Chapter 2
Kampuchea - The history of the three kingdoms
When someone thinks about Kapucha, usually think about the Angkor area. Its palaces and temples summon both a sense a mystery as they look like they come from the depths of the past, and also wonder for their astonishing beauty. The Khmer also are very proud of Angkor, as they even drew the Angkor Wat temple on their own flag. These palaces and temples aren't the heirloom of just a kingdom that rose out of nothing and died into the thin air. What brought to the time of Angkor, and still keeps on going with the Kingdom of Cambodia (or Kampuchea), is a history that goes through many kingdoms. I just want to write in brief the story of what happened before and after Angkor, just to help you look in a different way at what I'm about to show you. seeing that the places that I'm going to show you are a result of a complicated history.
In our time we don't have many details about the history of Kampuchea itself, as the Khmers were used to keeping record of their life on perishable supports (wood and banana leaves). The heat and humidity, along with war, destructions and floods, lost all those memories from those times. So, the scholars, in our days, have to do an "indirect" research to know more about the past of the Khmers. The best ways are to search the documentation left by the countries that had more interaction with the Khmers.
The first were the Chinese people, as they were used to having commerce with the Khmers, and the other country, is the Champa kingdom (it's the modern Viet-Nam), as they were the most bitter enemies of the Khmers. Beside this, the archaeologists did also on-site researches to see if what was written in the Chinese and Champa chronicles was real. Doing so, they both confirmed many things, and discovered also some new.
Starting from the beginning of Khmer history, the scholars, following the chronicles of that times, accept that in the beginning there wasn't a real "Kingdom", but a cluster of state-cities, just like the ancient Greek Polis, or the Italian Renaissance cities. The records lead us to believe that in the 4th century BC a kingdom rose and gathered all these small state-cities, under a single reign. This reign is known as "Funan Kingdom". The scholars don't know the real name of the kingdom as "Funan" is how the Chinese were calling it (in Chinese 扶南), while the Thais were calling it Fu-na-n (in Thai ฟูนาน). The scholars suppose that it could come from the ancient word "Bnam" that meant "hill". So, the name Funan could mean something like "the Mountain State" or "the Mountain City". The main city of the country probably was the sea port of Óc Eo (near the modern Hà Tiên), placed on the Mae Khong delta, in the modern days Viet Nam. The archaeologists, while digging there, had a big surprise. Some misplaced goods. In fact, here they found some Roman and Hellenistic goods. So, they suppose that in the Roman and Ancient Greecian times this was already an important seaport that already had connection with Europe through India and Indonesia. Later the kingdom of Funan started to weaken, probably after the collapse of the Roman Empire, that closed the commercial connections.
The Chinese chronicles tell us that, in the 550 AD, a vessel of the same Funan Kingdom started on its way for the conquest of the very kingdom, and in 60 years engrossed it all. Here it started a new kingdom, called Chenla Kingdom, also known in China as Zhenla (in Chinese 真腊) and Chân Lạp (in Vietnamese). This kingdom was divided in two main regions, the Chenla of Water, near the Mae Khong delta, and the Chenla of Land, on the northern parts of Kampuchea and Laos. This kingdom lasted quite briefly, as around the year 800 AD, the continuous invasions of the Mae Khong delta, and the weakening of the Chenla Kingdon, brought the kings to move the capital upstream on the Mae Khong river, into a safer place, and so was born the new Khmer Kingdom. The new capital rose on the Tonle Sap Lake, the biggest lake of South East Asia. In the beginning, in a place that in our days is called Roluos, where they founded the city of Hariharalaya, but the continuous floods, forced the king to move the capital again to a safer place, where later rose the Angkor of our times. And this was the beginning of the Angkor Age, and also of the Khmer Empire. Most of the things that I'll show you about Kampuchea come from this time, and when I show you something from another time, I'll make a very short introduction. Before to starting to show the pictures of my voyage, I want to type one more thing. These are not my words. In fact, they are the words of the famous traveller Cristoforo Colombo, while in his fourth voyage (1502-1503), he decided to make is route to Asia (he still thought that America was Asia) and to follow the coast to reach the gold mines of Champa, near the Chenla seaport of Óc Eo. He wrote from the modern Jamaica "I reached the land of Cariay... Here I received news of the gold mines of Ciamba (Champa) which I'm seeking". In the following part of my diary, I'm not showing gold mines, but other kind of treasure still worth the long journey to Asia.
