Angkor Wat

Hello again !! I'm once again in Angkor Wat or Siem Riep for a more relaxed visit. My anthropology field school is now officially ended. On Friday, July 14th, we had a big dinner for all the Cambodian American students. It was a bit sad to see the whole thing end, but I was indeed a bit tired and I think it was time to move on. We each kindly received a certificate in Ethnographic field techniques and for attendance from NIU. Dr. Ledgerwood presented this personally to each student after the dinner. 

Here's a photo of me getting my certificate from Dr. Judy Ledgerwood of NIU :

The final dinner was held in a very large open-air Khmer restaurant. It had a big sliding roof and lots of water vapour sprays to keep the hungry customers cool.  We started out what was to be a simple 20 minute ride in our minivan from our hotel to the TaTa restaurant situated on the other side of the Mekong at 6:30 pm. Because the French Embassy was having a big bash for Bastille Day the whole Monivong street near the Embassy and above all, the circle approach to the Japanese Friendship bridge, was closed off. We therefore had to stop the van and take moto-dups. What an experience ! 

A "moto-dup" is short for a motorcycle taxi. These come in various shapes and size but most likely you'll be riding on a Suzuki. Just like a taxi, you hire a motorcycle with a driver. Christopher would love them !! They exist in other Southeast Asian countries, mostly used for short-distance travel in cities, where they have the added advantage of squeezing through traffic jams and taking back-roads / shortcuts not fit for 4 wheel vehicles. 

Unfortunately, the moto-dup drivers never wear helmets and certainly never have one for their potential passenger. This is why I have avoided them MOST of the time since being in P. Pehn. Well, we had no choice the other night to get to our party. I got stuck with a kid who must have been 15 and he just raced through traffic, cutting over laws and running on sidewalks to get through the pollution choked traffic. This massive city traffic jam was cause by the "fete"at the French Embassy. Fred was there eating pastries and cheese while I was breathing high levels of carbon monoxide and God-knows-what other polluants spewing from vehicules of all sizes and configurations. Vive la France !!

Here is a picture of me and my translators at the final blessing and goodbye ceremony in the Wat Tmat Pong village where we did our research. As a present, we presented them with 10 mango trees and of course some money.  They needed the trees for their expanding fruit orchard and garden.  They want me to come back next year to see how the trees have grown and to say "hello".  I just might do that !

Today, was dedicated to just visiting Angkor and other temples.  It's nice too have time to walk around and see things without a specific agenda or have other people waiting for you. We hired a driver and car (Toyoto Camry) for 3 days.  It 's convenient and air-conditioned !!!

It is very hot here in Siem Riep.  The temples are quite crowded with tourists, however once you leave the main temples and go to small of the smaller ones, there are less people. 

Just a picture of Angkor for contemplation : 

 





















bye !!!