To all my supporters – emotional and financial – thank you from the bottom of my heart.

This is my ‘year-end report’ -  a sampling of what your support has meant to me and the people of Palawan over the last year.  My role is typically (after being asked) to analyze what would work from an American vantage, then review my analysis with a trusted Filipina friend who is both competent and a little versed in Western thinking/culture.  We select possible board members together and I do the organizational stuff, filing the necessary SEC documents and writing the Bylaws – something I’ve been doing since my children were in pre-school at St. Paul’s, then middle school at St. Matt’s and high school at Peninsula – it seems my legacy may be Bylaws!  Then we elect a board and I serve as adviser – usually as the secretary and organizer/agenda setter.  I call myself a cheerleader since the point is for natives, not foreigners, to take the reins.  But, it is said that the educational system here produces employees not entrepreneurs, and transferring these duties is slower than wished.

 

Special Olympics

We’ve got a great new board of experienced community leaders.  I am developing a new skill - patience!  I am not yet to “Asian Patience,” but have definitely expanded my basic patience level.  Special Olympics now has a set meeting date, time and place and we actually start and end on time – progress!  I tried to do the same at the Chamber of Commerce, which is more “old-school” – I would send them emails to remind them of the meetings, but then the secretary had to text them a note, telling them to check their emails!  Hilarity.  I took the year off from working with the Chamber, but hope to be back at it in 2014.

Special Olympics again performed what has become our annual Christmas    presentation at the mall.  
“A Special Christmas”  shows the community that these children are not animals to be caged or shunned, but are human and have potential  – we are making tiny bits of progress in changing the mindset. 
I now am the permanent Mrs. Claus and get to hand out presents with Santa (an Italian Jesuit brother here) as well as distribute our brochure.  

We got a $1,000 grant from the Northern California Peace Corps Association – to get equipment to start bocce ball.  Ironically, Special Olympics Philippines decided that bocce would be its primary sport – but you can’t get equipment anywhere in Southeast Asia!!  So, we are ordering it via Amazon, shipping to a friend in Los Angeles who has a balikbayan business and will send it to us – crazy!

 

And we still do our competitions and identification of athletes.  Our goal this year is to have year-round trainings and identify at least 100 athletes. 

 

I’ve also written a gargantuan grant proposal to USAID that is awesome, but with the typhoon, most aid is focused on rebuilding devastated areas.  I’m hoping that they will still have a few funds left for us.  Palawan has a population of nearly 1 million people, but has only 15 regular pediatricians and no developmental pediatricians – I’m trying to start a diagnostics clinic here and hoping to get interns from Manila that I can train.  We are also looking at buying a water purification business to be staffed and run by people with intellectual disabilities – that would be a first in the entire country.  Lots of good thoughts, just no money at the moment... patience is a virtue.
 

 Typhoon Haiyan 

I only helped a little with the typhoon effort – getting the word out about donations and such and what to send.  Did a little of the sorting and packing of clothes to send to Coron, Palawan, which was devastated and bought a couple hundred pounds of rice to send.  Dempto, a journalist friend of mine, just returned from Tacloban, where he counseled traumatized people.  He said that the area was still devastated and not functioning – and that he needed counseling after hearing all their stories from the pathos of their hearts.  Another businessman friend said that there were still bodies being discovered in the rubble (the paper says 1,000) – almost 2 months after Haiyan.  I’ve heard that Guiuan cannot restore electricity for another year and that Tacloban’s airport is still on generators.  It is hard to comprehend for those of us who were not affected – even here.  For those in developed countries, it is truly unimaginable. 

  

  Palawano ICT Association (PICTA) 
The Philippines is now #1 in the world for voice business processing (primarily based in Manila and Cebu).  Because Palawan is blessed with no volcanoes or earthquakes and few typhoons, it is a perfect place to establish such businesses (well, except for our erratic electricity and the lack of dependable internet, hehe).  We are looking at the long term, and a friend and I formed this Council, acting as advisers, to address how to develop the talent as well as the business here.  It’s been a rocky start – lots of excitement, but then the President vanished due to bankruptcy of his business and it was a mess.  We’ve reorganized and just hired an Executive Director (who is coming from Tacloban – where their council was wiped out in the typhoon) – we hope that this next year will begin paving the way for the future.

