grey marble

January 27, 2004


Kampuchea

A friend of Li-T emailed me yesterday. She had recently returned from Cambodia and is thinking of putting together a website to promote her friend's tour company. Along with her request she sent me a link to her photos. I was in Southeast Asia in 2000 and spent a week at Angkor. It was was one of the best weeks of my life. Looking at her photographs, I remember the intricate beauty of Banteay Srei, the crumbling majesty of Beng Mealea, the perfect symmetry of Angkor Wat. There, I fell in love with Khmer sculpture and architecture. It's hard to pick the hilights. Sitting in the jungle, surrounded by stone, I wrote in my journal, took photographs, and sent postcards to friends, trying to capture some part of the experience. I swam in the Tonlé Sap, negotiated the lingas submerged in the waters of the Kobal Spean, and watched the sunrise atop temples built a thousand years ago. One night Ohl, my motorcycle driver, took me to the West Baray and negotiated with a boatsman to take us to the center of the resevoir. The remains of the West Mebon lay on an island facing the sunset. We sat on blocks warmed by the sun and watched as the light leaked out of the day. Returning to shore, the figure of my driver and boatsman blurred into shadow. The only sound was the light putt putt putt of the outboard motor. Posted by eku at January 27, 2004 10:48 AM
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