March 25, 2004

Today's temple was Ta Prohm, which is the one which has been taken over by the jungle. Although much of the undergrowth has been removed, its still astonishing to see trees growing over, around and through the temple complex. The roots of the trees wind their way between the stones of the walls, and as they grow they literally pull the walls apart. As we'd chosen to visit early, we again had the luxury of an almost empty temple, which was a fantastic way to see the site. We already knew that some of the Tomb Raider film was shot here, but we also discovered that during the making of "Two Brothers" here 2 years ago, they had released a tiger to roam around the inside of the temple. Glad we missed that! The temple is like a rabbit warren - numerous passageways and doors blocked by piles of falling rubble, and it was really easy to get lost inside. By 9 o'clock the first bus tour had arrived and the temple suddenly started to fill with people - it changed the character of the temple from the deserted overgrown jungle temple that we'd experienced earlier (When people with American accents start bellowing "Chuck, move left and make your hands look like you're holding that tree up" you know that the magic has gone!)

Then we called into the temple of Bantai Prae, when the girls stayed in the tuk-tuk and we had a quick wander through - but it was probably one temple too many for now - they have all started to look very 'samey'. So by 10:30, we were back in the tuk-tuk, heading into town. On the way we stopped at one of the big tourist souvenir shops, to see if the things they had were different to the things we'd seen in the market. These shops are the ones they take busloads of tourists to, especially Japanese and Koreans, because they don't travel around town independently, and certainly wouldn't get down to the Old Market area (and the tour guides would discourage them, even if they had the time in their busy schedules). We found that the shops sold exactly the same things (wood carvings, stone carvings and paintings), but at hugely inflated prices - a replica of the Angkor stone faces costing $7 in the market, cost $110 in the shop! (Although the kind lady in the shop offered me a 'special' discounted price of $90).

Two days ago we visited the Government-owned War Museum, and this afternoon we visited the privately-owned Landmine Museum. Both of them told the same story, of the terrible impact on the country of the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge period, and the continued civil war which ran until 1998. Although the displays focused on land mines, artillery, tanks and guns, it was the personal stories of suffering which will be the memories. At the War Museum, our guide was a 25-year old man who's brother was killed in front of him by Khmer Rouge guerrillas, who had lost his arm in the same attack, and had then heard that his parents had been killed by guerrillas while he was recovering in hospital. His parents had been killed with a spade for not handing over their water buffalo to the Khmer Rouge. Before coming to Cambodia we had read two books covering the Khmer Rouge period, so we have a basic understanding of the recent history of the country, and the impact on families of so many random, brutal deaths. We definitely found it difficult to listen to the personal story of family death, while looking at a display of AK47 and M16 rifles.

The Landmine Museum didn't have a guide there during our visit, but the impact of individuals' stories were still difficult to read, and especially to read out to Charlotte, who was captivated by them. The museum was setup by a man who had originally been a child soldier for the Khmer Rouge, then a soldier for the liberating/invading Vietnamese forces, and then finally a mine-clearer for the UN. His frank and brutal memories were pinned up on the walls, which were dotted with displays of deactivated mines and armaments. The owner still occasionally clears mines - one of the villagers had found a live landmine last summer in their back garden, 2M from the house and only 500m from where we were standing reading the story.

There was also a simulated minefield setup in the garden - even more moving since we knew that mines like these were laid all over Cambodia, and although some areas like the Angkor temples have been cleared, most others still lie in the ground and in paddy fields, waiting for somebody to stand on them. (If you want an innocent challenge, there are four mines in the photo on the left). One of the plaques reads "It costs $5 to purchase a mine and $500 to clear and destroy one. The museum is also home to young children injured by land mines, who's parents send them there to learn languages, go to school and hope to change their lives. As we left the museum, we saw them across the road, playing football on a patch of dirt. At first, it looked like a normal game of football, but after a second we realised that half the players were on crutches because they only had one leg, and the rest were missing one or two arms. It served as a reminder that Cambodia is home to 45,000 landmine victims, and every month there are 120 new victims. Only some of them are lucky enough to be injured within reach of a hospital, and even fewer have the $50 required to get the hospital treatment required to save their lives.

Cambodia is a country with high contrasts, and you can expect to have your thoughts challenged by what you see, hear and experience. And it causes you to ask questions about yourself and everything else.

Somewhat incongruously we went from the Landmine Museum to the Angkor Wat balloon - a huge helium balloon which carries up to 12 passengers 200 metres into the air to get a view of the main Angkor Wat temple and the surrounding forests and fields. We'd chosen sunset to do it, so on one side we could see the sun turn dark red as it dipped, and on the other the reflection of that colour on the dark stones of the temple. Because it is the dry season, the view to the temple was hazy and unforgettable. Below us we could see paddy field after paddy field sitting dry and empty, waiting for the first rains of the monsoon season in May, when the farmers will all be out planting their rice plants in the flooded fields. From up high it was possible to get a real idea for the size of the Angkor site, and the way that much of it has been taken over by forest and jungle.