The Ancient Temples of Cambodia

The Khmer Empire was at it's peak in from the 9th - 13th century as it governed a large portion of Southeast Asia.  During that time the kingdom built some magnificent temples for their Buddhist beliefs and Hindu gods, but today these temples helped remind me of man's insignificance and transience.  By the time the French colonized Cambodia in the 19th century, the temples were newly discovered in the midst of a dense forest.  Today millions of tourists come from around the world to see these grand temples.

The most famous temple is Angkor Wat.
It is on the national flag and one of the
largest in the world.   (Above) My friends and I take
a break inside the temple.

(Right) some of my friends take a ride around
Angkor Thom, using transportation fit for kings.
This is a Buddhist temple, thus the architecture
pictured above.

(Left) Look closely, one head might look out of place.
This is the entrance to Angkor Thom, a bridge crossing
the moat.  (Above) We visited Ta Prohm, famous for
the trees that grow in and around it, but possibly more
famous after a part of the movie Tomb Raider was
filmed here.

While in Siem Reap, we definitely enjoyed some of
the tourist attractions like this foot massage via fish!
It was a fun & new experience!  It tickles at first, but
the little fish are hungry "to eat your dead skin
cells," as advertised.

Our last day in Siem Reap we visited a floating village on Tonle Sap Lake.  These people literally live on the water year round.  Their houses are designed to float, as are the stores, church, and school. A few enjoyed the experience of getting up close with a snake!

Experiences in Cambodia

Our time in Cambodia provided many opportunities and experiences to learn about the country and it's people.  Here's a few glimpses of what we got to take in.

Our group enjoyed trying new foods at the local market, but
didn't eat here everyday as there was also a KFC in town!

The group pictured above are the university
students I helped teach English to while in Phnom
Penh.  It was fun to connect with them during our
week and a half together!

80-90% of the population is Buddhist in Cambodia.
Therefore, we enjoyed a unique opportunity to visit a
Buddhist temple and learn from the monks about their
faith.  (Left) Near to our residence in Phnom Penh, we
witnessed a birthday party. A tent was set up in the
street and I snapped a few photos when passing.

Traffic in some Asian countries can be a headache,
but I only experienced a couple traffic jams
while in the capital city for two weeks.  Cars & trucks
are becoming more common, but motorcycles still rule
the streets.  (Above) a local security guard visits with a
tutuk driver.  Tutuks are the main form of public
transportation, especially for foreigners like myself.

Lifestyle in the city and in the country is drastically
different.  While not all housing is fantastic in Phnom
Penh (left), jobs are more readily available and life
seemed to be more stable.  In the country, many
are subsistence farmers living off of what they grow
& selling any extra for other necessities.  This man is
likely well off compared to others because he appears
to own a cow.

The last part of our trip was spent in Siem Reap, a tourist hub for people visiting the ancient temples (stay tune for the next post).  Life there was very comfortable...for tourists.

Visiting Cambodia

 After accompanying this group of American college students in Indonesia for three weeks, I continued with them for a journey to Cambodia.  This was my second time to visit Cambodia as I did so two years ago after spending some time in Indonesia on the same trip this group of college students joined.  Cambodia is a beautiful country recovering from an ugly and tragic past.  Once the center of the great Khmer Empire that ruled much of Southeast Asia, Cambodia came under the power of the Khmer Rouge in 1975 following the Vietnam War that also extended into parts of Cambodia.  The communist focused Khmer Rouge tried to return Cambodia to the basics by emptying the cities and forcing most everyone to become farmers using 11th century methods.  In the end approximately one-third of the population was killed and the country is still rebuilding today.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia

There were a few parts of Cambodia that reminded me of
spring time in Kansas, including the green rice fields
looking like wheat fields back home and the powerful
thunderstorms that would often roll through in the
evenings, also similar to Indonesia any many ways.

We visited a school turned prison and torture
center on our second day in Phnom Penh, the
capital city of Cambodia.  There the Khmer Rouge
killed thousands, many of which were intellectuals,
searching for information of enemies and seeking to
purge the country.

We also visited the killing fields outside of Phnom
Penh where many prisoners were taken to be killed
and buried in mass graves (the concaves/indentions
pictured right) during the Khmer Rouge.
Avery sobering experience and sad to consider how
evil man is or can be.  How far does an ideology
have to go to consider itself right in killing others?

Friends from Far & Wide

During Summer English I got to know Indonesian high school students from around Java and a group of college students from Colorado, and enjoyed seeing them get to know one another.  Here's a few more shots of our time together.

These are the leaders of our program.  They got to know one
another in a hurry as together they helped teach the participants.

The last night of our program we had a special celebration.  It started with a meal together, followed by a few musical performances, and naming of this years award winners, and finished with goodbyes & photos together.

In Lembang, a city close to Bandung, I accompanied the
group from the states to help with another youth program.
There we got to hang out with some more Indonesian
youth and join them in some fun activities for a few days.

Back in Bandung, we attended an Indonesian
wedding with our friends.  The ladies from the
States dressed up in traditional Indonesian dresses
and makeup, and we all enjoyed some wonderful
food!  To finish up our time in  Bandung we hung
out with some friends  at a restaurant overlooking
the city of Bandung.

Master Chef Competition

 During Summer English, one of our fun activities was to have a Master Chef Competition.  There were 4 teams with a mix of boys and girls in each group.  Each team was assigned to make a different kind of fried rice along with a side which included sandwiches and fruit dishes.  The participants of the program and leaders enjoyed working together to make their dishes and maybe most of all eating them afterwards!

We even had the famous Gordon Ramsay, but this one is from Colorado!

And off we go!  There was lots of chopping and prep work before getting around to frying up the rice and its ingredients.  Plenty of work to go around, but things got a bit hectic at times.  :)

Boiling the eggs!

Frying the rice!

And the final presentations....Here are the winners!

After enjoying our meals, there is always clean up.  We took turns doing the dishes.

Afterwards we celebrated Nick's birthday by  covering him with flour!  A fun day indeed!