In our time we don't have many details about the history of Kampuchea itself, as the Khmers were used to keeping record of their life on perishable supports (wood and banana leaves). The heat and humidity, along with war, destructions and floods, lost all those memories from those times. So, the scholars, in our days, have to do an "indirect" research to know more about the past of the Khmers. The best ways are to search the documentation left by the countries that had more interaction with the Khmers.
The first were the Chinese people, as they were used to having commerce with the Khmers, and the other country, is the Champa kingdom (it's the modern Viet-Nam), as they were the most bitter enemies of the Khmers. Beside this, the archaeologists did also on-site researches to see if what was written in the Chinese and Champa chronicles was real. Doing so, they both confirmed many things, and discovered also some new.
Starting from the beginning of Khmer history, the scholars, following the chronicles of that times, accept that in the beginning there wasn't a real "Kingdom", but a cluster of state-cities, just like the ancient Greek Polis, or the Italian Renaissance cities. The records lead us to believe that in the 4th century BC a kingdom rose and gathered all these small state-cities, under a single reign. This reign is known as "Funan Kingdom". The scholars don't know the real name of the kingdom as "Funan" is how the Chinese were calling it (in Chinese 扶南), while the Thais were calling it Fu-na-n (in Thai ฟูนาน). The scholars suppose that it could come from the ancient word "Bnam" that meant "hill". So, the name Funan could mean something like "the Mountain State" or "the Mountain City". The main city of the country probably was the sea port of Óc Eo (near the modern Hà Tiên), placed on the Mae Khong delta, in the modern days Viet Nam. The archaeologists, while digging there, had a big surprise. Some misplaced goods. In fact, here they found some Roman and Hellenistic goods. So, they suppose that in the Roman and Ancient Greecian times this was already an important seaport that already had connection with Europe through India and Indonesia. Later the kingdom of Funan started to weaken, probably after the collapse of the Roman Empire, that closed the commercial connections.
The Chinese chronicles tell us that, in the 550 AD, a vessel of the same Funan Kingdom started on its way for the conquest of the very kingdom, and in 60 years engrossed it all. Here it started a new kingdom, called Chenla Kingdom, also known in China as Zhenla (in Chinese 真腊) and Chân Lạp (in Vietnamese). This kingdom was divided in two main regions, the Chenla of Water, near the Mae Khong delta, and the Chenla of Land, on the northern parts of Kampuchea and Laos. This kingdom lasted quite briefly, as around the year 800 AD, the continuous invasions of the Mae Khong delta, and the weakening of the Chenla Kingdon, brought the kings to move the capital upstream on the Mae Khong river, into a safer place, and so was born the new Khmer Kingdom. The new capital rose on the Tonle Sap Lake, the biggest lake of South East Asia. In the beginning, in a place that in our days is called Roluos, where they founded the city of Hariharalaya, but the continuous floods, forced the king to move the capital again to a safer place, where later rose the Angkor of our times. And this was the beginning of the Angkor Age, and also of the Khmer Empire. Most of the things that I'll show you about Kampuchea come from this time, and when I show you something from another time, I'll make a very short introduction. Before to starting to show the pictures of my voyage, I want to type one more thing. These are not my words. In fact, they are the words of the famous traveller Cristoforo Colombo, while in his fourth voyage (1502-1503), he decided to make is route to Asia (he still thought that America was Asia) and to follow the coast to reach the gold mines of Champa, near the Chenla seaport of Óc Eo. He wrote from the modern Jamaica "I reached the land of Cariay... Here I received news of the gold mines of Ciamba (Champa) which I'm seeking". In the following part of my diary, I'm not showing gold mines, but other kind of treasure still worth the long journey to Asia.