 

 

A friend sent me this 1945  picture
of a very young guerilla fighter from
Luzon

WWII Museum 

During WWII, Palawan’s governor resisted the Japanese – and they executed him.  His son has collected artifacts since the war and opened a museum 2 years ago.  He is now 78 years old and has got the national museum director interested – so I now am helping him organize it – quite fun, especially since my favorite people are on the board.  One main focus of my life has been to explore things and continue learning – this venture will provide me with lots of material! 
There is so much history here on Palawan – the Palawan massacre on December 14^th 1944 when the Japanese, after hearing of the surrender, proceeded to burn 143 American prisoners of war with gasoline, shooting those who tried to escape.  What is known now as guerilla warfare began here in the Philippines in WWII just after the Allied order was given to surrender to the Japanese when they captured control of the Philippines.  Some Americans and many Filipino soldiers refused to turn in their guns and became the first guerilla resistance fighters.  This museum is a memorial to those guerillas and their society – many here on Palawan.   Our newly formed board has lots of plans – and I will be learning a lot.

 

Palawan Alliance for Clean Energy (PACE) Started last year to oppose the new installation of a coal-fired electrical plant here, there has been lots of grassroots effort here – although not like you would find in the US – soooo frustrating here – very fragmented and lacking strategic planning.

Very confusing for someone used to direct communication.   However, we produced a logo, an instructional flyer promoting renewables and lots of Facebook entries.  Many of the people are activists and too radical for my taste, preferring to fan emotions rather than promote rationale discussion.  My main contribution was organizational and marketing advice, but I did get to pen the petition that is now on 350.org.  This is the first time I’ve done anything like that – Yeb Sano's is the first signature (the Philippines’ climate commissioner, who everyone saw on television choking back tears at the UN summit on climate change – during typhoon Haiyan), followed by a host of other notables.  And it is fascinating to see where it is going – all around the world – really interesting to be part of that.  With every signature on the petition, three letters are sent:  one to the President of the Philippines, one to the Palawan governor and one to the Secretary of the Department of Energy.  And this week, the Secretary of the Department of Energy said he will resign.  His reasoning revolved around Tacloban, but maybe Palawan figured in his decision as well?  Haha. 
 

We are hoping to keep this island environmentally sound, but that is a tall order for a place with poverty as high as 80%.  It is easy ideologically to protest such things in a developed country and have the environment be the predominant concern – here, where people are literally hand-to-mouth and the average daily wage is around $4 for a family of 5-10, it is not so black-and-white.

  

I pay my rent and utilities (and only barely with my $500/month pay) with a consultant job for a company that I just love.  Last week I completed my year-long project: the first operations manual for their 950 branches throughout the country.  Nothing like instant readership!  297 pages – I think I can recite each by heart – soo much proofing!    The family who runs this company is amazingly generous – they have funded over 200 scholars at the local university – students who otherwise would have no opportunity.  Because of the typhoon, employees voted to cancel Christmas parties and donate the money to the relief effort.  However, we did do a Christmas party in Bacungan about an hour outside of town – for 100 indigent families – food, games, clothes and a little cash.  It was an all-day affair on Sunday – and all 90 of us were there to coordinate the day.  The employees work 6 days a week and several Sundays as well, but they are happy.  As the new manual says – “think of your job as a gift – not as a punishment”.  And they do!  The owner told me that after he returned from his last visit to Tacloban, he decided to help out – he is sending two of his construction crews to put roofs on houses and structures there beginning in January.  This man has given typhoon-affected staff over P1million in cash; over P2million in low interest loans and all of us employees also donated about P500,000.  He wiped his eyes as he told me of seeing body bags still in the streets only a week ago.  He has a need to succeed and make money, and he has  similar need to give to those who are in need- he truly considers those who work for him “family”.  His employees adore him with reason, although he can be demanding and bull-headed at times, he is selfless and humble.   I only wish I knew business leaders in the US who were similar.

