Bayon, the first of our temple fest

In the beginning, we have this misconception that the temples are situated far away from town. I guess distances varies depending on which of the countless temples do you wish to see. Savong actually helped us draw up a plan on the must-see temples and from there we started our 2-day temple mission.

Our 1st temple on our 2nd day in Siem Reap is the Bayon Temple, the spiritual centre of Angkor Thom, which is roughly 20mins away from the city centre. We entered through the south gate of Angkor Thom (known as the Great City). I absolutely love this entrance (yellow star on map). As we reach the causeway towards this gate, we saw giant faces standing to the left and to the right of the causeway. It's a "wow" sight passing them as they stand tall with that cold smile and that picturesque moat as a background. I love love love the simplicity and the surreal emptiness about it. I couldnt get a decent shot in a moving car and soon gave up thinking i will exit through this gate, but we did not so no pics =\ I also conveniently left Jasmain's lonely planet guidebook in Brunei so i didnt know what they signify at that time. There are actually 54 statues on each side of the causeway, 54 gods to the left and 54 demons to the right taken from a story illustrated in the Angkor Wat.

.At the visitor's entrance.

.(R): I love TimChin's pose.

As we enter this temple, i have this overwhelming feeling of being on an archeological exploration. I wonder how the boys felt that instance especially with those hats on. This temple holds ground to 54 towers, each with 4 faces of the Avalokiteshavra, gazing in 4 cardinal directions and smiling down at you. You will feel like you're surrounded by a supreme being of power, of peace, and of great compassion. Avalokiteshvara is the Buddha of Compassion, better known as Quan Yin to the Chinese. But there's also another theory that the faces are made to resemble the King himself, Jayavarman VII, which is also said to be credible because he was a devoted Buddhist that shares similiarity with the Buddha in the depth of his compassion for his subjects.

My favourites here are no doubts the faces, the apsara carvings, the doorways and towers for stunning pictures. Ultimately what is amazing about this temple and the others we've seen are the crazy stackings and carvings of gigantic stones one on top of another making up every single bit of the temple. Just how on earth did they manage that in the 12th century?

By mid noon, we were nearly fried crispy. It was HOT HOT HOT, and i cannot be any more grateful for purchasing a mini-fan despite Boon2's mocking. That battery-powered wind and the purring of its plastic flaps is like magic,... however you can always settle for dettol wipes... give it a wipe on your face, on your neck, and perhaps under your shirt too, to cool down.

.(C) Boon2 lugging our tripod around which helps if you want group photos without bothering others, though setting it up can be quite a pain. And Steven, i am still upset my WA and Zoom lens didnt arrive on time~! ='(. (R) Insanely steep stairs that we had to buttcrawl down.
If you have the time and interest, you can let a lonely planet guide take you through the stories of the 1.2 km bas-reliefs found around the temple. To me, the beauty of Bayon lies on the mystical smile of the Buddha's face.

.Group photo usually involves me setting up the timer and running to the scene, but it was impossible for me to run and climb that stairs in 10 secs! Huuhuuhuu. What we thought was a cool tree house turned out to be platform for you to get onto an elephant. Duuhh.

.The Bayon is currently being restored by a Japanese team.

Our next stop, Ta Phrom, in search for that Tomb Raider tree.

Dining with Gods and Kings

OMG, i know i said my adios.. but i just have to blog about this. I was reading Loven's blog today and i saw this. A dinner with the gods and kings, a full spread at the world heritage temples in Siem Reap.

He started with "So if you are probably someone who has some scandalously big cash to burn and have a couple of nights in Cambodia, try these out for a change..."

And my eyes just POPPED!

Image from: the spool artist

"Then the intricate set-up is laid: from candle-lit tables, wine bars, Michelin-star chefs at your beck and call and all that jazz... this is a full dinner setting at the Prasat Kravan temple"

Will someone pinch me pls....

Image from: the spool artist
"A courtyard dinner at the Thommanon temple where you are blanketed by the jungle..."

"Rental prices for temples range from $2,500 for smaller, far flung temples while Angkor Wat can cost as much as $20,000 for a 3-hour dinner schedule! And that doesn't even include your dinner yet! Dinners usually start at around $300 per person. For most Cambodians earning an average of $2 a day, dinner alone is equivalent to their life savings. Rental price in Angkor Wat can actually build you a house here..."

For more pictures, see here.

I, without a doubt, do not have scandalous money to burn, but Loven... how can we get to experience a night like that??

Savong - Part III

In our last email exchange, Savong has opened up to what he really wanted from us. He had expressed that many students in his school have requested to be computer-literate, however he did not ask for much, he merely wanted the link to the cyber world, i.e. the once-off internet access fee.

