Banteay Srei

Banteay Srei (or Banteay Srey) (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបន្ទាយស្រី) is a 10th century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor in Cambodia, at 13.5989 N, 103.9628 E, it lies near the hill of Phnom Dei, 25 km (15 miles) north-east of the main group of temples that once belonged to the medieval capitals of Yasodharapura and Angkor Thom. Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone, a medium that lends itself to the elaborate decorative wall carvings which are still observable today. The buildings themselves are miniature in scale, unusually so when measured by the standards of Angkorian construction. These factors have made the temple extremely popular with tourists, and have led to its being widely praised as a "precious gem", or the "jewel of Khmer art."



Consecrated in 967 A.D.[citation needed], Banteay Srei was the only major temple at Angkor not built by a monarch; its construction is credited to a courtier named Yajnavaraha (Khmer: យជ្ញវរាហៈ), who served as a counsellor to king Rajendravarman(Khmer: ព្រះបាទរាជេន្រ្ទវរ្ម័ន). The foundational stela says that Yajnavaraha was a scholar and philanthropist who helped those who suffered from illness, injustice, or poverty. Originally, the temple was surrounded by a town called Isvarapura.
It has been speculated that the temple's modern name, Banteay Srei, is due to the many devatas carved into the red sandstone walls.

Yajnyavaraha's temple was primarily dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Originally, it was carried the name Tribhuvanamahesvara — great lord of the threefold world — in reference to the Shaivite linga that served as its central religious image. However, the temple buildings appear to be divided along the central east-west axis between those buildings located south of the axis, which are devoted to Shiva, and those north of the axis, which are devoted to Vishnu.

The temple's modern name, Banteay Srei — citadel of the women, or citadel of beauty — is probably related to the intricacy of the bas relief carvings found on the walls and the tiny dimensions of the buildings themselves. Some have speculated that it relates to the many devatas carved into the walls of the buildings.

Expansion and rededication

Banteay Srei was subject to further expansion and rebuilding work in the eleventh century. At some point it came under the control of the king and had its original dedication changed; an inscription of the early twelfth century records the temple being given to the priest Divarakapandita and being rededicated to Shiva. It remained in use at least until the fourteenth century.

Restoration

The temple was rediscovered only in 1914, and was the subject of a celebrated case of art theft when André Malraux stole four devatas in 1923 (he was soon arrested and the figures returned). The incident stimulated interest in the site, which was cleared the following year, and in the 1930s Banteay Srei was restored in the first important use of anastylosis at Angkor. Until the discovery of the foundation stela in 1936, it had been assumed that the extreme decoration indicated a later date than was in fact the case.] To prevent the site from water damage, the joint Cambodian-Swiss Banteay Srei Conservation Project installed a drainage system between 2000 and 2003. Measures were also taken to prevent damage to the temples walls being caused by nearby trees. Unfortunately, the temple has been ravaged by pilfering and vandalism. When toward the end of the 20th century authorities removed some original statues and replaced them with concrete replicas, looters took to attacking the replicas. A statue of Shiva and his shakti Uma, removed to the National Museum in Phnom Penh for safekeeping, was assaulted in the museum itself.

East Mebon Temple

The East Mebon(Khmer: ប្រាសាទមេបុណ្យខាងកើត) is a 10th Century temple at Angkor, Cambodia. Built during the reign of King Rajendravarman, it stands on what was an artificial island at the center of the now dry East Baray reservoir.

The East Mebon was dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva and honors the parents of the king. Its location reflects Khmer architects’ concern with orientation and cardinal directions. The temple was built on a north-south axis with Rajendravarman’s state temple, Pre Rup, located about 1,200 meters to the south just outside the baray. The East Mebon also lies on an east-west axis with the palace temple Phimeanakas, another creation of Rajendravarman’s reign, located about 6,800 meters due west.

Built in the general style of Pre Rup, the East Mebon was dedicated in 953 AD. It has two enclosing walls and three tiers. It includes the full array of durable Khmer construction materials: sandstone, brick, laterite and stucco. At the top is a central tower on a square platform, surrounded by four smaller towers at the platform’s corners. The towers are of brick; holes that formerly anchored stucco are visible.