 

This company is now my family – they have taught me so much.  I am thankful that they are accepting of me and are willing to patiently listen to me and work with me.  I am such an American and so direct that I must be offensive at times, even though I try so hard not to be.  But I am often baffled by Filipino culture.  When we presented the manual to the Executive Committee, it took about 2 hours – there were a few suggestions, but not many.  At the end of the meeting they said, “That’s all?  Okay, see you Monday.”    And left the room – all 10 of them!!!  I had no idea what happened.  No feedback – I didn’t want a “thank you, good job, wow-this will be useful” (although that would have been nice).  I was baffled.  Did we do a good job?  Did they like it?  Did they think it was pertinent?  I asked the two people who worked with me on it – how do you know that you did a good job?  “Oh, if they don’t ask many questions or make you correct something, that means you did good job.”  Hmmm.   Well, I will be working with them in 2014, and my target will be management trainings on giving meaningful feedback.

 

So, those are the big projects in my life these days, and lots of little things – events planning for 300-1000 for specific conferences, necessitating learning details of Palaweno culture: that the centerpieces are handled by the hotel – we don’t have to supply them; that everyone needs pasalubong when you return from a business trip (I have lots of keychains and pencils either with my name on them, or the city where they were purchased); that food is the most important part of any meeting, closely followed by the official certificate of attendance.

 

I am lucky to work with people who have become my friends here – the 25 year olds who take me to the karaoke bar, whose voices are stunningly beautiful (mine just stuns); lunches with my best friends and overnights at Daluyon in Sabang where we knocked about in the waves; pledges to each other to take care of us as we age, and Noche Buena celebrations with my Mendoza family.  Acceptance and warmth.

 

I received my official special retirement visa in September and am now a resident of Puerto Princesa. 
For Christmas, I purchased a 20 year old Toyota 4-runner and took it for my first drive up the coast 68 kilometers for an overnight at Tarabanan Cottages in Concepcion.  It is glorious here – easy swimming in the clean waters and the monsoon winds lifting the shiny capiz shell chimes. 
At times I am incredibly lonely; at others, incredibly fulfilled, like most everyone else in this life. 
At times I feel like I never left the US; more often I feel I can never return because I’ve changed so much.  Someone called me a “citizen of the world like the John Lennon song” which disconcerted me, belonging to no one and no place.  But, I thank all of you for the little pieces of your hearts that I carry with me wherever I go – and guess that’s what it’s all about.

 

With love and gratitude this holiday season

Deb Pritchard

 

EUREKA!!



Eureka! literally means “I found it!” and is the state motto of California.  Being a native of that state,  I’ve always liked the motto, and try to apply it as often as I can to a plethora of topics – even living on the opposite side of the globe.  Archimedes, of ancient Greece, is credited for exclaiming "Eureka!" as he ran naked from his bath, realizing that by measuring the displacement of water an object produced, compared to its weight, he could measure its density.   Although it refers to finding a conceptual answer, people erroneously use it to describe tangible objects - as I do here.

"Eureka!"  I said in Robinson’s as I saw my first cheddar cheese in 2 years.

"Eureka!"  I said, finding the last 10 pesos in my purse to pay the trike fare.

"Eureka!"  I said, picking up a perfect olive shell from the Corong-Corong sands near El Nido.

In the case last Saturday, it would have to be my surgeon Dr. Salazar who said "Eureka!", and the “it” would have to be changed to “them” – lots of “thems”.

