It’s been a while since I’ve written anything about my Cambodia trip. It’s been over 6 months now and I still haven’t finished downloading all the pictures from that trip into flickr. I put in another batch tonight and now I’m halfway through. While linking to those pictures, I’ve decided to reprint [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘cambodia’
January 28, 2008
Ta Phrom: Khmer Notes no. 7 /Meditating Wind no. 50
Of all the interesting temples in the Angkor area, Ta Phrom is the coolest. Known for the giant trees that have grown out of the stone ruins, it’s probably one of the most photographed as well. It was built by the prolific Khmer king Jayavarman VII as a Buddhist monastery and university. [...]
January 27, 2008
Tourists Among the Ruins: Khmer Notes no. 6
You can tell which country is doing well by the number of tourists that come from within its borders and travel around the world. For instance, during the 80’s when Japan was supposedly poised to overtake the U.S. in wealth and the yen was like gold, there were Japanese tourists everywhere with their Nikons [...]
January 19, 2008
Angkorian Architectural Elements: Khmer Notes no.5
In this post I’ll describe some Khmer architectural elements with accompanying photos of mostly Angkor Wat. By no means is this an exhaustive list of the complex, religio-structural elements of Angkorian design. These are just some aspects that I found especially compelling.
The Temple Mountain
The most common type of Angkorian temple is the temple [...]
January 16, 2008
Chani the Bookseller: Khmer Notes no.4
Children are everywhere. There are so few old or even middle-aged people. And that’s because of the genocide by the Khmer Rouge during the 70’s as well as the decades of civil war. And I wonder how it could’ve happened to such a gentle people.
Like most developing countries, children have to work [...]
January 15, 2008
An Embarassingly Brief History of Cambodia: Khmer Notes no.3
Whenever I travel to another country, I have some guidelines that I try to follow.
First, I learn some basic expressions of the local language. It’s just arrogance to visit another country and not know how to,
greet people,
excuse oneself,
politely order food and drinks,
ask where the restrooms are,
thank them,
and say goodbye.
This, I believe, is the very [...]
January 14, 2008
At the Gates of Angkor Wat: Khmer Notes no.2
Most people who visit Angkor Wat don’t realize that Angkor Wat is more than just one temple, albeit the largest and the most fabulous one. Angkor Wat itself is an ancient city, with the temple at its center. And around it are numerous other ancient cities, temples and reservoirs. In fact the entire [...]
January 12, 2008
The Accidental Tourist: Khmer Notes no.1
I have a list of places I’d like to visit before I die. It includes places like the Pyramids and The Great Wall, which are on many people’s lists. I also have places that are of more local interest like Mt. Baektu in North Korea, the legendary birthplace of the Korean people. [...]