Phnom Bakeng - The temple of the City kissed by the wonder
The first day that I came to Kampuchea, after taking my place in my hotel, I still had the full afternoon before me. So, after placing my stuff in my room, I packed again my small backpack, and I headed to the archaeological park. In fact, before going there, I've had read that if I bought an entering ticket for the archaeological park for many days, I'd save a lot of money. Moreover, if I bought it in the late afternoon, I could have a free entrance for the same afternoon to see the sunset from one of the best places. as the park closes at 6.00 p.m., I decided to go there when it was about 4.30 p.m.. So, I took a motorbike-taxi again, and I went to buy this ticket. After doing so, I headed to a place called Phom Bakeng. This place, in spite that it's inside the archaeological park, is still outside the ancient city. To reach there, you have to drive along a very straight and long street in the forest. The dense forest surrounds you like it’s trying to hug you for a warm welcome. The sounds of the tropical forest, in some moments, overcome the loud rustle of the engine, and if you're lucky, you can have the chance to meet two animals. The first are the wild monkeys that are living on trees around you. Then, you can hear the second animal, the tropical cicada (or at least, I think it was a cicada). This insect also lives in Italy, but this "tropical version" makes such a loud "singing" that if you're near to it, you could have an headache. This was my first time into the park, and both the animals showed their presence to me. Monkeys jumped down a palm tree just before me, while I was hearing the loud singing of the insects all around me.
The street goes straight for a long way, and then it stops all of a sudden as it meets a large river perpendicular to the way. A street follows it. So, you turn left and start following the river. As you start following this huge river, soon, you'll understand that it's not a river. It's a very huge moat. As soon as you understand that it's a moat, you also understand what you're about to see. And then it's there. Angkor Wat is before you. You can see a small part of it, from behind the first line of his massive defensive walls, just behind the moat. But there's no time to stop and see it. In fact, you need a long time to visit it well, and now it's already sunset. So, you just have time to look fast one more time at her, and whisper "Hello, wonderful Angkor Wat. Don't worry, I'm coming back to meet you soon", and it's time to keep going north. This area is full of monuments, mainly stupas and pyramid-like towers, all that are not much more than ruins, but they still show the ancient presence of the Khmers in this area. Then, you meet a crossroad on your street, and on your left, you can see throught the forest the base of a small hill. Now you're at the feet of the hill where is the Phnom Bakeng. This is the first big temple ever built in this area. In fact, after that the ancient Khmers left the city of Hariharalaya (the ancient city in the Roluos area), they wandered looking for a better place where to rebuild their new capital city. After some searching, the king Yasovarman found his perfect place. The king, like most of the ones that came after him, was a follower of the Hindu religion. The king, when he saw this spot, was impressed. Here he found his "Meru Montain". The "Meru Mountain" is, in the Hindu religion, the four-sided sacred mountain that houses the Gods. Most of the other Khmer temples were made as a recall to the "Meru Mountain". Near his "Meru Mountain" the king also found his "Ganga" (the Ganges River), as near was flowing the small Siem Reap River (in the following centuries, the Khmers changed the path of the river to make place for the city). The king felt like this was the perfect spot where to start a new kingdom, and here he founded the new capital with the name Yasodharapura, that means "The city kissed by the wonder". The king Yasovarman decided to call this temple Phnom Bakeng as a recall of the Bakong temple, the most important temple of the city of Hariharalaya, in the Roluos area, that he had just left. The city of Yasodharapura was made of wooden houses, and after centuries, nothing is left of the city, but the stone temples, that are the only witnesses of those ages. In the 1295 A.D. a Chinese traveller called Zhou Daguan came to Yasodharapura for business and lived here for 11 months. When he came back to China, he wrote a report called "A Record of Cambodia - The land and its people". Across the centuries most of the report got lost, and it's estimated that less than half is available today. Anyway, Mr. Daguan still gives us much precious information about the city. He wrote about this place "Half a li (about 250 metres) or so beyond the south gate (he means outside the southern gate of the ancient city) is Stone Tower Mountain. According to legend Lu Ban built it in a single night (on this reference Mr. Daguan made a mistake, as Lu Ban (in Chinese 鲁班), which real name was Ginshu Ban (in Chinese 公输般), was a real man of genius that lived in China in the 5th century B.C., about 1300 years before the building of this temple. It's likely that the Chinese wanted to show, somehow, that were involved in the building of this beautiful place)".