When I applied for my retirement visa, I had to do several medical tests, and my doctor here told me that they found a “few grains of sand” in my gall bladder – and that I should drink a lot of water to prevent them getting any worse.  That was in June.  This is October, and here are the grown up “grains”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I suppose I could investigate what on earth I could have eaten that would have produced such boulders in only 4 months.  I must admit that I love Angie’s mom’s recipe for empanadas that are served at La Terrasse, but I haven’t had that many.  Maybe the setting was wrong on the doctor’s equipment – stuck on the micro setting?   Maybe water made them grow and I misheard the advice – should I have NOT drunk so much?    But, I’m talking Easter Island quality, heavy rocks.

In any case, obviously the delicious dinner we had at La Terrasse on Friday night to celebrate the closing of the ICT conference - and my pigging out – was the trigger.  My newest ‘find’ was “chicken and veggie empanadas with sweet and sour dipping sauce” and “a variety of fruit tartlets, including mango, watermelon and papaya”.  Not only did I eat the regular dinner (and my first Long Island Iced Tea, of which I could only drink half – POTENT), but– as my midnight treat AFTER the huge meal, I stuffed myself  the leftovers of my “find”.   I tumbled carefully into bed, stuffed to the gills. 

At 3:30 am I woke up and knew something was wrong – duh – really?   Trying all the local solutions and my own to no avail, by 11am I’d called my friend Jane to take me to the hospital since I knew I wouldn’t make it without help. 

By 1pm I was scheduled for 2pm surgery – thank heavens I really liked the surgeon (and his credentials) who was already at the hospital – I was still coherent at this point.  Getting to Manila didn't really seem an option as the pain progressed.  As usual, I was cracking jokes and smiling, diffusing the problem.  That seems to be my historical manner of addressing problems - laughingly make jokes in the beginning and then wallow in the pain.  So predictable.

By 3pm I wasn’t so charming and begged them to hurry.  After multiple trips to the CR to throw up bile and moan in private, I decided that a more embarrassing approach was needed – so I freely, frequently and with some fervor moaned in the little glassed-in cubicle just in front of reception.  I no longer smiled at the nice nurses – they had become the enemy.   I had an enormous urge to just leave - which reminded me of my first daughter’s birth - coincidentally, 26 years previously – to the day – October 12, 1987:  enduring 23 hours of back labor which resulted ultimately in a C-section - the pain getting to the point that I remember saying to the nurses that I needed to leave and would return later!   I did get a grip now and recalled that there was no alternative and that until the current patient in surgery was finished, I would sit here…I moaned louder and made loud gagging sounds – no Thespian skills needed here – man it was painful!

Experiencing déjà vu in not a good way as they pushed me into the operating room - the attendant was the same man I remembered and the OR was just as cold as I remember from my February 2012 debacle…I hoped for a better outcome to this surgery.

It was just wonderful waking up – no pain!!!  I did notice an IV drip, which probably explained that, but man did I feel better!  Bladderless.  Although I’d intended at one point on doing medical school, my scores weren’t high enough to get into the good universities, so I didn’t make it through all the anatomy courses and explanations of the basic mechanics of the bile system.  Maybe you didn’t either – here’s a short animated version made by a Carolinian with a calm, lilting voice:

And what a difference 20 months makes!  Adventist Hospital – at least as regards gall bladder surgery – at least as regards Dr. Salazar - has come into the 21^st century – the surgeon even recorded the 38 minute procedure and gave me a copy, along with my keepsake stones…uh, thanks.

I’m at the one week mark and still sore – very glad it wasn’t the open surgery where they do some real cutting.  Angie picked me up at the hospital and even in her lovely new car with heavy suspension, I gasped when we hit bumps in the road (those of you who have visited the Philippine provinces will understand the underlying joke in that).  

 

Thankfully, I’ve had plenty to keep me busy, including writing a grant for Special Olympics, finishing a 200 page training manual for employees, and motivating folks to stand up and be counted in the protest over building a coal-fired power plant here (quietly, since I do not wish to be deported).  But I feel rather like someone from that planet in Star Trek where Kirk and Bones could find no people – only to find that they had evolved to brains only, “living in thought” in a liquid preservative...”Fascinating,” murmurs Bones.       

