Christmas Cambodian-style

Yes, indeed, I escaped the neuron-chilling cold temperatures of Japan to tour two lovely countries--Cambodia and Thailand. (sidenote: Japan isn't half as cold as Minnesota...it just feels like it because the Japanese people haven't heard of, or invested in, a few amazing inventions called insulation, central-heating, and body fat). My girlfriend, Ashlee, and my friend, Courtney, were my travel buddies.


You may ask, why Cambodia? Well, Cambodia will soon be one of those bustlingly busy tourist destinations (if you don't consider it already) because of their temples. The Angkor Wat area is quickly rising as one of the most visited sites in all the world, and I wanted to see these places before the evil tourist destroyed the culture and messed with authenticity. The strange thing about being a tourist is that you hate when other tourists are getting in the way of what you are trying to tour. We have this mentality: "Sure it's ok for me to be here, but why are all these other tourists here? Don't they know that this would be a lot better if there weren't so many camera-toting, English-speaking, picture-posing, high-spending, culturally-insentive parasites sucking the atmosphere out of this place?" However, it is these "parasites" (a.k.a. tourists) that will help raise Cambodia out of the underdeveloped, impoverished world to a place where a decent living can be made and thus a comfortable, safe life can be lived. Look at the picture to the left. I originally took this picture to help remember what the living conditions looked like for many Cambodians. It wasn't until I got home that I realized the 5-star hotel looming over the less-than-luxurious shanties below. What a strange, backwards world we live in.

Oh, another reason I went to Cambodia was to visit my amazing, beautiful, fun, and inspirational sister, Greta. She will be in Cambodia for about 4 months as she and a team of friends bike from Bangkok, Thailand to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. For all of you inept Southeast Asian geographers, that is, in layman's terms, across Cambodia. She and a friend started the Pepyride. PEPY standing for "Protect the Earth, Protect Yourself". The ride is to help raise money to build a school in Cambodia (which has since been met and completed) and to raise awareness to the situation in Cambodia. Definitely check out the website (http://www.pepyride.org/).



You may recognize the above picture--Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is an old Hindu temple, like basically all the surrounding temples, and was built in the 12th century. Beautifully intricate drawings and carvings cover the huge stones of Angkor Wat, much like blemishes bombard the face of a 15 year old with acne. When you think there couldn't be another carving, a huge one pops up right in the middle.

We spent Christmas eating delicious Khmer cuisine, drinking the finest Cambodian lager (no egg nog), and listening to a traditional Cambodian band (see left). The band was made up of amputees who lost a limb from one of the many landmines that speckle the Cambodian landscape and were fundraising to help themselves and other amputees in need of help. They played some of the most alive music I've ever heard. I am pretty sure they even did the Cambodian version of Jingle Bells. Kind of funny with hand symbols, a satar-like instrument, bongos, and a harpsichord-looking thing.






Feel apathetic when looking at one of the oodles of temples? Looking more at your feet than at the carvings on the walls? Do you find yourself walking through temples post-haste? Well, you may be suffering from temple overload or the medical name "templed-out." Because there are oodles and oodles of temples and almost every tourist will eventually succumb to being templed-out, be sure to see the temples you really want to see right away. For me, this included Ta Prohm, Angkor Wat, and Angkor Thom, among many others. Ta Prohm is famous for being overtaken by the jungle. Many trees have grown on, in, or around many of the huge stones in the complex (see pictures). Also, Ta Phorm is where some scenes from the movie "Tomb Raider" were filmed. Angkor Thom is a huge complex which includes about half a dozen temples. One of the most famous of which is called Bayon. Bayon is a very steep-rising structure with many faces sculpted out of the many towers. Furthermore, there is a picture depicting many war stories on the outerwall (see very top for photo). Bayon may have the best carvings of all the temples I've seen.