On 8/26/08, Lee Ming <bubbles_222@hotmail.com> wrote:

Dear Savong,
I've received your email. As the date gets nearer, we will inform you on the exact date and time and what activities/class we wish to conduct.

As for your request for story/comic books, is English language ok with you? If so, we can purchase some books from Brunei. If it is in another language, can you tell us where in Cambodia can we obtain these books.

I am more than happy to contribute towards obtaining internet access for your school. However, do you have a common computer that can be accessed by everyone in your school? Is $300 in US dollars? Can you provide me with information of your application for internet access, e.g. paperworks.

Looking forward to hear from you.

Best regards,
Lee Ming

_____________________________________________________

Almost immediately, Savong replied to my mail.

From:	savong svay (svaysavong@gmail.com)
Sent:	Tue 8/26/08 12:51 PM
To:	Lee Ming (bubbles_222@hotmail.com)

Dear Lee Ming.

Thank you very much for writing me back.And I am happy to get your email and read it .

If you can purchase comic and story book here It will be good. And when you are here I will take you to books shop.

Yes,I have a simple computer at school and it can connect internet. Main thing is: If I have budget $300 dollars I can go to internet company to connect it. So I hope that you will donate this finance for connection internet at the school I hope.When I already connected it I will copy bill to you.

How do you think what I said?

Hoping to hear from you

Savong

_____________________________________________________

The amazing thing about this entire exchange with Savong is - what is initially a simple offer from us that is travelling to Cambodia, has in turn touched a few hearts.

On the 26th of August, i received a message from Jennifer C. She expressed that she wanted to contribute to Savong's school and after explaining to her what we're planning to do, she immediately transferred the money to me.

I think it takes a big step to be able to:

- No.1: willing to help, ask and find out how you can help
- No.2: put trust in the integrity of the person who set up this opportunity
- No.3: entrust your money to this person

So Jenn, you may be thankful to me for creating this opportunity for you, but i am in return thankful to you for putting your trust in me.

On the 2nd of September, another friend Han Peng told me he is very supportive of this idea of ours and he will try his very best to raise some funds for Savong. His tactic is for them to sacrifice a night out and donate the money they could have spent on coffee or other entertainment. Good luck Han Peng and thank you so much for the cheer!

After all these feedback from friends, it got us thinking. Maybe, just maybe we can offer more than just internet access. Maybe, we can get them a few computers as well! This gesture from you guys have pushed us to do more. We will target and find ways to raise more money.

If any of you feel you want to contribute in any ways, even in the most minute offering, make the first move to email me. I think eventually the person to thank is Savong, it takes more than anything to ASK for help, seizing that chance for all his students. He is a great example of someone with the audacity to dream, and will do anything for his dreams to come true.

.Image obtained and modified from Harley Angels.


Here's a story from Duncan Stuart when he first met Savong in 2004.

Again out of a visit to Angkor Wat. In my own case I met a young teacher Svay Savong who is committed to teaching languages in order that students get employment opportunities in Siem Reap. When I met him in 2004, he was teaching classes in a small room, really a lean-to, on the side of his father's house near the Killing Fields Monastery half way between Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. Much as I was amazed by Angkor Wat, upon my return home the subject on my lips was Savong's School.

Savong grew up in the poverty years immediately after Pol Pot, when Cambodia languished; cut off from the West. He has seen how language skills are a key to giving young people employment opportunities, but he also knows that local schools don't offer adequate language education in English, Japanese or Thai. In fact many teachers have left the state school system in order to operate as tutors - taking their teaching salary from the standard $50 per month to something much higher. Relatively speaking, only the wealthy families can afford their $25 month tuition charges. Certainly, very few in the countryside can afford this, so that is why Savong had plans to build a school in a rural area 25 minutes East of Siem Reap.

In March 2005, having kept in constant email contact with myself and a group of other supporters Yoshikazu Tsuji and Makoto Kimura in Japan, and Malcolm, in San Francisco, Savong announced that land had been located. The project had the green light.

Over the next 7 months Savong taught by day and then travelled each night to the building site where his three classroom school was being constructed. By October it was completed and opened, and now 350 children attend - some each day, others on some days only as they still go to a local state school not far away. This is additional education, and I'm amazed at how eager they are to do this. (I reflect on my own desultory efforts as a 14 year old in French classes, and how I used to wish I was anywhere else.)