The sculpture at the East Mebon is varied and exceptional, including two-meter-high free-standing stone elephants at corners of the first and second tiers. Religious scenes include the god Indra atop his three-headed elephant Airavata, and Shiva on his mount, the sacred bull Nandi. Carving on lintels is particularly elegant.
Elephant sculpture at the East Mebon

Visitors looking out from the upper level today are left to imagine the vast expanses of water that formerly surrounded the temple. Four landing stages at the base give reminder that the temple was once reached by boat.

Man’s surprising laugh

Man’s surprising laugh

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Cambodia Trip Part One. Angkor Wat, Bangkok and the Journey to Siem Reap.

Thank You to National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition, 2004

Cambodia Information and History

A mostly flat and forested land, Cambodia is a small, compact country. But for more than 500 years, Angkor (in northwestern Cambodia) was the capital of the Khmer Empire, which controlled mainland Southeast Asia from the 9th to the 13th century. Thailand and Vietnam encroached upon the kingdom until 1863, when France made Cambodia a protectorate. Independence came in 1953.

The Vietnam War spilled into Cambodia, igniting conflict, and in 1970 a pro-Western military government overthrew longtime ruler Prince Norodom Sihanouk. Five years later Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge guerrillas began brutally enforcing radical communism, killing some two million Cambodians. After intense border clashes, Vietnam invaded and occupied Cambodia from 1978 to 1989, with up to 200,000 troops. In 1991 three rebel groups and the Phnom Penh government signed a UN-sponsored peace accord. Returned from exile in 1993, Sihanouk became king, leading the new constitutional monarchy.

Coming into the 21st century, Cambodia enjoys relative stability; but subsistence farming employs 75 percent of the workforce and many live in poverty. Cambodians hope that tourism focused on Angkor Wat, meaning "capital monastery," will bring prosperity; it is the largest temple at Angkor—its image is on Cambodia's flag.
ECONOMY

Industry: tourism, garments, rice milling, fishing, wood and wood products.
Agriculture: rice, rubber, corn, vegetables.
Exports: timber, garments, rubber, rice, fish.

Text source: National Geographic Atlas of the World, Eighth Edition, 2004

Population
13,329,000
Capital
Phnom Penh; 1,157,000
Area
181,035 square kilometers
(69,898 square miles)
Language
Khmer, French, English
Religion
Theravada Buddhist

Currency
riel
Life Expectancy
56
GDP per Capita
U.S. $1,600
Literacy Percent
70



Angkor Wat

Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over some 400 km2, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. UNESCO has set up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings.



Also, here below are some pictures of the journey from Bangkok to Siem Reap and soem shots around the city. We left Bangkok at 6am on the "3rd class only" train to the border. Once we walked across the border we hired a taxi with a couple of girls from California to Siem Reap and then tuk-tuks to our respective hotels. Hope you enjoy!




And finally, just some random shots from Bangkok

The 9 Simple Rules To Riding a Cambodian VIP Bus.

TM and I took a bus from Siem Reap to the Cambodian capitol city of Phnom Penh. The ride was on the "Paramount Angkor Express" and was arranged through our wonderful hotel in SR. The cost of the ticket was $10 for the approximately 5.5 hour ride and was to include a free breakfast (which we never got), on board toilet (which was unusable because of luggage) and air conditioning (of course the fine print probably excluded anything like freon to actually make the air cold). The trip was only slightly painful for me but more so for TM as his seat was under a tv anchored from the ceiling meaning that his 6ft 4in frame couldn't sit completely upright in his seat. Also, given that the bus used was an old Japanese tour bus (like the ones we take to our layover hotels in Japan) the seats were designed for a 5ft 4in rail thin Japanese tourist, not an American.
Anyway, the bus ticket came with some rules that I though I would share with you and the nine rules to properly riding a "VIP BUS" from SR to PP are as follows...
(These are verbatum from the ticket)

1-The passengers should attend to bus terminal 20 minutes before departure time.
2-The passengers don't come on time, their tickets are worthless
3-Non refundable tickets are sold.
4-Over 5 years old child must buy ticket too.
5-There's necessary duty, passengers must inform company 4 hours before (in the time working) for changing departure time only.
6-Passengers make reservation seats must buy tickets 5 hours before (in the time working).
7-Company will charge passengers' luggage which is more than 25kg
8-Pets, arms, addicted drugs, smuggling products and other dangerous materials are not allowed to bring into the bus
9-PLEASE KEEP QUIET.

