Enlightenment at the Break of Day

(By Dermot)

For our last day in Cambodia, I suggest we head to Angkor Wat for sunrise. We had visited several temples the day before, including Angkor Wat. Their scale is incredible. Built in the 12^th century, by over 300,000 workers and, apparently, 600 elephants.  The temples of Angkor Wat and surrounding buildings housed the nobility and the enlightened monks. Wooden and straw huts had been constructed in the surrounding region. Ankgor was home to over 1 million people. (Part of a pending blog). Around Ankgor Wat is the even larger, Angkor Thom… the former capital of the Khmer.

Dancing detail from the walls of Angkor Wat

Susan and Rory love sunrise, or at least I believe they will once they see it. Convinced it is the thing to do I book Mao, our reliable and English-speaking tuk tuk driver, to pick us up at 5:15am.

Armed with a picnic breakfast, I and and my two bleary-eyed companions set off in the dark for Angkor Wat. It is certainly quieter on the roads, although other tuk tuks and a few mini-vans seem to be heading in the same direction.

Mao drops us at the same spot as yesterday, adjacent to the lake, and we follow the small crowd across the causeway towards the outer temple buildings. We reach the attendants and show them our tickets. Amazingly, spruikers are out and about, selling souvenirs – and torches. Across the road a small van dispenses coffee. I explain that coffee is not necessary. A pilgrimage site since the 12^th century, Angkor Wat once again is a pilgrimage sight but now for the tourists. I really do hope the tourists I’m with get some enlightenment in the great Buddhist temple.

A skerrick of early light

As we move along the causeway the silhouettes of the ‘towers’ of the outer temple, built as a shrine to Vishnu, slowly emerge from the darkness, perhaps as they did from the jungle for the French explorers in the 1920s. The French claim they discovered Angkor Wat, along with the many other temples and city buildings in the region, including the former capital Ankgor Thom. They were never lost, however – Angkor Wat has been continuously inhabited as a temple since construction.  

We move through the narrow passages of the outer temple. The murals dance in the eerie light of dim torches and smart-phone lights. Battles scenes, the victors and the vanquished now both long dead…

Disgorged from the first building we move onto the next causeway which links to the second inner temple. We head towards the reflection ponds where the crowd has started to assemble. The shadowy towers just discernable in the darkness. It reminds me of the ANZAC dawn service, with the exception that it’s closer to 24°C than 0°C.

Selecting the best vantage points

My companions peer into the reflection pool, perhaps it is the equivalent of the ‘room of mirrors’ and, frankly, I think they both need to take a good long hard look at themselves (albeit it through bleary eyes) if they are to get to the next level towards Nirvana.

With my best ‘Zen’ outlook I present myself as breakfast to the local insect fauna. A shadowy figure sidles up to me and in a low voice asks, “You like to buy guide book, one dollar”……. I decline the offer, and mention the bargain basement price to Rory, the acquirer of a similar guidebook the day before at a considerably inflated price, no matter how many ‘interesting facts’ he has managed to glean from it.

Before the sun

Rory and I discover that not only has Susan put on bug spray but that she also has some in her pack. This must be accidental as there is little chance in the darkness this morning she had the clarity of mind to pack it. I’m surprised, given all the temples she has visited, at her lack of enlightenment. I explain, for her selfishness, it is highly likely that her next return to this earth will be as a bug and she will be dining on bug repellant. I don’t quite catch the Buddhist blessing that Susan mutters, I just glean the last word is “off”.

The expectant crowd

First light and the temple towers lighten. Now the crowd waits for the sun to climb over the towers and bathe the eastern side of Vishnu’s temple. The reflections in the pool are broken by lotus flowers and sleepy-headed photographers.

Lotus flowers, and the reflections of the Temple in the early morning light

Local vendor Ana offers me coffee and her life story. I view blurry photos on her phone of her two young kids. She is surprised I only have one son. I explain he is very expensive to feed and that this is the first time he’s seen sunrise. Rory rolls his eyes.

Dermot captivated by Ana's conversation.
Rory coming to terms with anybody at all having a conversation

At the stalls to the left of the pool a woman, in what seems like a pointless exercise, sweeps dirt while a lazy dog watches on. I wonder if the dog is the enlightened one. He is unperturbed by the spectacle. The sun comes up every morning, as does he… Maybe his head is ‘empty’ and he is well on his way to Nirvana….

In another selfless act I wander over to Ana’s stall. She beams and greets me with the lotus sign. I’m really getting the hang of this….  I buy coffees in the hope it will open the souls and minds of my companions and for the first time this morning they seem genuinely pleased to see me. I point out to Rory there is a ‘Google maps’ man. I go over and chat to him. He has a dodecahedron strapped to his head, containing a series of camera lenses. With a simple click of the button he takes multidirectional pictures. Amazing, I could have stayed home and had a virtual tour of Angkor Wat. I keep this info to myself, as my companions are still not wholly conversant with the sunrise bit of the day.

The Google Maps guy

Excitement builds in the crowd as the sun slowly starts creeping up the walls of the temples.  Just as it is about to break the top of the towers a cloud smothers it. As it does, in unison an exasperated “awww” bursts from the crowd. Frankly, the early morning start was worth it just for that sound of disappointment alone. I figure the Buddha would have something wise to say about it all. I suggest to Rory it could inspire me with my “Zen garden” iPhone app. He explains to his mother my “Zen garden looks like it has been created by the scratchings of a ‘retarded cat’”. Just because he’s reading “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” does not disguise the fact that he is a bloody long way away from Nirvana!

As the sun rose over the temple.  And seconds before the clouds came in.

We start to head back to our tuk tuk to move on to Ankgor Thom. Susan drapes her Cambodian shawl over her shoulders. I make the observation to Rory, that in the early morning light, as she slowly picks her way across the uneven ground of the causeway, perhaps the shawl makes her appear like a washerwoman. Insensitively, he laughs but we both agree it is probably fair enough as she does do a lot of the washing. For our observations Susan provides another blessing.

Farewell Cambodia….

Imagine a country where a quarter of the population disappears in less than 5 years. Or Phnom Penh, former ‘pearl of the orient’ left a ghost town as Pol Pot emptied the city in a matter of days.

Cambodia - a legacy

View to the 'playground' through the wire at Tuol Sloeng Prison - a converted school

So, today, looking out from the plane over the rice paddies and dirt roads that define Cambodia, I think about the Cambodian people, the poverty endured by so many, and the wealth enjoyed by so few. The smiling kids. Children from the floating village on Tonle Sap drinking the polluted waters. The floating orphanage… The villagers. The miners doing backbreaking labour for a handful of gems. Discussions of government corruption….

The floating orphanage

A child fishes on Tonle Sap Lake

Children and their mother finish the day's fishing

I think about the great resilience of the Cambodians. Their attempts to understand how and why their country slipped into such horror. How the West supported such a regime…

The uniformed Grades 3 & 4 at the village school

A young mango vendor

We’ve seen so little and yet learnt so much. I’ve appreciated the time here as a family and the discussions we’ve had along the way. We all appreciate the efforts of Paula Piilonen for facilitating it all. She’s not bad for a Canadian.

Thora and a village family

I leave the last words of my blog to Tex, Don and Charlie (Postcard from Elvis)…

“…….Got a message from Buddha. He left it on my machine. It said something about ‘going so fast but you know it’s so slow, if you know what I mean (or something like that)’.

 …He said “maybe it’s a little bit stupid, and sometimes I forget but the closer I come to the heart of the matter, the farther away I get…..”

So it is for me with Cambodia….

A vibrant street in Siem Reip