Asia: 2015

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Don't try this at home folks! from the streets of Phnom Penh

these were taken from the balcony of out hotel room in Phnom Penh

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Tuol Sleng museum and the Killing Fields

Phnom Pehn is a large noisy busy city and the capital of Cambodia. The Royal Palace dates back to the 15th century and has beautiful grounds. The current king lives here but behind the public areas. he is 53, has not married and does not have Cambodian blood (his mother is Vietnamese and father Italian).
Most people come to the city to see Tuol Sleng prison or S21. It was one of many prisons where people were brought to be tortured. It was once a high school, but since Pol Pot took over the country, schools, hospitals and any educational centre was banned. Anyone who was suspected of being a threat to his new society were tortured and executed. If they survived S21 they were then taken to the Killing Fields. They were bound and blindfolded and executed and dumped in mass graves. The Khmer Rouge did not shoot them, bullets were too scarce, they hit them with hoes, machetes or decapitated them saw palms. Children were murdered also as they could not work in the fields. Not everyone was dead when they were pushed into the mass graves, so DDT was then spread on them to dampen the smell and kill anyone who was not dead. Loudspeakers played music to drown out the screams as this killing field was next to farms and a town. There were dozens of prisons and killing fields throughout the country. Over 3 million Cambodians were murdered between 1975 to 1979, anyone who was educated or thought to be a threat to Pol Pot. They openly admitted to killing anyone they thought may be threat, no proof needed. The rest of the population from cities and towns were forced into the country to build dams, grow rice and other perform other menial labour. It was a dismal failure as they were given not instructions and most knew nothing about farming. Many
starved and were worked to death as there was not enough food. Pol Pot also traded 3 bags of rice for a gun with China depleting the food supply even further.
The Vietnamese forced Pol Pot (short for Political Potential named by the Chinese) from power but the misery for the Cambodians was not to end. Families were reunited but most of the men from the towns were forced to harvest timber which was sold to China, Vietnam and Thailand. This was dangerous work as the areas were full of landminds and many died or were maimed by them. It is sad to see the men missing limbs who cannot work and there is not public welfare so they often have to depend on the generosity of tourists.
There was no education between the early 1970's to 1993 so a large portion of the population cannot read or write.

Royal Palace

Throne room, no pictures allowed

the killing fields, bones and bits of clothing migrate to the surface from the shallow graves

Tuol Sleng prison

the classrooms were divided into cells which were less than 1 metre wide, the prisoners were removed from their cells to be tortured

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Banteay Srei and TaProhm

Lintel above a doorway at banteay srei, carved in red sandstone

doorway Banteay Srei


Ta Prohm where Tomb Radier was filmed, they were going to leave it in ruins but have decided to restore it now	.

carved corner

tree growing along the top of a corridor


guardian at Ta Prohm

Temples of Angkor

The temples of Angkor cover many kilometres and are in varying states of repair from ruins with trees growing through the temples and walls to ones which have been restored, a term that is used loosely. They are a site to behold and the details in the temples are amazing. Many have intricate carvings depicting battles, heaven and hell and religious figures from Buddhism and Hinduism. Depending on who was ruling the area at the time, the religion bounced around from Buddhism to Hindu and back again. Carvings of Buddha where scratched out and then replaced, heads were cut off the Buddha statues, but a lot of the carvings remain. Most of the statues were destroyed or taken to France for museums and private collectors.
A surprising number of wats were constructed from the tenth to thirteenth centuries. The large sandstone blocks were cut from a quarry 50km away and floated downstream on barges. The construction was dry fitting, the blocks were fitted together tightly without mortar reminding me of the Incas. Foundations and walls were made of volcanic stone as it was tougher and available and the temples were made of sandstone as it was easy to carve.
Angkor Wat is the most famous but the Bayon temple in Angkor Thom is one of the most beautiful along with Bateay Srei. Angkor Wat and many of the wats are surrounded by moats as they used the soil that was removed to build the foundations. Also if the soil stayed moist, it was more stable and the foundations did not settle or move. You can see it in the temples where there is still water in the moats as compared to the ones that are dry. Most are also surrounded by walls which also protected the cities within. None of the buildings remain as they were built of wood. It must have been a sight to see, the cities were planned and very orderly. They had drainage and sewers and urban planning. The ancient cities were planned whereas the modern one, Siem Reap, was not.
We spent three days exploring the temples and did not see half of it.