At the foot of the hill, in our days, there's a soil parking lot, where the motorbike-taxis, tuk-tuks and vans wait for their customers. Here I was left by my driver, and a swarm of children came to me trying to sell some water, books, souvenirs or food to me. Here the people are very poor, and you'll find everywhere children trying to sell you things and people begging for money. Some people say "Don't buy from them" as you don't help them to improve their lives, as they'll keep on doing so. Some others say "It's ok to buy, as before their ancestors were living here, and visiting these places, the tourism doesn’t allow them to live in the forest anymore ". It's hard to make up your mind, so in the end, I decided to buy only few things that could have a meaning for me, or that were the best deal. For example, I bought from these people, on other days and at different temples, the postcards that I sent to my friends, so I can say "I bought them exactly under the pictured places" and also food and water, as in Siem Reap it cost double from here. Anyway, the first day was too early to buy stuff, and I decided to start climbing the hill without buying anything. The hill is only 60 metres tall, and on all four sides there are the vestiges of the ancient pathways that from the feet of the hill went up straight, up to the top, and continued with the steep stairs that still bring you to the top of the mountain-temple. Now ancient Lion statues guard the path, just near the modern signs and the guardians that forbid you to go up that way. Now the tourists have to take a pathway that goes slowly up the hill. It's a pleasant walk into the rain forest. In spite of that at every sunset this place is full of people, it still recalls some peaceful feeling. The air was humid because in the morning it had rained and all the day was partially cloudy. The strong heat, made me sweat from the first steps. But still the heat and humidity also brought into the air the smell of the forest, of flowers, moss and wood. The walk up the hill takes quite a short time, and soon I found myself before my very first temple that I could visit. The temple looks like a pyramid (you can see it in the second picture of this group). It's very huge, and you can watch it in the setting sun, with big respect, as it looks like an ancient peaceful guardian looking over the flat lands around him.
The pyramid was in the beginning dedicated to Shiva, the Hindu God, and later was dedicated to Buddha. The Buddhist monks did really devastating work while trying to build a big Buddha on the top of it. But their project remained incomplete. So, the archaeologists cleared the disaster made by the monks, and found many interesting things, among all, that the temple was built with over 100 small towers on it and surrounding it. Many mythical Lions called "Singha" were scattered around and were again placed on their seats on the stairways, and were found again the four "Nandin" the sacred Bull (you can see a broken one in the second picture of this group, on the right-hand side where are two people walking), that Shiva uses to ride to be everywhere. Now the bulls are guarding the temple from the feet of the long stairways.
The climb of the stairways was difficult, as there were too many people there to watch the sunset from this temple, and the stairways were also dangerous. Every step is about 30 cm tall and 10-15 wide. In addition, some blocks of the stairs were also broken. Anyway, lots of people go up there, and the long climb is rewarded by the beauty of the place. Before coming to Kampuchea I studied a lot about these places, and I had a really strong emotion being there, and a big respect for the place, as I know what it meant for those who built it. When reaching the top, I had some disappointment on seeing how people were behaving there. It looked like they didn't know where they were, and not even knew why they were there, or even worst, what they were doing there. They just looked like they had been downloaded from pullmans, and had no interest on the place. Most of the people were sitting on the 1200 year old carvings or doing stupid things with the statues. Anyway, the place rewarded my climb, as when I reached the top, a very beautiful rainbow was bright, like a precious gemstone necklace, in the sunset sky. You can see it in the fourth picture. On the top, there's a big tower (you can see it in the third picture of this group), where the Khmer placed a sacred gold statue of Shiva, and that now houses a Buddha statue. The outside walls of this central tower are carved with some flowers and Devatas (deities that look like women and that could be compared to the Angels). Once there were four more towers on the top, but now you can only see some pieces of them.
