A free day. And I’ll be meeting up with a German woman I first met on Easter Island. Karin visited me in Paris and in Ann Arbor and now, amazingly, she’s randomly in Siem Reap at the same time I am! We spend a long time catching up, then head off on two errands in a tuk-tuk. First to the “library” Channy told me about to find a small Cambodian flag for my prayer flag line; the one he bought was way too big, so I’ll give it to my Cambodian friend in Paris. But I’m mystified why both Channy and Bella said the library would have them. Turns out it’s a “librairie”, meaning "bookshop", a hold-over from French Indochina days. Mystery solved. On to the second errand: an optician, who resets the lens in its wire frame from which it escaped... and he won’t accept any payment, no matter how much I insist. Another example of Cambodian politeness.
After a light lunch at the hotel, we set out to visit the Angkor National Museum kitty-corner from the hotel. With a stop first at a shop to find Karin a cushion cover. She finds one she likes but the price is too high and the shopkeeper won’t come down enough. Karin is a good bargainer; I’m not. (She writes me later, from back in Germany, that she returned to the shop, the owner brought the price down even more, and she bought more than one cushion cover.)
From the shop, we cross the street to the museum. A beautiful, large building opened in late 2007, its treasures are admirably sequenced and lighted. You start with a video presentation, then proceed to the Gallery of 1000 Buddhas. As I tell Karin, I’m all Buddha-ed out, but the room is amazing, with the smaller statues all in golden niches, floor to ceiling, and the bigger pieces scattered throughout the room on pedestals. One interests me in particular because this Buddha is lying on his stomach, face down. Turns out he’s making a bridge so the other monks can cross the waters on his back. The next three rooms concentrate on all things Khmer: its civilization, its religion and beliefs, its kings listed on a great wall panel. So much information, such lovely artifacts. Then it’s down to the ground level for the rest of the collection, where emphasis is on the ruins she and I saw yesterday, separately, but who knows... maybe we were even there at the same time, given the number of visitors. The first large room is for artifacts from Angkor Wat (called Heaven on Earth) and a video (to rest our legs). Here in this museum is where some of the things taken from the ruins landed; many were spirited out of the country though by black market art thieves. After this comes a room dedicated to Angkor Thom, the great capital with the churning of the ocean of milk legend spotlighted. Two more rooms, one for stone stelae and one focusing on ancient costumes, with one row for women’s dress - from the apsara statues - and one row opposite for men’s - from statues of male gods.
Somehow it’s 5 o’clock when we exit. We spent three hours here and it didn’t seem like it. All that for $12. We bid each other a hug-ful good bye, wondering what continent we’ll see each other on the next time.
After a short cool-down in the pool, I have some nem for dinner and fall asleep early. But it’s a fitful night. Tomorrow’s my flying nightmare.
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