The school has five teachers now, ongoing commitments for salaries, running costs, books, petrol for the noisy Chinese generator - not to mention upcoming projects - rooms and offices upstairs (the stairs are built) and, in time, three computers in order to teach computer literacy. Savong has built up a good team of teachers, and his long-term goal is to make the school more self-sufficient funding-wise. To do this he is working crazy hours, co-managing a guest house in Siem Reap www.angkorvilla.com and from here he is inviting a steady stream of young tourists to visit the school, teach a few lessons (the kids love it) and to experience a bit of the reality of Cambodia. Many are blown away by the experience. The hope is to build a wider support base for the school. D&D Angkor Villa also contributes some of its profits back to the school.

All these efforts are drops in a much bigger bucket of course. But for the tourist to Cambodia the opportunities do exist for an experience that goes well beyond mere tourism. We all hope that a journey will be somehow life-changing (why else do we travel?) but for the luckier travellers the experience goes beyond that of reflection (gee, thatch huts, no electricity, I'm glad I don't live like that...) to something more useful and profound.

Baray Petit Garden

Baray Petit Garden

www.chezom.com

Said to be the most authentic Khmer restaurant in Siem Reap, and patroned by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt during their visit early this year. It is hidden in a peaceful retreat on the road to the Western Baray, part of the Angkor Archeological Park.

Apparently, electricity is not connected to the restaurant so the kitchen staff survives on solar power and bio-fuel technology.

Only operate during daylight hours.

"Some taxi and tuk-tuk drivers are notorious for "conscious" dumbness. The Western Baray to the locals is like the Eiffel Tower to the Parisians. Negotiate your rate. From about anywhere in Siem Reap the ROUND-TRIP fare is $4 to $5 dollars."

Loven Ramos

Random clicks landed us on this page - the House of Joyce - in his blog. This house is that of an American author who has written several books about Angkor's world heritage temples, snapped so eloquently that we thought "wow, we should go have a look".

So i exchanged mails with Loven, sadly it is not open to public viewing... but Loven offered to show us other interesting spots in Cambodia when we arrive.

I have just made my first friend in Cambodia.

Savong - Part II

When Savong replied to my mail, he posed me a few questions, to which i replied:

On Tue, Aug 19, 2008 at 12:29 PM, Lee Ming <bubbles_222@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi Savong,

Thank you for your reply and sorry for taking so long to reply you. I'm shocked to know that you're only 27 because I am 27 too! And you have already achieved something so great, you should be very proud of your endeavors.

To answer your questions:

1.Why do you want to donate the people in my country ?

There is no specific agenda or reason for choosing to donate to the Cambodians. It is by chance that we want to do something meaningful and memorable for the place we are visiting. And research led us to your school.

2.Is it very main and useful to you in helping the people ?

I think I speak for all 8 of us when I say it is definitely rewarding to be able to help anyone in need in any possible ways. Though we are unable to help you to the extent of running your school or in any long term arrangements, we are able to offer once-off donations, to each person's discretion. We are also keen to share some knowledge, perhaps a new language? or coordinate some activities with the kids during this short visit.

3.If you already helped them after what do you need from them ?

At this point in time, we have no reservations as to the way you manage the school and we do not expect anything in return. Our gifts and time are unconditional. The only thing we expect out of these children is to be able to enjoy their time with us.

We are planning to visit your school either on the 1st or 2nd of October for half a day. Some of the questions i have for you is:

1) In what currency do you prefer donations to be in?
2) What time does school start and end, and on what days of the week?
3) Will we be spending time solely with just 1 class?
4) Are there any specific stationeries/books we can offer to you?
5) Do the children speak basic english?
6) Can you suggest some activities that you think will be appropriate for the children?
7) These children are generally of what age?

Thanks Savong!

__________________________________________________

Tonight, i received an email from him:

From:	savong svay (svaysavong@gmail.com)
Sent:	Thu 8/21/08 2:51 PM
To:	Lee Ming (bubbles_222@hotmail.com)

Dear Lee Ming,

Thank you for emailing me back and have some questions to ask me and I am happy to let you know what you want to know.

The school starts opening from 1:00 to 7:00pm and I also have teaching from 5:30am to 7:30am only one English class. And opening from Monday to Friday.

We have teaching two languages is: English and Japanese .And I have 6 teachers and 377 students .You can teach from 1:00pm to 7:00pm if you want.And when you are teaching I have teachers to accompany you .Main things are : I need comic books short and long for the library .Anyway,if you have any friends who can help out me computers for the school It will be good for the students because there are too many students want to study computers .

The students can speak basic Englisht some of students.If you want to offer stationaries to children I think that it is not enough because I have many students .and if you can offer comic books for the library it will be useful very much because the comic books are always in the library all the time and it is possible for each teacher if they want to read books.