So here are some thoughts on the "9 Simple Rules to Riding a Cambodian Bus", not starring John Ritter.
Number 9 seems to exclude any Cambodian wishing to yell into a cellphone. This is made more excruciating as Khmer (the language..and the ethnic group) is NOT a relaxing, beautiful language. Add to that the seemingly correct way for old women to speak Khmer is in a harsh, high pitch squall and it is nearly unbearable.

Number 8 begs the question as to what an "addicted drug" is? I've never seen a marijuana plant out and about looking to "score some crank".
Number 6-7 "in the working times" is one of the greatest phrases ever uttered.
and finally...I love the bluntness of number 2. Your ass better be at the station or you're gonna get stuck as your tickets will be worthless.

I will be getting back to the US on Thursday and will be posting a couple more stories as well as getting pictures on line. Also, the story of my police office bribes and the attack of the monkeys are coming soon so stay tuned!

Initial Thoughts on My First Couple of Days in Cambodia

I'm pretty sure that of all the countries I've visited only Laos is poorer than here but I'm still in awe of the people.

It stuns me that people that have every right to NOT be happy, given all that this country has been thru in the last 30 years, greet me with a big, genuine smile filled with happiness. My tuk-tuk driver for the day greeted me this morning by asking how I slept last night, I responded very well and asked him and he said "I slept happy!" and he knew exactly what he had said. Says an amazing amount about the people.

The Angkor Archaeological Park is massive, covering about 155 square miles. There isn't enough vacation on the planet to see it all in detail.

The free market is alive and well here. From children to adults they will sell anything with zeal and just a hint of aggression (which could very well be a bit of desperation). All this from a country that didn't even have a currency 25 years ago.

Change is coming fast to Siem Reap. The construction here makes Morgantown look mellow and the traffic would scare someone from New Jersey but there is a rhythm and a flow that is something to behold.

Running out of time on the computer, will post again soon!

GREAT commentary on plane evacuations!

While I didn't write it, the author is ABSOLUTELY right. While I hope that none of you ever experience an emergency evacuation, I also hope that if you do that you and your fellow passengers LISTEN and FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS from the flight attendants on board. THE NUMBER ONE REASON PEOPLE DIE IN AN EVACUATION IS BECAUSE PEOPLE TRY TO TAKE THEIR CARRY-ON BAGGAGE OFF THE PLANE. This blocks exits, slows the process and CAN PUNCTURE THE SLIDES. JUST GET OFF THE PLANE..you'll get your luggage back if it is salvageable.

I found this on the Forum in the Travel Section of USAToday.


No one knows yet why this happened, and it will be a long time before they do. Few people know the ins-and-outs of piloting any plane; most don't even know what arcane aviation language, full of acronyms and shoptalk and shorthand, is being used and fewer care.

What they SHOULD care about, and I hope DO care about, is what the average passenger can do to insure that, should they survive a crash, they also survive the evacuation.

The AA crash in Little Rock, and other incidents, taught us: You can survive the one, and not the other.

I'm the flight attendant that's posted a couple of times already, asking, "How many passengers exited this plane with their carry-on bags?" On one version of this story, on THIS website, the FIRST comment was from someone wondering how and when passengers would get their BAGGAGE.

People are in the HOSPITAL, folks!

And this leads me to my first point: CARRY-ON BAGGAGE IS FAR AND AWAY THE NUMBER ONE OBSTACLE TO EVACUATION. Number ONE.

That Air France evac a while back...where a full plane was evacuated during a fire in no time flat...that sort of thing isn't accomplished inside 90 seconds with everybody holding their overnight totes and laptop bags and purses and umbrellas and yakking on their cells as they stumble down the aisle: "Honey, guess what? We're having an emergency!"

Think about it. Flight attendants and passengers have died because evacuating passengers insisted, despite commands, on carrying bags to the evacuation door, then realized they can't fit or can't make it down with them, and abandoned them on the row nearest the exit. Bags pile up, and guess what? The flight attendants, and the handicapped people they're supposed to help off last, can't get off. Exits blocked.

