Connie

 

Cambodia is famous for its ancient temples, like Angkor Wat and a civilization which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. But more recently it became known for its tragic “killing fields”.

 

This tragedy, on a staggering scale, was perpetuated by Pol Pot, who became leader of Cambodia on April 17, 1975. Modelled along Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, he conducted deadly purges to eliminate the members of the “old society” – the educated, the wealthy, Buddhist monks, police, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and former government officials. All of Cambodia’s cities were forcibly evacuated and forced into slave labor in Pol Pot’s “killing fields. This experiment resulted in the deaths of approximately 21 percent of the Cambodian population. In all, an estimated 1,700,000–2,500,000 people died under his leadership. He also led a genocide against western culture and capitalism.

 

But now it is a Cambodia, learning to live again; learning its traditional silk weaving, its ceramics, and other crafts. It is a country populated by young people and people who grew up in its refugee camps. Saron, our guide in Siem Reap, for example, spend 14 years in a refugee camp.

 

Saron,(http:facebook.com/saron.soeun) has an amazing grasp of the Cambodian history, its triumphs and its tragedies, and his stories enriched our experience of Siem Reap and the temples.

 

Banteay Seri: serene and peaceful and

“still unravish’d bride of quietness,

Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,

Sylvan historian…” (Keats)

Here is my favourite temple in Siem Reap, remarkable for its beauty, its delicate and fine decorations which had mostly withstood the test of time, and its more human scale. After a visit to the massive Angkor Wat Temple, Banteay Seri is a  surprise and a delight. The name Banteay Seri means “ Citadel of the Women” ( had nothing to do with women though and was commissioned by a man to honour the Lord Shiva) or  the “Citadel of Beauty”.

 

Banteay Seri alas, achieved notoriety in 1923 when Andre Malraux, de Gaulle’s Minister of Culture, who should have known better removed (stole?) four apsaras from the temple. Fortunately he was caught immediately.