I’m ready to get out of here!

 

I am going to add parts of the video here only because I have nowhere else to keep it and don’t want it on my desk top.  If you have a daughter or son who plans on entering medical school, they might like it – or if you are on a nutritional campaign to abstain from cholesterol, this may be worth a peek.  I found the technology fascinating, but then Liz has always said that I’m odd that way – Liz – do NOT watch this – it is gross. 

 

Luckily for Liz, I can't seem to upload the wmv file     Will keep trying

Carpe diem!

 

 

The Grateful and Proud Mother

 

 

My elder daughter, Ashley is goal-oriented (and rather perfectionistic).  Has been her entire life.  At 24, she applied for and was granted Rotary International's Ambasadorial Scholarhip - and was funded by the Foster City Rotary Club to attend an international master's program. 

 

She looked at several countries before she decided on Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.  She became one of 24 students in an intensive one year program in international development - the MAIDS program (Master of Arts in International Development Studies). 



Thank you Foster City Rotary!

To say that the experience changed her life is an understatement.  It changed her path, her understanding, and her personality (well, she is still goal-oriented and rather perfectionistic - you can't change some things) - what a gift Rotary gave her.  



 

Her move to this part of the world also started the healing of many rifts in our own relationship and I am so grateful for that.  Thailand is one hour earlier on the clock and it is easier to communicate with an awake person in Palawan than someone in the US whose clock reads 3am. 

To get into the Philippines on a tourist visa, you have to have purchased an exit ticket, showing that you will not stay in the country interminably.  When I returned on my own in September, 2012, I had no idea when I would be leaving.  But, I did know that I wanted to attend my daughter's masteral graduation in Bangkok.  However, there was no published date for the graduation. Such are things in South East Asia - never certain and rescheduled on a day's notice - really.  I guessed the 1st or 2nd week in July and bought a ticket on my younger daughter Kate's birthday - the 4th of July. 

As the months went by I got updates:  Ashley may not be here to attend (I told her I would attend and clap anyway); she may have returned home to the US; she may be at a friend's wedding or on holiday at that time; she was required to attend two rehearsals for the graduation event and couldn't make them; she could make one reheasal and that wasn't enough; I wouldn't be allowed in.  Through it all, I said I already had a ticket and was coming to Bangkok whether or not she was there.  Finally, she told me the date was July 12th, and encouraged me to go somewhere for the week before the graduation. 

So, I went to Cambodia - one of my favorite trips ever.

And returned to Bangkok on the 9th, staying in a beautiful suite in the Siam area, just a few blocks from MBK - an amazing shopping mall.  We met up on the 10th and shopped a bit and picked up her graduation robe.  Chula has two days of graduation festivities and the 11th we spent walking through the Chula campus and finding the Chula teddy she wanted - in two sizes - and scoping out bouquets for the big day. 

 
We also found a place to have our hair and make up done and reserved a slot for the following morning (at 6am!!! due to her private photography session at 8).  As the day wore on, I felt tired and slightly feverish, then achy - uh oh.

We were to have dinner that night with Dave's former work chum Mike and his Thai wife, Jitt, who have been wonderful to Ashley and her sister....but, by 5pm I was shaking so badly from fever and chills that I couldn't even hold a glass of water without spilling it.  I spent the night sweating and feverish - with Ashley's demand for me to get well before the big day.  On her way back from dinner, she picked up all sorts of medications and plied me with them.  I was determined to rally.