When you're told, "Come this way. Don't take anything with you," it means YOU, and it means YOUR STUFF, which is, really and truly, no more important than anyone else's stuff, and certainly not more important than anyone else's LIFE, no matter who you think you are or how much you paid for your ticket or how important you know your stuff to be.

There is, on average, an evacuation in the US every ELEVEN days. And HALF of all the folks involved in one over a ten-year period ADMITTED (I wonder how many WOULDN'T admit it?) to taking a carry-on with them DESPITE COMMANDS TO DO OTHERWISE. That businessman with the pricey laptop case? He WILL struggle to grab it while you and your kids wait to evacuate a burning plane. He WILL. That grandmother with her Vegas cash in her Wal-Mart handbag? She will too. It's been proven over and over. Do you want one of these people sitting or standing or struggling with a bag between you and an aisle or a door in a smoky plane?

On every single plane I'm on -- either as a flight attendant or passenger -- I see people stow their bags under the seat in front of them -- as instructed -- for takeoff and landing, and then wrap the bag's strap around their foot, I guess because they're worried about losing it, forgetting it, having it roll away, having it stolen by another passenger, WHATEVER. Not between me and my child and a door, you don't! Not when I'm the one doing the compliance checks before takeoff and landing! This is one of the stupidest, most unsafe things I see people routinely do on a plane, and I see it EVERY DAY. Most of the time passengers want to argue with me about bag stowage more than any other issue. Right before takeoff is not the time most passengers want to be reminded that, say, due to a fuel spill or leak, we could be evacuating a burning plane in a matter of seconds. I try to explain in as calm and polite a way as I can. It's not always easy. "But it's my purse!" the lady with the 40-pound purse on her lap tells me. "It's my PURSE! Look, I'll put it under the seat in front of me but I'll wrap the strap around my neck (or foot)...see? Like this!" Sometimes the tiniest handbags have the longest little straps. Those straps will snag on every armrest during a NORMAL deplaning. What do you think they will do during an evacuation?

Don't take off your shoes during takeoff and landing. Don't sit there yakking on your cell or listening to music instead of to the safety demo. Don't take a bunch of pills and alcohol because you're scared of "something happening." If you were all that scared, you'd want your wits about you if it DOES happen. Don't wear ridiculous shoes or a bunch of nylon. I've been told that Continental's flight attendants remove their pantyhose when they have a "planned emergency" -- that is, when they KNOW there will be a problem and have time to prepare. The things melt and burn onto your skin. Remove your glasses and PUT THEM IN YOUR POCKET if you think there will be a bad landing, so that your eyes and face might remain uninjured and you can have the glasses in one piece for seeing your way out of the plane.

And if you just WON'T buy a seat for your infant's safety seat, or just WON'T make him or her sit there for takeoff and landing despite what the FA tells you, and insist on holding your baby on your lap, DON'T put your seatbelt around your baby too. I know it's counter-intuitive, but the FAs are supposed to tell you not to do this. There are really good reasons not to. Even when they tell people, they're ignored. That booster seat you think will help your older kid see out the window? They're not allowed on ANY plane, for some real good reasons.

It may be apocryphal, but I've been told that, in Little Rock, a young college kid evacuated, then returned to the burning plane repeatedly to grab the carry-ons. Can you imagine..."Mine is the one with the pink ribbon on the handle, under 12G!" And so forth? And what I've been told is, this kid died, overcome with smoke. Fetching people's socks and underwear! If you were sitting on a wrongful death jury, what would you decide the airline owed this young man's family? Anything?

Remember during the evac of the WTC on 9/11? There was a morbidly obese woman who used one of those scooter chairs....she was HAND-CARRIED down the stairs, holding up everyone behind her. Do you think she should be in an airplane's exit row, since that's the only seat that will hold her, due to the larger amount of legroom there? Even though she can't FIT through the exit row door? Even though she's slow moving? Do you know how many times I have to explain to argumentative passengers that the handicapped must be seated by a window, not on an aisle, so as not to impede the egress of others in the row, including perhaps the people who will help them? We brief non-ambulatory passengers and tell them, "You will be last off, when everyone around you is gone. I will come and get you." Does anyone think a planeload of able-bodied people ought to be stopped from evacuating while a quadriplegic is carried off? Is this realistic, fair or sensible? Handicapped people are first on, and LAST OFF, for lots of good reasons. But we are not allowed to limit the number of such folks on a plane. Do you want to ride on an aircraft with a tournament's worth of wheelchair basketball teams on board? Hmmm? Call your congressional representative. I'm a liberal, but some of this is PC run amok.

