Angkor Wat – an exuberance of creativity in stone

Yes, I’ve been there at last. I’ve joined the throngs of visitors from around the world coming to admire the impressive evidence in stone of Angkor Wat’s ‘golden period’ of temple building. Such expressions of artistic and architectural brilliance are rare in world history. And this is one of them. I’m sure you’ve seen the marvellous photos, just as I had, but I found that actually going there was really awe-inspiring.

The ‘golden period’ of temple building at Angkor – experts date the ‘Angkor period’ from about 802 to 1431 AD – saw a flowering of creative brilliance as, under royal direction, architects, artisans, builders and sculptors created abodes on earth, firstly for the Hindu gods, and later dedicated to Buddha, when the people embraced Mahayana Buddhism. 

Please take my advice and plan to spend some time there. Angkor is really a series of temple complexes over quite a large area of land. I felt sorry for the people who went on one-day visits. That’s really not enough time to take it all in.

I went with my Marisa, my daughter, and her husband, Kovit (see photo left, at the Bayon temple), and we stayed for three days and two nights. We found that about the right amount of time. The nights were spent at the Tara Angkor Hotel in Siem Reap, the modern small city close to the ancient sites. The city is clean, orderly and easy to get about, and you can take the local version of the samlor around town. We even saw a party of visitors going out to a temple in a convoy of samlors.

There are plenty of good hotels in Siem Reap, and more being built. The Tara Angkor had very comfortable, attractive rooms and everything you could want – and more – for breakfast. However, tired after walking and sightseeing on the second day, we paid an after-lunch visit to Raffles hotel to fortify ourselves with tea in their lovely Colonial-style establishment. They served us excellent tea and there were even cucumber sandwiches on their refreshments platter.

For sightseeing in Siem Reap, there’s the bright hurly-burly of Pub Street and the quieter elegance of the small French quarter. We found an excellent bookshop with both Angkor-period and modern history books. The food offerings for lunch and dinner were of uneven quality. But I do have one strong recommendation: dinner at Palate Restaurant & Bar at Lyn Naya (www.lynnaya.com). Every course of our dinner was delicious and meticulously prepared as, our waiter said, their chef has worked for 20 years in a five-star hotel. Very believable claim.

We were lucky to have a wonderful guide in Mr Keo (one of their registered guides) who was very thoughtful and kind, as well as knowledgeable. And having hired our own car was a real bonus, giving us the option of both getting about conveniently and avoiding ‘the rush’ of other visitors (most of the time). Do consider this ‘guide and car’ option. It really is a good investment.

Dr Beat ‘Beatocello’ Richner, a medical ‘saint’ for Cambodia

On Saturday nights in Siem Reap, Cambodia, there’s a cello concert of real note. It’s given by the remarkable Swiss doctor Beat Richner who, over the past 23 years, has performed medical ‘miracles’ to benefit the ordinary people of Cambodia. Over that time, 13 million outpatients have been treated at the Kantha Bopha hospitals he established and runs, and 1.56 million seriously ill children requiring hospitalisation have been cared for.

A considerable amount of the money required has come from government, NGO and other donations. Some has, and does, come from Dr Richner’s Beatocello performances on Saturday nights.

What an inspiring story. Dr Richner first came to Cambodia as a young medico sent by the Swiss Red Cross in 1974/75. That visit came to a swift halt when the Khmer Rouge took over. Dr Richner returned to work in Zurich Children’s Hospital, and he also developed his Beatocello performances as a poetic and musical entertainer.

In 1991, the Cambodian government invited Dr Richner to return to Cambodia to rebuild and manage Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital. In March 1992, he set up a foundation in Zurich to provide funding for this project and moved to Phnom Penh. The Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital opened in November 1992.

That was the first one. A second hospital opened in 1995, and today there are five hospitals, including one in Siem Reap, opened as an extension of the Jayavarman VII hospital. The needy of Cambodia – especially children suffering diseases or who have stepped on a landmine – have a wonderful champion and devoted carer in Dr Beat Richner. (It’s tragic to know that there are still unexploded landmines in the country, often in remote fields where children play!)

Much information about Dr Richner and his work is available online and donations can be made via his website www.beat-richner.ch