Incredible India!

Dana and I made it to India just about one week ago... and quite a week it's been!

We flew from Bangkok to Delhi and in the past week we've seen Jaipur (in Rajasthan), Agra and the Taj Mahal, the birthplace of Krishna, and the Golden Temple in Amritsar. We've been to the India-Pakistan border and did a homestay with Sikhs in Amritsar. India is an amazing place, but also challenging at times. One challenge is finding wireless internet... and until then, I can't upload my photos to the blog!

We're heading to Dharamsala tomorrow and I hope to have wi-fi there. To be continued!

Temples of Angkor:

On our second day of sightseeing, we included some of the lesser-visited Angkorian temples.

Angkor Thom:

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From 2011-08-06

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Up the stairs (pretty steep)!

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Down the stairs:

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Terrace of the Leper King:

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Ta Prohm (famous from the Tomb Raider movie)

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Temples of Angkor: Angkor Wat and Bayon Temple

We traveled to Siem Reap, Cambodia's #1 tourist destination, due to its proximity to the Temples of Angkor.

During the 9th to the 15th centuries, the capital of Cambodia sat in the Angkor region, before moving to Phnom Penh. Between 900 and 1200 AD, the Khmer Empire produced magnificent temples that have become known as some of the world's most amazing architecture. These temples reflected the religious influences of Buddhism and Hinduism and were devoted to the Empire's "god kings". The most famous of these temples is Angkor Wat.

I had the opportunity to check something off my "bucket list" -- seeing the sun rise at Angkor Wat. It was well worth the 4:30am wake-up call.

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Famous carvings at Angkor Wat: Apsaras from Hindu mythology. We saw many carvings depicting the Mahabharata and Churning of the Ocean of Milk legends from Hindu epics.

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Next, we saw Bayon Temple. This was my favorite temple because of the mysterious smiling faces.

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There are four gates leading to Bayon. Each has a large stone with four faces representing the four faces of the Buddha: charity, sympathy, equanimity, and compassion.

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The outside of Bayon:

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Mysterious faces:

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It was a long day, full of climbing up ancient ruins and swatting mosquitoes, but it was the most amazing place I have ever visited.

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Phnom Penh

While waiting for the bus to Siem Reap, in northeast Cambodia, we took in some sights and sounds of Phnom Penh. We were staying near the river, just a quick walk from the National Museum.

Monkey statues at the National Museum:

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Cambodian flag:

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Cambodian cat:

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The Royal Palace:

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Cambodian dog. There are a lot of small fluffy dogs like this in SE Asia.

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Another common sight: the bicycle tuk-tuk. I haven't taken one since I suspect walking would be about the same speed.

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Cambodian Buddhist monk with matching umbrella:

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Onward to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor!

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

After visiting the Killing Fields, we went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Also known as S-21, the museum is located in a converted high school that was used to torture prisoners before they were taken to the Killing Fields to be exterminated by the Khmer Rouge.

At any time, Tuol Sleng contained about 1,500 prisoners that were tortured into confess the crimes they were charged with. Over the 3.5-year rule of the Khmer Rouge, Tuol Sleng saw about 17,000 prisoners. There are seven survivors.

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

A former classroom that was used to torture prisoners:

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

The first and second floors were bare rooms with beds, shackles, and other instruments used in torture. Hanging on the walls were photographs of victims that had been tortured just before the Vietnamese liberation of Phnom Penh. The photographs were taken by a Vietnamese combat photographer who found Tuol Sleng.

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

When the Vietnamese liberated Phnom Penh from the Khmer Rouge in 1979, there were 14 prisoners who had recently been killed. Their remains were buried in a small graveyard now located in the middle of the courtyard at S-21.

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

The gallows. This was playground equipment that was repurposed by the Khmer Rouge for torture.

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

The Khmer Rouge were very methodical and took pictures of all the prisoners entering S-21.

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This was an incredibly difficult place to visit. As our guidebook said, S-21 is "not for the squeamish". I think it was important to visit a place that such a terrible and recent genocide occurred. Although my visit to Cambodia was short, I saw the high point in the country's history (temples of Angkor...post to come soon) and this marked the low point. The Khmer people are incredibly resilient and I hope that Cambodia continues to be peaceful in the years to come. The country is struggling to grow and modernize, but it is an amazing place with an optimistic future.

The Killing Fields

On our second day in Phnom Penh (the capital of Cambodia), we visited the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, also known as one of the Killing Fields during the Khmer Rouge regime.

During the Khmer Rouge rule of Cambodia from 1975-1979, the group (also known as the Communist Party of Kampuchea) was led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, and Ieng Sary. The Khmer Rouge carried out a radical program of social engineering, aiming to isolate Cambodia from all foreign influence, eliminate private property, and turn the country's citizens into agricultural laborers. The regime purged the cities and relocated the population to rural farms where they were forced to labor in the fields.

During the three and a half years that the Khmer Rouge was in power, the regime carried out a methodical and systematic genocide that targeted teachers, merchants, intellectuals, politicians. Millions of others died of starvation and exhaustion. In all, the number of Cambodian deaths during the Khmer Rouge regime is unclear, but a conservative estimate is 2 million (out of a population of 8 million).

We visited the Killing Fields, where the Khmer Rouge carried out gory executions of anyone suspected of having connections with the former government, as well as intellectuals and professionals. In order to conserve bullets, prisoners were typically beaten with blunt instruments such as bamboo poles. As you can imagine, it was emotionally draining to visit the site. This post has pictures of some of the things we saw.

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (commonly known as the Killing Fields)

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

The truck stop where prisoners were taken:

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

Memorial stupa:

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

Mass graves:

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The holes in the ground are mass graves that have been exhumed:

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

Rice fields right next to the graves:

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh

From K - Saigon and Phnom Penh