Cambochi Through my Eyes..

Angkor Wat was in my wish list for long time, it felt like some kind of calling**. It could be because I love temples not that I’m overly religious but more for my amusement to the structures and the stories and the whole history behind it. When you grow up in a country where history is taken for granted and you move to a country where History is only 150yrs old, you pretty much appreciate anything older than 200yrs..

To build a house, we compromise so much with our “Nice to haves” and “Wish lists”, sometimes just go with the bare necessity and add-on those “Nice-to-haves” later when possible or if you are lucky, you stretch yourself financially to build your dream home without any compromise. We are still talking about few square meters to few hundred acres of land, which costs few hundred thousands to few million dollars.

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I’m seeing these larger than life temples with lot of creativity, fine workmanship, huge labour and their life dedicated to building these structures.. Even though what we have today is purely ruins and remains from all the centuries of torture these structures went through..

I was more astounded when I heard about the king who travelled across oceans to build this city with unbelievable temples. He did not just stop with one, he built a city full of temples, which required lot of labour and creative mind to come up new structural plan. Now I know why kings had many wives and endless children, just to make sure their legacy was spread across (no kidding!)

I got goose bumps seeing those stone carving of mystical stories I grew up hearing especially the corridors in the main Angkor Wat temple. One side of it shows the story of Ramayana and other side of the corridor wall shows stone carving of Mahabharata..

My 5 day Siem Reap itinerary is here,  Its lot of walking..Give yourself some time to relax or hit the pool during mid-day to escape from humid and the heat . It is better to plan your days to do activities early mornings and later in the evening..

Some fun facts from what I heard and observed,

• I was told the very first Linga which came to Cambodia is from Kanchipuram (South India) called 'Kambu Linga'.
• Over the years, 'Kambu Linga' is changed to 'Kambuchi' or ‘Cambochi’, which became 'Cambodia' in English. 
• Khmer is the official language and it has its own scripts with more alphabets than English does. In Khmer, they still call their country 'Cambochi'.
• Don't miss out the third chamber in Angkor Wat temple, steps were very steep. Kids under 10yrs are not allowed and elderly people have to be sure enough before they take the stairs. If you are planning to go up, be there at 6.30am to beat the crowd.
• Except for stone carvings on the wall, you hardly see any Idols.. If you do see one, it would be without any arms and head.. I heard some idols are kept in France museum..
• Most of the temples have seven-headed-snake on both side of the pathway to the temple entrance. Crossing the snake symbolises crossing the 7 seas and 7 mountains to enter 'Dev Lok' where Gods reside.
• The story of “Churning the ocean to get Amirtham” is carved everywhere.
• Lord Shiva has more temples built, there was this king who build 120 temples in the forest for Shiva.. The place used to be called Lingapura (City of Lingas) now it is called Koh Ker. We saw a HUGE linga in one of the temples here..
• Another king who try to build his own Ganges in Cambodia - "The river of 1000 Lingas"  (Ganges is a scared river which is believed to flow from Lord Shiva's head). The river of 1000 Lingas literally have stone carving of 1000 Lingas of different sizes. It also has carvings of other Hindu gods like Vishnu, Laxshmi, Brahma ,Hanuman..
• Surprising fact is Hinduism is not followed anymore in whole of Cambodia. They have Buddhism, Islam and Christianity as their main religious beliefs.
• 'Tuk Tuk' is an experience you don't want to miss out if you are from western side of the world. 
• Lot of good restaurants to try near Pub Street and shopping at the Night market is must in any Asian travel diaries.
• We tried mostly Indian restaurants, esp Vannakam, Kattumaram and Lotus all close to Pub Street. No complaints. They were authentic Indian cuisines. Vannakam even offered free WiFi..

Things I was little disappointed with,

• I understand it is not a developed country but charging for everything in USD is too much. Especially entering some villages (Floating Village, Koh Ker) cost each person 10 to 15 USD.
• Three-day temple pass in Siem Reap (not valid for temples outside the main city) costs 62 USD per person; I wouldn't pay this much to see temples in India.
• Often you see the words 'Orphanage' or 'Village Improvement' or ' Poverty' or "Women Welfare" taglines in things you buy to make you feel better spending your money. However, my question is "is it really helping the people directly?" and seeing it everywhere makes you feel depressed. Don't get me wrong! I have humanity, I do help people. But marketing these in every possible way is just too much to take on. I wasn’t ready for this, just warning you before you go.

For people who haven’t seen temples of this size, structure and workmanship in their lifetime before, it’s time for you to visit India. This is purely my view and observations.. To know more about history of these temples, you should check out the Wikipedia page.

**my calling - Down side of being a dreamer is to expect a strong vibe from my previous birth as a Princess when I entered the main temple.. 👸 and...... Who am I kidding, didn't feel a THING.. 🙈..