The students are 9-25 years old .

Finally I have a thing to do for the school .Could you help out me to connect internet at the school .In connectiong will pay $300 in arrangement first and when internet company already connected it I will must pay $45 monthly.so I need you to help out me this .It is very main for me.Anyway,It will be better if we have internet at the school and the students can use it .

And how do you think about my idea ? please you let me know if you have any questions .

I hope that you will can help out me and the school here.

Hoping to get an email from you soon.

Kindest regards

Savong

_________________________________________________

What do we feel about giving them access to a priceless bank of knowledge, and a heap pile of rubbish out there in the cyber world . . . .

Happiness Served!

on a pizza... *still in disbelief* at HAPPY HERB PIZZA, Cambodia's 1st franchise restaurant.

http://happyherbpizza.com

Before you start wondering what is so special about this pizza and start digging through it's menu, you will not find its secret recipe written anywhere on it's website nor it's menu.

The happiness that is served by the slice is sprinkles of marijuana/cannabis (a traditional Khmer spice). *GASP* And it comes in dosages of "happy", "very happy" or "ecstatic".

Comments were "it's tastier than with oregano". Despite it's claim of making one happy, some say it has made the local cops very unhappy... so it's unsure if they're still serving "happy" pizzas.

"Waitharrrr... can you make me a happy woman?"

I think we should check it out, purely for the pizza.. just because it's said they are very generous on the cheese. And i l.o.v.e cheese. *snort*

Update 10/09/2008: Read that Happy Pizza is banned, since April 2008. Oh well...

Butterflies Garden

Butterflies Garden Restaurant features 1,500 tropical butterflies and a koi pond in a romantic, private garden. Creative tropical cuisine, including unique Khmer specialties, is served at breakfast, lunch and dinner. An array of fresh juices, shakes, beer, wine and cocktails is also available. Butterflies Garden Restaurant specializes in group events of all kinds from corporate retreats to children's birthday parties.

This came highly recommended by travellers, i'm not a big big fan of butterflies but i had sparkly eyes when i read that:

1. They celebrate Butterfly Happy Hour at 4-6pm when the butterflies start to sleep; and..... it comes with complementary aromatherapy foot baths. Sipping ice cold beer while soaking your feet in a hot bath, omg... i wonder what that would do to me.

2. 11am on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, the kids providing the butterflies to Butterflies Garden will release hundreds of them into the garden, which some has said is a magical sight.

I think i'm more for 1. TeeeeHeeeeee...

From the Old Market, cross the Siem Reap River. Take a hard left and continue north along the river until you reach the next bridge. Turn right and continue 50 meters to Butterflies Garden Restaurant. Look for our signs.

Heli or Hot Air?

Must try either one!

HOT AIR

Located approximately 500 meters west of Angkor Wat, this stationary balloon offers panoramic views of Angkor, Siem Reap and the Barays. This helium balloon is tethered 200 meters above the ground, about 1 km from the entrance to Angkor Wat, on the road to the airport. The duration of a balloon ride is approximately 10 minutes, with maximum capacity of 30 people. Schedule: Rides run continuously from sunrise to sunset.

USD15 for 15mins. Only crap thing is it's tethered, though i wont know if i can hold my bladder if it was mobile.

Other people's experience: "Even though I'm afraid of heights I had to do it for the views and Angkor wat looks amazing from a few hundred feet up. A great experience, once the terror is overcome!!!!!"

HELICOPTER RIDE
http://www.helicopterscambodia.com

8 minute scenic flight

This flight is highly recommended if you are a little pressed for time. You will see the wide, flat expanse of the plains and Tonle Sap Lake, with the town of Siem Reap spread below you. A slow turn takes you to the fringe of Angkor Wat temple area, with its rectangular moat clearly visible. The sophistication and extent of the architecture and civilization of the Angkor Kings can be truly appreciated from the air.

Flight Details: USD75 per person

Other people's experience: "Wonderful. Great views of the temple, town & lake."

Singing Tree Cafe

http://www.singingtreecafe.com/

Must check-out!

Their programs are incredible! There have pilates, meditation, dance classes, monk chats and yoga scheduled for the whole month! Right out here in a garden, jus 4 minutes away from downtown Siem Reap.

Not only do they serve acclaimed good health food, they provide space for community services and presentations on development projects and environmental issues. They also support projects in Cambodia such as wildlife conservation, clean water and street children. Occasionally they sell paintings by children from Sihanoukville (a town i dont think we have time to see).