Cambodia Day 2 (2 Jan 06)

While I drove past Angkor Wat on the first day, the second day was the first time I actually went into the grounds. 

The significance of Angkor Wat was that the people back in the day believed that the center tower was the exact center of the universe.  It was built during the Marmoduke Dynasty and was initially constructed for use as a Hindi Temple. 

The constructed began in 1113 and was completed in the year 1150.  Sidhartha (the Buddha) was born in 1186.  Not this is the thing that irritated me about my tour guide and his limited English.  I was curious to know when the populace of the region converted to Buddhism…how long after the birth of Sidhartha?  When did the enlightenment take place?  What my tour guide told me was that everyone was told about his birthdate prior to his actual birth.  He said that the entire kingdom converted on the day that Sid was born, which makes no sense whatsoever because of this fact:  THEY DIDN’t HAVE TELEPHONES!  There was no way that the word could have spread so quickly, even with riders.  The distance is too great. 

I was also curious about why, in such a short time period, so many people converted in mass to another religion.  Isn’t religion based on feeling of the soul?  Perhaps the people from that region are similar to the ones living there in modern day and have quite shitty lives and needed something to believe in.  Hinduism wasn’t doing much for them so perhaps they thought – Hey…lets follow this new dude…perhaps life will become better for us.  And if this assessment has even a tiny bit of truth, isn’t it fair to say that religion, while good to have around, is possible merely a mechanism so people have something to believe in?  Because most people can’t mentally or emotionally deal with thoughts like – Hey…this is as good as it gets.  There is nothing more.  No miracle or white light when I bite the bullet.  Who knows.

The thing that facinated me the most about Angkor Wat was a room called ‘Chest Knocking Hall.’  (I still don’t believe that this was the actual name…I think my lovely tour guide made that one up.)  the ‘hall’ is actually about three feet in length with both sides being open (no doors).  Following instruction from my guide, I tried to get an echo with my mouth but was unsuccessful.  I placed my back against the inner wall and thumped my chest, and hear the echo of a drum!  Quite amazing.  I entertained myself for a long time (OCD) until my guided insisted we go.

That was pretty much it.  I already showed the photo of my driver and his first taste of tequilla.  We went to a Mexican restaurant on our way to the airport.

One thing I did forget to mention and is a good travel tip.  Since I’d alredy checked out of my hotel, I wasn’t able to take a shower prior to getting on the place.  What I did was go for a body massage, which cost three dollars, and showered with their facilities.