From the top of the temple you can have a very beautiful sight of the surrounding areas. You can see how looks the flat land with the rice fields in the fifth picture of this group. When I was there, among people that looked about as interested in it as they were undergoing an depilation, I remembered something. About half a kilometre from there, I had passed by the beautiful Angkor Wat. So, I made my mind up on which side it should be, and I decided to find a corner and to look in that direction, as it should be there. I made my way along a wall, and I reached the corner, next to one of the ancient "four corner towers". I looked through the trees and there she was. The topmost towers rising high, proudly, over the trees that surround her. The Angkor Wat was showing to me, for the first time, all her timeless beauty. An old man with a camera smiled at me, as he looked as he was sharing my same happiness on seeing the Angkor Wat from there. We were only few that were picturing the Angkor Wat, and we looked like we were making her our treasure. You can see it in the sixth picture of this group. After some time spent surveying the Angkor Wat, I decided to have one more look around. Just behind the walls of the tower from where I spotted the Angkor Wat, I found one more interesting thing. In fact, among all that people that were walking around without care, there was a complete Linga. You can see it in the seventh picture. The full name of this structure is Shiva Linga. The one that you can see in my picture, and that looks like the most that I've seen in the Angkor area, is also called Linga-Yoni. In fact, this structure, is made by two pieces. The higher one looks like the male reproductive organ, that represent the Shiva Linga (the Shiva's reproductive organ), with all its sacred powers. The second part is called Yoni, and it represent the female reproductive organ, and is connected to Shakti the Great Divine Mother, and more widely, it's the name of the creative energy of the universe. In the Hindu religion this structure is worshipped as one of the most powerful. This was a very good preserved Linga. Usually these Lingam (the plural of Linga) are in some places of the temples where the roof was made with a hole to collect the rain in a way to pour the water over the Linga. The water flows down the Linga and is collected into the Yoni. On a side of the Yoni there is a structure that could look like the Cervix. As a baby that when is being born passes through it, the now blessed water flows through it, to be collected by the priests. It was very interesting to see a Linga for real. I think that it should be worth moving it to a better place or even into a museum.
After this, it was time to make my way back to Siem Reap. The descent from the temple gave me the opportunity to see better the many towers that were built on the sides of the temple. While going down the hill, still many people were climbing. But it was already dark, and I think that I chose the best time to go and see this beautiful temple. My way back to Siem Reap with the crazy driver was really scary, but it was also interesting to see all these Khmers driving back home. After a shower it was time to dress up and to go to taste some good Khmer food in the Pub Street, my favourite street of Siem Reap.
The street goes straight for a long way, and then it stops all of a sudden as it meets a large river perpendicular to the way. A street follows it. So, you turn left and start following the river. As you start following this huge river, soon, you'll understand that it's not a river. It's a very huge moat. As soon as you understand that it's a moat, you also understand what you're about to see. And then it's there. Angkor Wat is before you. You can see a small part of it, from behind the first line of his massive defensive walls, just behind the moat. But there's no time to stop and see it. In fact, you need a long time to visit it well, and now it's already sunset. So, you just have time to look fast one more time at her, and whisper "Hello, wonderful Angkor Wat. Don't worry, I'm coming back to meet you soon", and it's time to keep going north. This area is full of monuments, mainly stupas and pyramid-like towers, all that are not much more than ruins, but they still show the ancient presence of the Khmers in this area. Then, you meet a crossroad on your street, and on your left, you can see throught the forest the base of a small hill. Now you're at the feet of the hill where is the Phnom Bakeng. This is the first big temple ever built in this area. In fact, after that the ancient Khmers left the city of Hariharalaya (the ancient city in the Roluos area), they wandered looking for a better place where to rebuild their new capital city. After some searching, the king Yasovarman found his perfect place. The king, like most of the ones that came after him, was a follower of the Hindu religion. The king, when he saw this spot, was impressed. Here he found his "Meru Montain". The "Meru Mountain" is, in the Hindu religion, the four-sided sacred