art throughout college. She has been there for almost seven years now. Within the first week of living in Japan, she started dating a Japanese man who she is still currently with. They will probably get married I presume. She is planning to live in Japan for a long time as she loves her job, her man, and the Japanese culture and food.

 

She was very interesting to talk to and very knowledgeable about teaching and Asian cultures. She has traveled to Southeast Asia quite a bit in her work abroad. I’m jealous. I’ve been thinking about working at an international school. Based on her experiences, it seems like international schools have more structure and more student support. Maybe that kind of program is more for me since I’m progressively despising the ‘all students pass’ concept even more. She gave me some advice about finding international schools around the Asian continent. Supposedly, Japan, Korea, and many other countries will set a teacher up pretty well. While providing you great housing, salary, and full support, they will even fly you out to the country and ship your belongings if needed. I don’t think Thai schools would do that. But I never know. I should start doing some research on international schools. Maybe this will be my new path. Would anyone miss me if I stayed another year?

New Years. I’ve never been too interested in New Years. I don’t know why. I don’t have any type of fascination or draw to the holiday. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been too tired to stay awake, had long distance relationships, or had to work late hours on this day. I also think some of the traditions that come along with this day are silly. Who came up with the New Year’s kiss idea? I guess I’m not a big fan. I don’t think I ever really was. But then again, I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, flowers, big romantic gestures, small romantic gestures, those make-you-want-to-cringe romantic scenes they always put in even the manliest movies, opening doors… The list can go on.

But maybe the New Year’s kiss is not really as romantic of a gesture as it can be a quick kiss with a complete stranger many times. When I was in high school, I actually didn’t know what the New Year’s kiss was. For example, this one time I was innocently talking to a drunken college guy at a New Year’s high school party. When the clock struck midnight, he took my face and tried to place his lips on mine. I was completely appalled. I shoved him off and yelled at him for a bit. Then, I went off and vented to my friend who explained that was supposed happen since it was the New Years. I was still upset and disgusted. He didn’t even ask for my permission. Gross.

I also never set up any New Year’s resolutions. It’s not like I don’t like to make personal goals. Trust me; I’m definitely a goal maker. But to me, resolutions seem like a momentary excuse to make someone feel better for the time being. It gives people the sense of purpose and convinces them that they are bettering their lives in some way. For me, I figure if I’m not doing it already, it’s probably not going to happen.  I know these resolutions do work for some and even contribute to a more productive mentality. But for me, I know I that I need to make goals when I’m inspired to do so, not just because it is the start of a new year. I work much harder to achieve my goals then. If I’m doing it just because it is New Year’s, I’m setting expectations that I might not be ready or willing to achieve.

Happy New Years! Back in the small town of Siem Reap, more and more people started to gather as the clock counted down to the last hours of 2011. Most of the foreigners were grouped near Pub Street, a street completely dedicated to beer and…beer. Bobby and I got a wonderful Khmer dinner on a restaurant balcony as we watched the drunken, slutty mess of people grinding and sweating on each other in a rhythmic fashion.

After pushing our way through the hump fest, we found our way to the riverbank where it seemed to have more of the locals. While people were shooting off small fireworks and I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, we relaxed and looked up at the clear, less contaminated sky. I mean, you can actually see some stars over here. In Bangkok, the color blue and stars are nonexistent concepts when referencing the sky. Then, we looked at our watches. The time already passed midnight but we didn’t hear anything—no excitement or eccentric drunk people shouting or slobbering all over each other. For a couple minutes, the riverbank was calm and soundless. Suddenly, a rush of fireworks lit up the night. But still no sound from the hundreds of people gathered around the river. The fireworks plastered the night sky for about ten minutes. Still, the vicinity was tranquil. After the fireworks composition was complete, I was ready to go to sleep. Bobby and I had an early morning as we were going to try to catch the first sunrise of the year at the Angkor Wat. How cool is that! 

A Better Year to Come. This year was not the best and I know a few others who can agree with this statement. Too much drama, too little sleep, and way too much crying. Too many bad things in a row. Too many stressful things at the same time. Though I have developed intellectually through school and life experiences, I have also increasingly become more immature in the last year. I know that sounds strange to backtrack like that. I used to be very mature and straight-edged and I was always very proud of being all grown-up.  I still believe I’m a pretty mature person and I’m very mindful of myself (most of the time) and others (sometimes). 

But I think I craved the feeling of danger and lack of inhibition. This feeling was one that I never let myself fall into in the past. So I tried to be the wild girl that I never was in high school and college and got into some trouble from it. Don’t worry parents, not anything major—just a little mental and public humiliation. Also, I was dealing with drama from badgering neighbors, health concerns, poolside stalkers, and of course, the inevitable boy issues while going through an already grueling graduate program. It was way too much to handle.

Nevertheless, I’ve had some wonderful moments as well. I’ve met and grown closer to some amazing people. And I’m so happy that you all are in my life. I was lucky enough to meet some of the most adorable heart-wrenching kids from my school. Though, I didn’t end up getting a teaching job in the States, I made great networks and had some skin toughening experiences from the program and job search. I have progressed in volleyball and have grown closer to my wonderful teammates. Despite my continuous rants about restaurant work, this year has been the best yet. Though money was tight, I have grown closer to each and every workmate. I actually enjoyed going to work every day because of them. As the cherry on top of it all, I am traveling around Asia now. Not a bad deal at all. Maybe it wasn’t that bad of a year.

Still, I hope that 2012 will be a better year for me and all of you out there. Happy New Years!