Before the disappointment

Which I did.  Up at 5:45, we stumbled out the door and around the corner and told the beauticians what we wanted - they argued and not only the language clashed, but the wills.  Ashley knew what she wanted, but the stylist was pretty determined.  I was okay and thought - well, maybe this is the Thai style. I was still not well - feverish and dizzy so that every time I stood up I swayed.  I wasn't much help to Ashley trying to dominate the stylist's wish.   By 8am, when Ashley was due at Chula for her special photo session, she was crying at the hotel across the street - cursing the Kesinee salon and reapplying her makeup.  I was still in the chair and they had just started on my makeup.  "No problem - just she will go ahead of you"  "Oh you look beautiful"...  With false eyelashes making my eyes feel heavy, and an enormous head of hair buffeting the wind, I made my way to Chula where the photographer and Ashley were obvious (sometimes it is nice to be the only blonde in a crowd).



Paula with Frank's Bride

Ashley wailed, "I look like the Bride of Frankenstein, and you look like Paula Dean!"   I didn't know what to say (and not knowing what Paula Dean looked like was a blessing) - neither of us looked like we wanted to, but I couldn't fix it, so said nothing.  I tried pressing down Ashley's teased hair, and thankfully the day was hot and humid, so it did fall a bit, and looked okay, although her friends told her afterward that she looked 30 years old (ancient!). 

 



But, as we walked taking photos, the festive spirit took over and a smile came back to her face (until a professor came up and scolded her for wearing the flowers in her hair - that is forbidden the woman said...hmm...then why are so many non-blondes wearing them?? ... maybe being blonde and foreign wasn't such aa good thing after all).

Chulalongkorn's school colors are Pink and White - which made for an incredibly cheery backdrop for photos.  The bright pink bus was festooned with hundreds of pink ballons, framing the grads.

Did I mention PINK???

                                                                                                                                                         

All of a sudden, we were surrounded by loud, noisy undergraduates with scads of balloons, who proceeded to serenade Ashley - it was hard to NOT grin from ear to ear.

Ashley has always been extremely social and revitalizes with crowds and parties - this day was so special that she was in her element.  It was great to see again her schoolmates that I had met a year ago - right after my fateful fall.  They all looked glorious in their attire - Safe was outfitted in military garb - white gloves and a long (and very heavy) sword affixed to his waist.  Carolina's parents and boyfriend had come from Colombia, Germany and Panama to attend, and Eiei's family came from Myanmar. 

MAIDS on the deck

 

with the dean of the college



Mike and Jitt



 



The graduates lined up at 12 for a 2pm graduation and stood in the hot sun without anything in their hands.  Eiei is pregnant and they worried around here as she nearly fainted from the heat.  The women were required to wear stockings and no jewelry at all (except for their Chula pin).  There were checkers - Ashley was required to cut her nails (which weren't very long) and several of the men were deemed too swarthy and were shaved (not electric - and no nice emolient to soothe their skin).

 


the parents' room

We parents were ushered to a large foyer where LCDs were set up - as Ashley had said, no one but the graduates were allowed to the graduation!  So, those of us who had traveled from distant cities, countries - and even continents, all watched together and waited about 4 hours to catch a glimpse of our particular graduate.  We held all the accoutrements of our graduate - their umbrella, water bottle, cell phone, flowers, gifts - and of course, teddy bear(s).   

Distant, but at the same time intimate with other parents who were feeling the same thing - pride and gratitude for their son or daughter, and anticiption of their next steps in life..


the princess and the graduates on LCD

Only the graduates were allowed with the princess, who personally handed each graduate her/his diploma.







You are not allowed to look at the princess - eyes downcast


 


Bowing as you backed away looked tricky



 We caught up with the photographer in the library and took a few more pictures

Relaxing with the King



YES!!!



     

By this time everyone was beat, and feet swollen.  Ash and her classmates talked about partying that night, but as true in SEA, nothing was set as definite (I knew I would be in bed - or bath - early!).

 

 

Trying to find a cab going the right way was difficult - we walked a few blocks and tried to catch about 10 cabs - they would stop and then say - no, too much traffic.  So - we finally got a tuk-tuk, who charged a fortune, but at least took us back to our hotel. 

We decided on pad thai at the hotel restaurant and returned to erase evidence of Paula and Frank's Bride - it took a while to recover from the teased hair.  Ashley made a half hearted attempt to get a group together for a party - then decided to postpone it for the following night - we both fell into bed with smiles on our faces.

