Cambodian Landmine Museum

Aki Ra, the founder and curator of the Cambodian Landmine Museum, is a very amazing man.  He has cleared countless landmines by hand, literally, in the Cambodian jungles and has saved numerous lives in the process.  He was a CNN Heroes finalist in 2010 and after visiting his museum, I understand how he earned that distinction.

As a former child-soldier conscripted into the Khmer Rogue army at ten years old, Aki Ra saw first hand the destructive nature of landmines.  Orphaned at a young age, Aki Ra's life was full of struggle - and still is.  While fighting for the Khmer Rogue, he was captured by the Vietnamese army and forced into their army.  During these years as a soldier, Aki Ra placed innumerable landmines while forced into the armies.  Ironically, since he laid so many landmines himself, it made him rather adept in removing them.  Nearly all of the landmines, bombs, hand grenades, and other ordinances at the museum were defused by Aki Ra over the years.  He had to involuntarily suspend his work in the past because the government said he needed to stop removing the landmines using a stick while crawling on the ground.  This did little to deter him, as he soon resumed removing landmines and working toward his ultimate goal of removing all landmines from these jungles.

At this museum, you are educated on how devastating landmines are and specifically how much havoc they have wreaked on the Cambodian people.  There are multiple rooms located around a central lilly pad pond, each room dedicated to a different aspect of landmines and their removal in Cambodia.  You see so many defused landmines and bombs used in the infamous carpet-bombings of the countryside, it is something you will not forget.  There is also a display showing what the different Cambodian and Vietnamese soldiers wore and the guns, grenade launchers, and various other weapons used while fighting - the uniforms and weapons were all found in former camps by Aki Ra and other people in the organization.  While at the museum, we met an American man working for the organization who provided a ton of interesting information about the organization and what they do.  We were there for what came to be an insightful hour on the way to Phnom Kulen National Park.  (little did I know at the time, but the man at the museum goes to the same pub quiz I do, it is the only pub quiz in town - there is a very small expat community here)

the entrance to the museum

a room full of landmines and hand grenades

landmines

more landmines and grenades

bombs

more bombs

and even more bombs

old bombs found in the jungle

uniformed soldier with a .50 cal machine gun

display of uniforms

landmines and...

landmines and...

landmines

The Cambodian Landmine Museum not only aides in the clearing of landmines, but they also aide in sending local kids to school and helping them enroll in and pay for college.  Many of the students they assist are somehow directly impacted by the devastating power of landmines.  Some of the students live in housing provided by the organization and all students receive laptops when they graduate.  Last school year saw them send their first graduate to college in Phnom Penh and this year they will send more.  Their mission to educate the public about the dangers of landmines and educate local children impacted by landmines, in addition to the on-going struggle to clear landmines is something to really admire.

The museum also contained some interesting art.  There was not a lot of art there, but what was there was unique to Cambodia and landmine related issues.  Below are a few pictures of the art there.

a sculpture made from guns, grenades, and a helmet

this painting is huge, you can see the top of a friends head in the bottom left corner

a painting in the museum showing the damage of landmines

As I experience more and more of what there is to experience in Cambodia, which I must admit is rather limited, I gain a better understanding of how the people here have been treated like the bastard child of SE Asia.  For how many atrocities have been committed against the Cambodian people, they are amazingly positive and caring.  This museum really opened my eyes to how ruthless countries behave in war times.  Cambodia has a culture and history that is drawing me in as I never imagined would happen.  Boarding the trans-Pacific flight from Chicago with little knowledge of Cambodia, I must say that this experience has far exceeded any of my expectations.

If you're looking for an organization to support, I suggest visiting the museum's website: http://www.cambodialandminemuseum.org/menu.html

Phnom Kulen National Park

On a recent visit to a national park in Cambodia we were treated to some amazing scenery.  While touring the park, we saw some very beautiful waterfalls and an extremely memorable Buddhist temple.  Phnom Kulen National Park is over an hour away from where we live in Siem Reap so we started the trek in the morning.  In a rented taxi/van, seven people I've met through work, plus my wife and I, rode to the park and hung out for the day taking in the sites.

me, all sweaty, at the top of the temple

Traversing some very bumpy, windy, and more than slightly unsafe dirt roads, we arrived at the waterfalls first.  Having no expectations of the park, I was immediately taken aback at the number of sandstone rock formations and the dense jungle.  The rock looked very similar to the sandstone I used to climb in my early 20s in the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois.  There was a moment or two when I was transported to my life several years ago, simply based on the rock and foliage.  If you've ever been to Jackson Falls in July to camp or climb, you have an idea of the oppressive heat and humidity, the brilliant greens, and the cool water of the falls and pool.

