While Angkor drew us here, we decided to be a little patient before diving into the world of Khmer temples. Learning about the Khmer Empire, we thought, would be a better introduction to Cambodia than just immersing ourselves into their temples. The best place to do that is the Angkor museum, conveniently located in Siem Reap.

Breakfast

My education about south Asia was solely limited to the week that I spent studying ancient India in, I think, sixth grade. Everything else is just a complete black hole. This includes all of the southeast Asian peninsula. Thus, visiting the Angkor museum was a very quick and incomplete crash course, but still better than nothing.

I learned that the Khmer are not just the primary ethnicity of Cambodia, but also have ancient roots in the area. At one time, the Khmer empire encapsulated most of southeast Asia, with only a small sliver being held by the Cham, aka the modern day Vietnamese. The Khmer were Hindu, influenced by their Indian neighbors. They gradually converted to Buddhism. During the Khmer Empire’s heyday, large construction projects were undertaken to showcase their might and pay homage to their deities.

Angkor is probably best defined as a metropolitan area. It’s a swath of land that, at one point, was estimated to be home to roughly one million people, making it the largest pre-industrial population center in the world. Though nearly 1,000 years old, countless structures from Angkorian times still remain. Most notable are the stone temples (obviously stone preserves better than wood, which is what people actually lived in). Angkor Wat, the most well known of these temples, is the largest but far from the only one. Nearby Angkor Thom is a walled city with several temples within its enclosed area.

With our Khmer crash course under our belts, we walked around the remainder of the city, stopping at a newer and pretty temple complex.

At night, we went to the circus. Phare is a production started nearby Battambang (our next stop). It’s half entertainment program and half civil society project. Youth from downtrodden rural areas are recruited to become performers and are educated in theatre, arts, and language. They start in Cambodia and the most noteworthy students tour the world.

The performance itself is spectacular. Held in a hot and steamy canvas tent, performers no older than 22 (my best guess) demonstrate acrobatics, contortionism, balancing acts, aerial stunts, and general slapstick comedy. By the end of the show, all the performers were completely drenched in sweat and one was even bleeding. These guys work HARD for their livelihoods (picture above).

Tomorrow, ANGKOR.