A great weekend indeed.

 






 

 

Ancient Civilizations - Siem Reap, Angkor Wat and Cambodia

Deja vu!  Angkor Wat or Chichen Itza?

Fascinating how so many cultures rose to great heights, with hundreds of thousands of constituents and remarkable technological advances – only to fairly abruptly abandon those complex societies and vanish from the face of the earth.

 

Somehow I thought Angkor Wat would be one of a kind, but it immediately reminded me of  temples and architecture half a planet away in current day Mexico – the grand pyramid of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan.  The heat was as tropical and the flora thriving there was similar – bougainvilla and hibiscus in a mass of overpowering jungle.  The major temples both sit in a grand landscape - with ball fields and astronomical buildings in one, and libraries and altars in the other.  Both have snakes entwined on their structures -  the cobra, and the rattlesnake.

However, this was a Hindu/Buddhist temple (there are arguments as to who came first, but the toppled heads of the Buddha bespoke a Hindu takeover).







Another type of statue supplanted those of the Buddha as well  - the ‘linga’ or phallic statues.  Must say  when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all - apparently you can visit a mountain temple with literally hundreds of massive peni thrusting skyward...I passed.  




 

The earliest temples are dated around 900, like the one to the right, although the civilization rose in power in the late 1100’s and reached its zenith in the 1200’s.

Weaving in and out of the ruins, we didn't have time for all 76, and hit the high spots - me with a gleeful grin that seemed permanent.

 

 

 

 

We arrived at Ta Prohm through the jungle - the back way (Vuttha said that he could park the motorcycle inside the grounds this way - that the tourist police would stop him coming in the front).  What a treat!  Slipping along the outskirts of the complex was delicious - arriving to this sight.  Built in the mid-1200's, the tree seen overtaking the structure is 300 years old!




 



This place was Magical






           

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most amazing things to me were the ceilings - how did they get these enormous blocks of stone to form the high ceilings - the blocks resting together, unsupported?  Or, for that matter, how did they cut the blocks so perfectly that they rested together seamlessly...

And then we were on through the magnificent gates of Angkor Thom to the faces of Bayon.

The scale and artistry is Mind-boggling

Just as mind-boggling was Vuttha's cleverness!

 

 

 

 

       Gargantuan Faces!!

                                                                                         And a darling little temple boy

There was one more temple we needed to see before the end of the day - about an hour's trek up the road to Banteay Srei - the women's temple, renowned for it's delicacy.  

Beautiful filagree and scrolls     abounded on almost every        structure.                                      

The intimacy of the courtyards -
and the monkeys - were enchanting

 

My excellent guide, Dam Vuttha told me that many of the parchments of early history were stored in the temple libraries and simply turned to dust, and that the Khmer Rouge also burned historical records of Cambodia in the 1970-1991 'civil war' when intellectuals were slaughtered. 


 However, there are carvings on some of the temples – especially Banteay Srei ("citadel of the women"), which tell of two major periods – that of the ancient temples (before 1000) and the society of “the greatest king” who commissioned Angkor Wat and the surrounding 76 temples still standing in the UNESCO site, 9km in length.

Vuttha also said that there were several reasons postulated for the abandonment of the civilization, home to an estimated million people.  It seems as though there were invaders, shown in the friezes in Thom – the Cambodians are shown with long earlobes driving the Cham out (while we were there, some women from Phnom Penh asked him some questions and when he showed them Cham – they all said,” Ah Cham” – I had to google Cham to understand who they were. 

I hope that the current education system in the US does a better job now than when I grew up – in total ignorance of Southeast Asian cultures. Vuttha said that the civilization got so big that water became a problem – and that people began dispersing to other parts of Cambodia.

The next time I visit, I will have done more reading on the area, and ask Vuttha to school me more.

With major appreciation to Vuttha - a very special person.