Exiting the van and walking toward the waterfalls we saw several rows of souvenir shops and restaurants just beyond the dirt parking lot.  These shops mean that people live here or make a similar journey to ours everyday, neither of which can make for good health decisions.  Despite the fact we are removed from any semblance of a city/town, you could not walk past a vendor with out the seemingly mandatory, "Lay-dee, sir, you buy something?" or kids asking for money citing random reasons - it felt like a rural night market.  It can be heartbreaking to see because this is a way of life for some families and you know the children are not receiving a proper education.

As the group approached the waterfalls, there were several small wooden pavilions with thatched or tin roofs along the river.  Here we stopped and ate some lunch.  You could order food from one of the restaurants, for which the sanitation level is debatable, or you can bring food.  In the group we went with, some of us brought food, and some bought food there.  Luckily nobody became ill from the food purchased so if we go back, that is what I'll do.  The ordered food was delivered and every meal was $5 - kabobs, curry, fried rice...  $1 Angkor cans.  We had to pay $2.50 to rent the pavilion, which included them cleaning up the trash when finished.  It was a fun lunch because it oddly reminded me of camping.

some kids swimming behind us as we ate

our pavilion had a tin roof (rusted) - the guy on the right is our driver

the top of the waterfall

After we ate, we realized we were at the top of the waterfall and needed to make our way to the bottom.  To do this we had to navigate a rotting, wooden staircase that was missing several steps along the way.  Once at the bottom, I was surprised at all the people swimming and enjoying the beauty of the waterfalls.  The scenery was peaceful despite all of the people milling around.  There are changing rooms at the bottom of the waterfalls and you can buy various beverages as well.  Everyone swam and enjoyed the unique opportunity to play in a waterfall in a tropical jungle.  After posing for a few pictures, we decided to tackle the stairs and check out the other sites.

the top of the stairs leading to the base of the waterfall

another bridge that awaited us at the bottom

my first glimpse of the waterfall

the waterfall

my friends climbing the waterfall

another shot of the waterfall

The next place we went in the park was to Preah Ang Tom.  Our driver kept referring to it as "Big Buddha" and his repeated comment made perfect sense once there.  It is a challenge to describe the scale of the Buddha at this temple.  This Buddha was carved (and painted) on the top of a sandstone rock formation.  Not only is this quite the feat of carving, but the fact that you can walk around it is amazing.  It is literally the entire top of the rock formation and it is painted bold colors.  There were a few small shrines on the site that were different from others I've seen.  These shrines were, like the Buddha, part of the natural sandstone and one was tucked under a boulder.  Some monks were praying as we were leaving making for quite the audio/visual experience while descending the long staircase of the temple.  As awesome as the waterfalls were, I really enjoyed the temple.

the entrance to the temple

a small shrine under a boulder

view of a pagoda from the top of the temple

the Buddha carved in sandstone

a closeup of the face

a row of small Buddha statues along the back of Buddha

Our final stop was 1000 Lingas.  It is a spot in the river where 1000 lingas are carved into the river bed.  A linga is used for Hindu worship and represents the god Shiva.  Why they are carved in the river bed, I do not know.  I have seen many rivers/creeks in my life and seeing the same object carved this many times in the bed in one location was really astounding to see.  Not only were there lingas carved, there were also yonis carved in the stone bed, which are the companion carving to the lingas.  It is said that lingas represent male anatomy and the yoni represents female anatomy.  Look at the pictures below and judge for yourself.

you can see all the small round carvings of lingas

a yoni

lingas on the side of the river

closeup of a linga

a local woman retrieving water from the river

On our way out of the park, there were a few stands on the side of the road selling huge bunches of bananas.  They were yellow, green, and red.  I had never seen red bananas before.  Since the vendor spoke no English, our driver talked to her and paid about $2 for all a sizable amount of bananas still attached to the tree - never had I seen this before.  All the bananas grown locally are very tiny, they fit in the palm of my hand, and are a bit sweeter than back in the states.  I was talking with a person from Cambodia who spent some time in up-state New York for college and she said the first time she saw a banana there, she was shocked at how big they are.

the stand selling bananas

the bananas our driver bought us on the way home

This was a fun day in Phnom Kulen National Park.  It was warm and humid in the jungle, but the visual stimuli made you forget the sultry weather.  The drive in is rather memorable, as is the sight of the giant Buddha.  If you visit Siem Reap and have a day to fill, this would be a great trip as you can visit the Cambodian Landmine Museum on the way there - I'll talk about that experience later.

Thanks for reading!