Something else I've heard about that Little Rock crash: No one on board over 70 got out. No one. And some of them were in exit rows. I don't care if you run marathons, and I don't care if you just had a check up, and I don't care if you've flown a gazillion miles with my airline......No one 70 or over needs to be in an exit row. Not when I've got law enforcement, and firefighters, active military members, and pilots and flight attendants (in civvies or in uniform) riding as passengers...not when I've got ANY of those sorts of folks to staff that door. And yes, our rule is that you have to be 16 to sit there. But on MY plane, it's 19. I picked 19 because that's the minimum age for flight attendants at my airline. Since my pilots have to retire at 60, I think 60 should be the upper age limit for an exit row. But hey, that's just me. I wouldn't want my son, over six feet tall and over 170 pounds at 16, to be responsible for opening that door if anything went wrong. That's a big burden to put on a kid that age should anything actually happen, now isn't it? And if you've got kids or a pet traveling with you, not only can you not have them in the exit row with you, you can't sit there yourself, either. The safety briefing card (which everyone should read every time they get on, because new information means the info on it changes periodically) tells you that no one with a responsibility to anyone else seated elsewhere on the plane (and that means your kids and your spouse and your pet and your elderly parents) is exit-row qualified. How many pet owners would reach under the seat in front of them and grab Fluffy or Fido, or grab the bag the pet is in, BEFORE opening the exit? Many if not most. That's why they can't sit there.

I see way too many people in exit rows who should NOT be there. They're there because they're good customers, maybe, or because they asked for it or because they were randomly assigned. But they are old, young, frail, sick, with a cane, hard of hearing, hard of seeing, acting silly, don't speak English, etc., and flight attendants are reluctant to move them because they're afraid they will get their airline sued. I say to my colleagues: The airline has rooms full of lawyers to deal with that. YOUR job is to evac that plane. Be worried about THAT.

Did you see the I-Report on CNN when that Hawaii-bound plane did an emergency evac in LAX last summer? Some goofy-acting college-age kids in the EXIT ROW decided it was a great time to get out their video camera and film themselves acting silly, talking about how they'd "always wanted to slide down the chutes" and about how now was their big chance. This kid may be legally old enough to occupy an exit row seat, but to talk like this during the emergency descent -- O2 masks dangling and other passengers panicking, praying, sobbing, etc. -- to film an I-Report for his 15 minutes of fame on CNN -- reprehensible! I would rather him be RE-looking at his safety briefing card. It was apparent this guy just did not take flying or the situation very seriously. He certainly did not take his exit-row responsibilities seriously. And CNN was happy to show it, with no comment given about how irresponsibly these exit row passengers were behaving. There was a Qantas crash landing with a hole in a jet's fuselage, where a fellow did the same thing; he wasn't in an exit row, but he was SUPPOSED to be bracing himself, and maybe preparing to evacuate himself, family members and others out of the plane. Instead he got out his video camera -- a potential projectile -- and filmed the whole thing for HIS 15 minutes. I'm to the point of fining people $10k, giving them 10 days in jail, banning them from commercial jet travel for a year and -- oh yeah -- you ain't going to wherever you were going on OUR airline, here's your ticket price back. Maybe that would get people's attention, because they're sure not listening to ME, the flight attendant.

Are we just getting so used to air travel that we don't think the worst will ever happen -- or at least, not to US? Or is that the RULES don't apply -- at least, not to us? Don't people know the rules exist for a reason -- a reason you may not want to think about? Every takeoff and landing is a potential evacuation. That's what the rules are for. Pilots are up front planning a routine flight. Flight attendants are in the back, planning for an orderly evac. Otherwise, why would we care where you stow your bag, or where the infant's safety seat is positioned, or that your bag's strap is wound around your seatbelt in a knot, or whether your seat is locked upright? (It's so the person behind you will have a more secure surface to brace against.) And the reason that those rules don't apply once we're level is that I'm not trained for a mid-air evac...they just somehow always seem to happen on the ground.

