Cambodia Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat claims to be the 8th world wonder of the world and used to be the pride of khmer god kings in the 12th century.

In the 12th century, Angkor Thom, another part of the complex already had 1 million inhabitants while Londons inhabitants only amounted to 50.000 citizens. Due to the uprising importance of trade with India, Hinduism and Buddhism gained importance with the kings, that is why the temples are partially Hindu and partially Buddhist.
It was to be believed that the stones were reserved for the gods and the kings, that is why civilians only had wooden houses.

One remarkable temple was called the Bayon temple. Approximately 54 towers were built. Each tower had 4 faces. Each face was pointing towards one of the four hemispheres. The king that has built Ankor Thom used his face as model for the towers. So everywhere you looked, a face or maybe 10 were staring down at you. But most fascinating were the details of reliefs that were carved into the wall of the temple. Some of the carvings displayed the history of the Khmers in the 12th centurty.



Here everywhere people sell things. From mouthdrums to flutes, pants, drinks, books. You ll find it here all. Like a gigantic shopping mall spread out on historic property. You ll find lots of children helping their parents sell. Buying some cold water and fresh pineapples from them already puts a big smile on their faces. Others, amongst them lots of victims from the land mines that the Khmer Rouge spread throughout the country, would play music in the shaddow of the enormous trees.

Being here in Cambodia and observing life here I am very positivly surprise that kids dont inhale drugs and dont steel on the streets just to make ends meet, at least not at first sight. But they sell whatever they can. A little boy approached me when leaving Ankor Thom. He wanted to sell a flute.I believe he was not older than 5 years old and with no shoes on his feet. He say in good English "Miss, you buy flute, 2 for 1 Dollar. My business wasnt good today, you buy from me please."

Being here I cant help but recognize the education that seems to have much higher standards than in other developement countries. Most of the people here speak English, some even French.