Angkor Archaeological Park

Living in a predominately Buddhist community means there are Wats everywhere.  A Wat is a Buddhist temple and Cambodia is filled with them.  The temples, or Wats, are gorgeous and are built in a variety of styles and sizes.  Since Siem Reap is the kick-off town for Angkor Archaeological Park we thought we should go and see what's there.  We found a well-known loophole in the park rules that if you buy your ticket after 5 PM it is good for the next day, but that also means you can enter the park that day until it closes.  This allowed us to see a sunset at Phnom Bakheng and a sunrise at Angkor Wat, both are quite beautiful.  All said and done we easily spent  somewhere between seven-eight hours in the park, my wife ran through two sets of batteries in her camera, and we collectively took just over 700 photos (that is without one camera for 1/3 of the time there).  It was an amazing time - expressing how I feel about the experience is more daunting than I imagined on my Tuk Tuk ride home.

It was an enthralling evening and following morning walking around and literally through the ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples.  Mainly constructed between the 9th-12th Centuries during the reign of the Khmer empire, these magnificent sandstone structures are simply gorgeous.  All are under construction to a certain extent, limiting some of your opportunities to see various parts of the temples, but there is still a plethora of images to occupy yourself.  Since the temples are at least 800 years old and situated in a tropical jungle, it is understandable that they are in disrepair.  There are braces holding up many sections of walls, hallway pillars and even staircases.  Many times you will see a group of stones on the ground with white numbers and letters written on them.  These numbers and letters correspond with the temple and the exact location of that stone for the reconstruction of the according temple.  Rebuilding all of the temple in the park is a literal lifetime job.  Since the restoration began in the 1960s, other than a pause during the reign of the Khmer Rouge, these temples have been under some level of rehab.  The pictures below do not provide any justice for what we saw.


Phnom Bakheng - This temple, built at the end of the 9th Century and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is at the top of a tall hill.  It took us about ten minutes to hike to the top on a well trodden path.  Along the trail we saw other temples, rice paddies and Angkor Wat off in the distance.

you can see how the buildings are literally crumbling

all that remains of a structure on the site

the peaks and a dog

as the sun is setting

a small structure full of Buddha statues

a structure we saw while hiking

you can ride elephants

rice paddies we saw while hiking

Angkor Wat in the distance as we were hiking

Angkor Wat - This site is considered the crown jewel of the entire park.  Constructed in the early 12th. Century and dedicated to Vishnu, it is huge and full of very detailed Bas-reliefs.  Angkor Wat means to "City of Temples" in Khmer, which makes sense as this temple site is over five-hundred acres and surrounded by a moat.  I cannot imagine what is temple looked like when it was new, it must have been a spectacular site.

as the sun is rising

sunrise

the sunrise reflected in a pond

this looked like a swimming pool

a view inside

interior hallway

a carving on a post

a shrine

a monk tying a bracelet for luck on my wife's wrist

a row of Hindu statues

a Buddha statue with a gold sash

a doorway

the sun reflecting on Angkor Wat

an exterior wall 

notice the wooden stairs - the stone stairs are very steep

not realizing I was walking through the frame

a detail of the exterior relief carvings

inside the temple

on the left is a staircase

notice the staining on the figure on the left, it is a challenge to keep the temple clean - these figures are know as devatas and are found all over the temple

an inscription on a post, likely a prayer

a view from road leading out the back

this was once a library

a small temple at the back of the Angkor Wat site - I don't know the name

the moss and shadows made this feel ominous

the crumbling wall

Ta Prohm - In the battle of man vs. nature, nature won.  This Buddhist temple, built in the mid 12th Century, has been taken over by the trees.  After the temple was abandoned in the 15th Century, it was neglected until the early 20th Century when restoration began.  It is quite the eerie site to see trees growing through and over several buildings and walls.  There are two types of trees growing here, I was told silk-cotton and gold apple - apparently this is debated.

the gate through which we entered

the trees took over

to give you some perspective, I'm 5'10" and 155lb.

 

a tree growing out of a building

a closeup of a carving

a tree growing up the corner of a building

a tree growing over a wall

the side view of the tree above

a tree inside a building

a building that is crumbling

a tree grew around a window

an exterior hallway

a tree growing on top of a building

a tree consuming a wall

the inside of the structure

an entrance with a tree

a small structure on the site

a sign illustrating the reconstruction of the site

the final rebuild of the picture above

trees and buildings

some serious roots

interior courtyard

a former hallway

closeup of a carving

more carvings

Victory Gate - One of many amazing gates in the park to enter Angkor Thom.

