Siem Reap
A short 45 minute plane ride takes Ann, Billy and Ruchika to the northern region of Cambodia, the land of ancient temples and ruins. Siem Reap is a lovely town which has grown tremendously as the temples, especially Angkor Wat, have become a world-wide tourist destination. It's nice to be in a smaller town - the air is clearer, the weather not quite as oppressive, much less traffic - there are many cafes, markets, shops, and arts/handicrafts. There is also a vibrant night-life which we older folk passed on, but Ruchika took advantage of one night. It was such a great change for the urban environment of Phnom Penh.
The day we arrived we attended the evening performance of the Phare Circus and what a fabulous show! More than a circus, the show is a blend of dance, gymnastics, balance, theater, original live music and circus arts which are used to tell Cambodian stories from history, folklore, or modern society. The show that we saw was a commentary on the social nightclub scene with edgy music and modern social commentary all wrapped up in breath-taking circus arts. Another unique aspect of this circus is that all the profits support the free education, professional arts training, and social support programs on the Phare Ponleu Selpak school. The school was originally founded in 1994 by young Cambodian men returning home from a refugee camp after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. At the camp they took drawing classes and found art to be a powerful tool for healing - they returned home and started offering free drawing classes to street children - and soon opened a school. The school now offers a formal K-12 education and professional arts training in the areas of visual arts, theater, music, dance and circus. https://pharecircus.org
Then, on to the temples! Angkor Wat, the most well-known is a temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu and gradually transformed to a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century. The temple has become a symbol of Cambodia, appears on their flag and it is the country's prime attraction for tourists. There are many more temples in the area and we visited Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm. It boggles the mind to think of HOW they were planned and constructed back in the 12th century. For one temple, blocks were quarried about 50 km away from the temple site and each block was dragged on a sled-like contraption dragged by Elephants. Even now, they are continuing to reconstruct many of the temples. Some have piles of huge blocks, it must be like a gigantic 3-D jigsaw puzzle of figure out how they go back together. We left the hotel at 4:30 am to be able to get our tickets and be at Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. We caught some brilliant colors in the sky with the temple silhouetted in the background. It was a HOT day and by 2:00 we were exhausted, but happy with the experience. We toured this location in May, during the hot season, and there were many hundreds of tourists doing the same thing as we. I can't imagine how crowded this must be in high tourist season during November and December!
The next day was rest and recover along with a visit to Artrisans Angkor which is a social business creating job opportunities for young people in rural Cambodia while reviving traditional Khmer craftsmanship in stone and wood carving, painting on statues and on silk, lacquering, and silver plating. It was fascinating to watch the artists at work and marvel at the beauty that they are creating.
We really enjoyed our stay at the eocambo village, nice place, nice people. They made all the arrangements for anything we wished to do including the visit to Angkor Wat.
A big thumbs up for Siem Reap!
The day we arrived we attended the evening performance of the Phare Circus and what a fabulous show! More than a circus, the show is a blend of dance, gymnastics, balance, theater, original live music and circus arts which are used to tell Cambodian stories from history, folklore, or modern society. The show that we saw was a commentary on the social nightclub scene with edgy music and modern social commentary all wrapped up in breath-taking circus arts. Another unique aspect of this circus is that all the profits support the free education, professional arts training, and social support programs on the Phare Ponleu Selpak school. The school was originally founded in 1994 by young Cambodian men returning home from a refugee camp after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. At the camp they took drawing classes and found art to be a powerful tool for healing - they returned home and started offering free drawing classes to street children - and soon opened a school. The school now offers a formal K-12 education and professional arts training in the areas of visual arts, theater, music, dance and circus. https://pharecircus.org
Then, on to the temples! Angkor Wat, the most well-known is a temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu and gradually transformed to a Buddhist temple toward the end of the 12th century. The temple has become a symbol of Cambodia, appears on their flag and it is the country's prime attraction for tourists. There are many more temples in the area and we visited Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm. It boggles the mind to think of HOW they were planned and constructed back in the 12th century. For one temple, blocks were quarried about 50 km away from the temple site and each block was dragged on a sled-like contraption dragged by Elephants. Even now, they are continuing to reconstruct many of the temples. Some have piles of huge blocks, it must be like a gigantic 3-D jigsaw puzzle of figure out how they go back together. We left the hotel at 4:30 am to be able to get our tickets and be at Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. We caught some brilliant colors in the sky with the temple silhouetted in the background. It was a HOT day and by 2:00 we were exhausted, but happy with the experience. We toured this location in May, during the hot season, and there were many hundreds of tourists doing the same thing as we. I can't imagine how crowded this must be in high tourist season during November and December!
The next day was rest and recover along with a visit to Artrisans Angkor which is a social business creating job opportunities for young people in rural Cambodia while reviving traditional Khmer craftsmanship in stone and wood carving, painting on statues and on silk, lacquering, and silver plating. It was fascinating to watch the artists at work and marvel at the beauty that they are creating.
We really enjoyed our stay at the eocambo village, nice place, nice people. They made all the arrangements for anything we wished to do including the visit to Angkor Wat.
A big thumbs up for Siem Reap!
Phare Circus
Angkor Temples
Angkor Artisans