mountain that houses the Gods. Most of the other Khmer temples were made as a recall to the "Meru Mountain". Near his "Meru Mountain" the king also found his "Ganga" (the Ganges River), as near was flowing the small Siem Reap River (in the following centuries, the Khmers changed the path of the river to make place for the city). The king felt like this was the perfect spot where to start a new kingdom, and here he founded the new capital with the name Yasodharapura, that means "The city kissed by the wonder". The king Yasovarman decided to call this temple Phnom Bakeng as a recall of the Bakong temple, the most important temple of the city of Hariharalaya, in the Roluos area, that he had just left. The city of Yasodharapura was made of wooden houses, and after centuries, nothing is left of the city, but the stone temples, that are the only witnesses of those ages. In the 1295 A.D. a Chinese traveller called Zhou Daguan came to Yasodharapura for business and lived here for 11 months. When he came back to China, he wrote a report called "A Record of Cambodia - The land and its people". Across the centuries most of the report got lost, and it's estimated that less than half is available today. Anyway, Mr. Daguan still gives us much precious information about the city. He wrote about this place "Half a li (about 250 metres) or so beyond the south gate (he means outside the southern gate of the ancient city) is Stone Tower Mountain. According to legend Lu Ban built it in a single night (on this reference Mr. Daguan made a mistake, as Lu Ban (in Chinese 鲁班), which real name was Ginshu Ban (in Chinese 公输般), was a real man of genius that lived in China in the 5th century B.C., about 1300 years before the building of this temple. It's likely that the Chinese wanted to show, somehow, that were involved in the building of this beautiful place)".
At the foot of the hill, in our days, there's a soil parking lot, where the motorbike-taxis, tuk-tuks and vans wait for their customers. Here I was left by my driver, and a swarm of children came to me trying to sell some water, books, souvenirs or food to me. Here the people are very poor, and you'll find everywhere children trying to sell you things and people begging for money. Some people say "Don't buy from them" as you don't help them to improve their lives, as they'll keep on doing so. Some others say "It's ok to buy, as before their ancestors were living here, and visiting these places, the tourism doesn’t allow them to live in the forest anymore ". It's hard to make up your mind, so in the end, I decided to buy only few things that could have a meaning for me, or that were the best deal. For example, I bought from these people, on other days and at different temples, the postcards that I sent to my friends, so I can say "I bought them exactly under the pictured places" and also food and water, as in Siem Reap it cost double from here. Anyway, the first day was too early to buy stuff, and I decided to start climbing the hill without buying anything. The hill is only 60 metres tall, and on all four sides there are the vestiges of the ancient pathways that from the feet of the hill went up straight, up to the top, and continued with the steep stairs that still bring you to the top of the mountain-temple. Now ancient Lion statues guard the path, just near the modern signs and the guardians that forbid you to go up that way. Now the tourists have to take a pathway that goes slowly up the hill. It's a pleasant walk into the rain forest. In spite of that at every sunset this place is full of people, it still recalls some peaceful feeling. The air was humid because in the morning it had rained and all the day was partially cloudy. The strong heat, made me sweat from the first steps. But still the heat and humidity also brought into the air the smell of the forest, of flowers, moss and wood. The walk up the hill takes quite a short time, and soon I found myself before my very first temple that I could visit. The temple looks like a pyramid (you can see it in the second picture of this group). It's very huge, and you can watch it in the setting sun, with big respect, as it looks like an ancient peaceful guardian looking over the flat lands around him.
The pyramid was in the beginning dedicated to Shiva, the Hindu God, and later was dedicated to Buddha. The Buddhist monks did really devastating work while trying to build a big Buddha on the top of it. But their project remained incomplete. So, the archaeologists cleared the disaster made by the monks, and found many interesting things, among all, that the temple was built with over 100 small towers on it and surrounding it. Many mythical Lions called "Singha" were scattered around and were again placed on their seats on the stairways, and were found again the four "Nandin" the sacred Bull (you can see a broken one in the second picture of this group, on the right-hand side where are two people walking), that Shiva uses to ride to be everywhere. Now the bulls are guarding the temple from the feet of the long stairways.