Ta Keo - Reddish in color, this is a temple with a very steep staircase.  Built in the year 1000, it is in a serious state of disrepair and is currently under construction.  It was built to resemble a mountain and once inside you see a seriously steep staircase reminiscent of a mountainside.

the temple from outside

the steep interior staircase

looking down the stairs my wife bravely climbed in the rain

a view from the top

small building at the top

looking down - if you look closely, you'll see me in a doorway

a view of the exterior wall from the top

the interior of the temple

interior view of the entrance

an exterior view of the temple

Thommanon - A small Hindu temple built in the 1100s is in very good condition because of a complete restoration in the 1960s.

an exterior view

a doorway with plant growing through the stones

some of the carvings

the back of the temple

on of the small structures on the site

a small shrine

more carvings

Chau Say Tevoda - A very small Hindu temple constructed in the mid-12th Century and was restored from 2000-2009.
This is where we received our second red bracelet for luck of the day.  We saw a woman with a shaved head praying in a small room of the temple.  After her prayer ended, she approached us with incense to place at the shrine.  She looked very sad and after we placed the incense, she wrapped a bracelet on each of our wrists.  A woman with a shaved head usually signifies the loss of a child.  It was a very gripping experience, one I'll never forget because it incorporated nearly every sense - the sight of the woman and the temple, the sound of her voice while praying and then guiding us to the shrine, the smell of the incense, and the feel of walking across the stones and sticking the incense in the sand-filled vase.  For how brief our encounter, it is an indelible experience.

multiple structures on the site

some of the rehab work

a closer detail of the rehab

a small structure

the woman who placed a second red bracelet on our wrists

exterior of the structures

another exterior shot

Angkor Tom - The last capital city of the Khmer empire, this site has several temples in one relatively dense location.  Constructed in the late 12th Century, this remained the capital until the early 17th Century.  Originally surrounded by a moat eight miles in circumference, Bayon is the centerpiece of this site, as are the entrance gates.  It was a very peaceful site to walk around and even climb to the top of a tiny but tall temple.

some structures just outside the walls

crumbling structure outside the walls

multiple structures outside the main wall

a new dog

an old dog

Terrace of the Elephants

Terrace of the Elephants

a carved exterior wall

Buddha's carved into the wall

more Buddha's carved into the wall

a detail of the Buddha carvings

another view of the exterior wall

an outdoor shrine

a doorway

approaching a small gate through the wall

a crumbling structure

stairs up the crumbling structure

more of the same structure

the staircase to climb to the top of the same structure

some ruins on the site

more ruins on the site

the gate through which we exited

Bayon - Simply an amazing Biddhist temple in Angkor Thom.  The serene faces carved in stone are beyond words and resemble Jayavarman VII, the king at that time.  I wish Mr. Peabody would show up and take me back the the late 12th C. when it was built to see what this originally looked like.

a tall and very detailed temple

you can start to make out the faces carved in the pillars

a former hallway leading to the highest point

a carving on a post

a former hallway

looking up at the stone faces

a hallway inside the temple

a stone face

you can see how the faces are carved on all four sides

two profiles

several faces carved in the temple

young Apsara dancers

looking down into the temple

looking up at the highest point

leaving the temple

Ba Puon - Built in the mid-11th Century, the bridge entrance still makes a strong impression.  This temple, under restoration since the 1960s, was just recently completed.  I would assume when the rains come and the pools fill, this site is even more beautiful.

a small pool of water with the stone bridge

a view from the pool of water

the rather sizable temple

the bridge

a view from the end of the bridge

the pool of water

a view from the bridge

another pool of water in from of the temple

a shrine

South Gate - Another of the gorgeous gates in the park.

a great image to see when exiting the Angkor Tom site

This was an amazing experience.  The amount of detail that remains only increases my curiosity of what it looked like when it was originally constructed.  I am no expert on architecture, but the scale and density of the park blew my mind.  It is not that I've seen a lot of amazing architecture in person, but this was just otherworldly - it is so different from what I've seen through my travels in America or in Europe.  In the a thirty mile area, there are seventy-two major temples and several hundred minor temples.  Temples are still unearthed with frequency with the aide of satellite digital imaging.

How were these temples created? Where/when were the stones carved?  When you are there, you cannot help but ask yourself these questions.  After some research to write this post I learned that the stones were originally as smooth as polished marble and the joints were hard to find.  The stones were moved by elephants, ropes, pulleys and bamboo scaffolding.  They are made from sandstone quarried twenty-five miles away and were likely transported via raft.  Experts claim that it would take over three-hundred years to build Angkor Wat today, but it took them just over forty years in the 12th Century.  There were approximately one-million people living in the area at that time, many more than there are in present day Siem Reap.  The sheer number of people living in the area, in addition to the lack of organizations like OSHA, would make construction on this scale possible.  To blink and see these temples in the year 1200 would be something to behold.

*All of my info is from either National Geographic Traveler or wikipedia.