Folks snap off their belts and start interacting with their cells just as soon as the wheels touch the ground...right at the moment when an evac becomes a possibility, and when the chance of having a run-in with some other vehicle on the ground comes into play. Try to get them to understand what they're doing, and you're just the b*tchy flight attendant.

I have exit row passengers question why I want them to keep their window shade up for takeoff and landing. A couple of exit row passengers DID manage to open the door after a crash...smack dab into a fire, which they didn't see because their shade was down. Personally, I think ALL shades should be up for takeoff and landing.

People complain about being shown over and over how to use the seatbelt. Several survivors of crashes have reported that in their panic they kept trying to unlatch the seatbelt the same way they undo one in a car...searching with their fingers for that plastic button you depress...there isn't one on an airline seatbelt. The ONE woman in first class who was killed in that crash in Little Rock? She was asleep under a blanket with her seatbelt unbuckled. An FA was so worn out from having passengers become angry after being awakened for a seatbelt check, that she just skipped it. Either that, or the lady buckled up for the show-and-tell with the flight attendant, then unbuckled as soon as the FA walked away.

And then USAT has a chance to help educate the public about this stuff and it turns into an ego-fest for a couple of former/wannabe/would have beens.....Please, people. PAY ATTENTION.

An interesting link to a great old photo of Welch, WV

The Charleston Gazette - Gallery: The Way It Was: Welch, 1920 

My Cambodian Itenerary

12 January – Hotel: Sawasdee Langsuan Inn,-Bangkok, Thailand

Phone: 011-66-2-255-5833-4

Address 93/4 Soi Lang Suan 5, Ploenchit Road, Bangkok 10330

Website: http://www.sawasdee-hotels.com/bangkok/langsuaninn/index.html


Nights of 13-17 January – Hotel: Le Meridien Angkor – Siem Reap, Cambodia

Phone: 011-855-63-963-900

Address: Vithei Charles de Gaulle, Khum Svay Dang Kum, Siem Reap

Website:http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1825


Nights of 18-20 January – Hotel: Blue Lime – Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phone: 011-855-23-22-22-60

Address: 42, Street 19Z (off Street 19) Phnom Penh

Website: http://www.bluelime.asia/presentation.html


**FLIGHT** Phnom Penh (PNH) – Bangkok (BKK) Q9P7LE

Flight Number: FD 3617

Date: 21 January 2009 16:55-18:05


Night of 21 January – Hotel: Thong Ta Resort & Spa – Bangkok, Thailand

Phone 011-66-2-172-6142

Address: 1894 Latkrabang Road, Latkrabang, Bangkok

Website: http://www.thongtaresort.com/index.html

Angkor Archaeological Park and the Angkor Wats

Angkor Wat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat) (Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត), is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation—first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Angkor Wat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stretching over some 400 sq. km, including forested area, Angkor contains the magnificent remains of several capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century CE. These include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations.

Angkor was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992 - the same year it was also placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. UNESCO has now set up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings.

Angkor Archaeological Park travel guide - Wikitravel

Siem Reap (from Lonely Planet)
Back in the 1960s, Siem Reap (see-em ree-ep) was the place to be in Southeast Asia and saw a steady stream of the rich and famous. After three decades of slumber, it’s well and truly back and one of the most popular destinations on the planet right now. The life-support system for the temples of Angkor, Cambodia’s eighth wonder of the world, Siem Reap was always destined for great things, but few people saw them coming this thick and this fast. It has reinvented itself as the epicentre of the new Cambodia, with more guesthouses and hotels than temples, world-class wining and dining and sumptuous spas.

At its heart, Siem Reap is still a little charmer, with old French shop-houses, shady tree-lined boulevards and a slow-flowing river. But it is expanding at breakneck speed with new houses and apartments, hotels and resorts sprouting like mushrooms in the surrounding countryside. The tourist tide has arrived and locals are riding the wave. Not only is this great news for the long-suffering Khmers, but it has transformed the town into a pulsating place for visitors. Forget the naysayers who mutter into their beers about Siem Reap in the ‘old days’, now is the time to be here, although you may curse your luck when stuck behind a jam of tour buses on the way back from the temples.

Google Image Result for http://www.molon.de/galleries/Cambodia/SiemReap/images01/10%20Downtown%20Siem%20Reap.jpg

Siem Reap - Google Image Search