The climb of the stairways was difficult, as there were too many people there to watch the sunset from this temple, and the stairways were also dangerous. Every step is about 30 cm tall and 10-15 wide. In addition, some blocks of the stairs were also broken. Anyway, lots of people go up there, and the long climb is rewarded by the beauty of the place. Before coming to Kampuchea I studied a lot about these places, and I had a really strong emotion being there, and a big respect for the place, as I know what it meant for those who built it. When reaching the top, I had some disappointment on seeing how people were behaving there. It looked like they didn't know where they were, and not even knew why they were there, or even worst, what they were doing there. They just looked like they had been downloaded from pullmans, and had no interest on the place. Most of the people were sitting on the 1200 year old carvings or doing stupid things with the statues. Anyway, the place rewarded my climb, as when I reached the top, a very beautiful rainbow was bright, like a precious gemstone necklace, in the sunset sky. You can see it in the fourth picture. On the top, there's a big tower (you can see it in the third picture of this group), where the Khmer placed a sacred gold statue of Shiva, and that now houses a Buddha statue. The outside walls of this central tower are carved with some flowers and Devatas (deities that look like women and that could be compared to the Angels). Once there were four more towers on the top, but now you can only see some pieces of them.
From the top of the temple you can have a very beautiful sight of the surrounding areas. You can see how looks the flat land with the rice fields in the fifth picture of this group. When I was there, among people that looked about as interested in it as they were undergoing an depilation, I remembered something. About half a kilometre from there, I had passed by the beautiful Angkor Wat. So, I made my mind up on which side it should be, and I decided to find a corner and to look in that direction, as it should be there. I made my way along a wall, and I reached the corner, next to one of the ancient "four corner towers". I looked through the trees and there she was. The topmost towers rising high, proudly, over the trees that surround her. The Angkor Wat was showing to me, for the first time, all her timeless beauty. An old man with a camera smiled at me, as he looked as he was sharing my same happiness on seeing the Angkor Wat from there. We were only few that were picturing the Angkor Wat, and we looked like we were making her our treasure. You can see it in the sixth picture of this group. After some time spent surveying the Angkor Wat, I decided to have one more look around. Just behind the walls of the tower from where I spotted the Angkor Wat, I found one more interesting thing. In fact, among all that people that were walking around without care, there was a complete Linga. You can see it in the seventh picture. The full name of this structure is Shiva Linga. The one that you can see in my picture, and that looks like the most that I've seen in the Angkor area, is also called Linga-Yoni. In fact, this structure, is made by two pieces. The higher one looks like the male reproductive organ, that represent the Shiva Linga (the Shiva's reproductive organ), with all its sacred powers. The second part is called Yoni, and it represent the female reproductive organ, and is connected to Shakti the Great Divine Mother, and more widely, it's the name of the creative energy of the universe. In the Hindu religion this structure is worshipped as one of the most powerful. This was a very good preserved Linga. Usually these Lingam (the plural of Linga) are in some places of the temples where the roof was made with a hole to collect the rain in a way to pour the water over the Linga. The water flows down the Linga and is collected into the Yoni. On a side of the Yoni there is a structure that could look like the Cervix. As a baby that when is being born passes through it, the now blessed water flows through it, to be collected by the priests. It was very interesting to see a Linga for real. I think that it should be worth moving it to a better place or even into a museum.
After this, it was time to make my way back to Siem Reap. The descent from the temple gave me the opportunity to see better the many towers that were built on the sides of the temple. While going down the hill, still many people were climbing. But it was already dark, and I think that I chose the best time to go and see this beautiful temple. My way back to Siem Reap with the crazy driver was really scary, but it was also interesting to see all these Khmers driving back home. After a shower it was time to dress up and to go to taste some good Khmer food in the Pub Street, my favourite street of Siem Reap.