The main goal of the trip was, of course, the heart of the country: the ancient capital of Angkor shrouded in a halo of legends. Cambodia is sure that it was here, in an ancient city lost among the jungle, that the idea of the famous work of Rudyard Kipling "The Jungle Book" was born. But it turned out that there are many more interesting things in the kingdom.
However, the archaeological complex with an area of 400 square kilometers, with its hundreds of incredible beauty temples, built from the 9th to the 14th century AD. uh, overshadowed everything. Moreover, here you can feel like a real discoverer. Indeed, until the 19th century, Angkor was hidden from people by an impenetrable jungle, the foot of a European first set foot here in 1850, and mass tourism has not sunk to this miracle to this day.
Little Mowgli
In the ancient ruins among the carved boulders of Angkor, immersed in the pristine raging ocean of greenery, you feel a little Mowgli. And it seems that just about between the mysterious faces of the most amazing temple of Bayon, cut out of sandstone, the insidious Sher Khan will flash. The flexible shadow of Bagheera will creep into the roots of the giant baobab trees that encircle the walls of the Ta Prohm temple. And under the spreading crown of the ficus-banyan tree, which strangled another tree with its deadly embrace, the lumpy Baloo will stir.
To the call of the jungle
At sunset, when people leave, the inhabitants of the jungle again, as it has been for centuries, become the sovereign owners of abandoned temples. Cunning bandar logs appear first. I managed to get to know one representative of the monkey tribe better. Then flocks of night foxes (relatives of bats) rush here, and the whistle of cicadas in the air becomes deafeningly loud. But at this very moment the ministers ask the tourists to leave Angkor. And no wonder. For centuries, the jungle population has considered it their home, and people are just unexpected visitors.
Promotional video:
Flip through The Jungle Book
There could have been many more people willing to flip through The Jungle Book. Mass tourist flow is limited not only by relative inaccessibility, but also by other reasons.
As you know, in the 20th century, the country went through a terrible period of history - the bloody dictatorship of Pol Pot and the civil war, which took the lives of almost half of the population. And although at present the residents of Cambodia, the Khmers, have come to national reconciliation, the tragic events of the recent past have become a serious obstacle to the development of the country in general, and tourism in particular.
The more interesting it was for me to see everything with my own eyes.
Khmer lessons
Acquaintance with the country began already on the way: from the border with Thailand to the city of Siem Reap, which is closest to Angkor. For several hours of the trip, endless rice fields, banana and coconut groves, and fruit plantations were spread outside the window. Exotic fruits of mango, dragon and breadfruit grow here.
Harvested rice is dried on the ground in the open air. Its light yellow placers, resembling sand from a distance, can be seen on the village streets, or even right in the open field.
By the way, rice in Cambodia is grown all year round and gives four crops. However, each allotment is occupied with crops for only six months. The rest of the time the earth rests. Therefore, almost all stages of rice growth can be observed simultaneously.
In some fields, tender young crops turn green. Others bristled with yellow straw after harvest. It is on them, surprisingly, that life is in full swing. You can often observe how grimy, half-naked children run on wet brown clay, spraying it in all directions. It turns out that they do not just frolic, but catch fish, which is found in abundance here. When the water leaves the rice fields, the fish burrow into the moist soil and hibernate. From noise and running, the catch wakes up. And then they just pick it up by hand. Thus, the rice plantations feed the peasants all year round.
To school - on a basin
Children are engaged in fishing and other Cambodian activities (for example, playing football with rubber slippers) in their free time from school. It is worth noting that not everyone enrolls, although education in schools is free. But you still have to get to it. The main obstacle on the way to knowledge is the inability to get to it. And here all means of transportation are good: someone rides a bicycle, and someone uses a completely unusual transport. For example, the small residents of the floating village on Tonle Sap Lake. Her whole life flows on the water: on the surface of the lake there are not only the houses of residents, but also a school.
To enter it, future students pass a difficult exam. It consists in the fact that the baby must swim a certain distance. Moreover, the floating craft is a round plastic basin.
The child needs to be able to deftly wield an oar and move in the right direction. If the baby overcomes the required minimum, he is enrolled in the first grade. And if he overfulfills the norm, then he is immediately credited to the second. In addition to the daily swim on these boats, from time to time, children hold demonstrations for tourists who regularly visit the floating village.
Another integral part of the Cambodian landscape is the strange structures made from a piece of cellophane film stretched over a bucket. Above this design is crowned with a halogen lamp. Rows of mysterious lights glow in the dark. As it turned out, these are not UFOs, but locust traps. Insects, attracted by the light, hit the surface of the film and fall into a bucket of water. So the peasants not only fight pests, but also get their own food. Oil-fried locusts are a treat and a source of protein.
Who is the mistress in the house
Matriarchy reigns in Cambodia. The head of the family is the oldest woman here. When a lady reaches the age of 70, she shaves her head baldly and takes over the reins of the family. Men at this age also part with the hair on their heads, but, unlike women, they receive not power, but a ticket to the monastery. Where, by the way, they do not lie on their laurels, but work: they clean and build temples, cultivate the fields and get food by alms. According to the Khmers, in this way they maintain unity in the family and protect it from disputes and disagreements.
Marriage of convenience
To marry a girl he likes, a candidate for husband must prove his worth. And literally. Official kalym is supposed to pay for the bride. The amount varies from three to five thousand dollars, depending on the merits of the bride. In addition to good looks, there are clear criteria that influence the assessment of a future wife. A health certificate and education are required. The higher it is, the higher the rating in the marriage market.
It should be borne in mind that the average salary in the country is equivalent to $ 150. Therefore, in order to collect the required amount, the groom applies to the bank for a loan. The institution evaluates the choice of the loan applicant impartially. To make sure that it is correct, the commission visits the house of both the groom and the bride. The amount that the bank will approve directly depends on the number of potential guests invited by the young to the wedding. The fact is that it is customary to give money for the celebration. Consequently, the more money young people receive, the faster they will return the borrowed funds.
Angkor? More Angkor
Angkor is a vast area of wild jungle. Tourists are taken here on small buses. Their size should not exceed the size of the largest elephant. Because based on this measure, the builders calculated the opening of the gate in the fortress wall surrounding the complex. The main temple of Angkor Wat is also surrounded by a wide moat with water. Everyone knows the famous "postcard" view - the visiting card of Cambodia: five towers in the form of lotus buds, reflected in the water. It is difficult to say what is most striking in Angkor. It is fraught with many mysteries. One of them is a stone bas-relief depicting a stegosaurus that died millions of years ago.
But, perhaps, the main thing is its magnetism. I would like to gaze continuously at the impenetrable stone faces on the towers of the Bayonne Temple. Admire the intricate interweaving of trunks and roots with carved blocks of Ta Prohm walls. Over and over again to travel through the jungle and wait with a daze, when, among the lush greenery, a new miracle, the most grandiose and unknown, will suddenly appear. All this makes Angkor magically attractive for adventurers, mysticism and mystery lovers.
Irina Galchikhina