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50 States & D.C. Marathon Group U.S.A.
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02/02/09
Larry Welch ON THE RUN...IN CAMBODIA
NANCY BRINKER’S TIPS FOR SUCCESS
YOU NEED VISION TO SEE AND ARTICULATE
YOUR GOALS. AS HELEN KELLER SAID WHEN
SOMEONE EXPRESSED SORROW AT HER BEING
BLIND, THERE IS NOTHING WORSE THAN
BEING ABLE TO SEE AND HAVE NO VISION.
YOU NEED TO BE A STRONG LEADER TO
ENLIST THE SUPPORT OF OTHERS AND MAKE
YOUR VISION A REALITY. YOU NEED TO
KEEP YOUR FOCUS RAZOR SHARP. IF YOUR
LENS BECOMES UNFOCUSED, CHAOS WILL
ENSUE. YOU NEED TO CREATE A TEAM TO
REALIZE A DREAM. YOU MUST PERSUADE
PEOPLE TO SHARE SUCCESSES AND THE
DISAPPOINTMENTS—AND TO SUPPORT EACH
OTHER. YOU NEED TO BE PERSISTENT. AS
MY DAD TOLD ME, MOST PEOPLE FAIL
BECAUSE THEY JUST GIVE UP. HE WAS
RIGHT. IT TAKES COURAGE TO NOT ONLY
HOLD TRUE TO YOUR UNIQUENESS, BUT TO
EMBRACE IT, KNOWING THAT MANY WILL NOT
GET IT. THAT’S OKAY. AS YOUR
UNIQUENESS OPENS NEW DOORS FOR YOU
AND YOUR APPRECIATION OF WHO YOU REALLY
ARE EXPANDS, YOU’LL SEE THAT YOU’LL
SEE THAT YOU HAVE A UNIQUE
WAY TO EXPRESS YOURSELF IN THIS
WORLD...A WAY THAT NO ONE CAN
DUPLICATE. Cynthia Kersey, founder,
Unstoppable Enterprises; author of
Unstoppable; motivational speaker;
established the Unstoppable Foundation
to raise funds and awareness for
women’s issues worldwide REMEMBER,
WHAT YOU GET BY REACHING YOUR
DESTINATION ISN’T NEARLY AS IMPORTANT
AS WHAT YOU BECOME BY REACHING YOUR
GOALS – WHAT YOU WILL BECOME IS THE
WINNER YOU WERE BORN TO BE! Zig
Ziglar, author, salesman, motivational
speaker, author of God’s Way is Still
the Best Way MANY PERSONS HAVE A WRONG
IDEA OF WHAT CONSTITUTES TRUE
HAPPINESS. IT IS NOT ATTAINED THROUGH
SELF-GRATIFICATION BUT Nancy Brinker,
breast cancer survivor; founder of The
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer
foundation; women’s health
care advocate; US Ambassador to
Hungary (2001-2003); Chief of
Protocol, US State Department (2007-
09); Time magazine List of the 100
Most Influential People in the World,
2008; recipient of numerous awards for
unstinting devotion to improving
women’s health care as well as love and
admiration for her humanity;
political activist who promotes
public service; and philanthropist
THROUGH FIDELITY TO A WORTHY PURPOSE.
Helen Keller (1880-1968), author,
political activist, lecturer,
traveler, first deafblind person to
earn a bachelor of arts degree;
founder, The Helen Keller Foundation
and co-founder, American Civil
Liberties Union Welcome to On the
run..., it’s a personal e-news about
positive thinking and travel
adventures written for people striving
to be their best. If you received this
publication in error please send
response with the word unsubscribe in
the subject line to lnwelch@aol.com.
If you would like to extend On the
run... to your friends ask them to
write the word subscribe in the
subject line. On the run... is written
by Larry Welch, an American living in
Thailand. In his day-to-day routine,
Larry is owner of the Full Moon
Rubber Plantation at Nakhon Phanom and
teaches English at the Suankularb
Wittayalai Rangsit School in a
northern suburb of Bangkok.
Angkor Wat, Khmer Stories in Stone
Most people would agree that the two
most memorable experiences in Asia are
to visit the Great Wall of China and
Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Saving the
Great Wall of China for another day,
what follows is some of the Khmer
Stories in Stone that I learned
from spending a highly enjoyable
Christmas holiday surveying Angkor Wat
at Siem Reap, Cambodia. By way of
orientation, Angkor Wat (wat means
temple in both Thai and Khmer, the
national language of Cambodia) was
constructed in the early 12th century
by King Suryavarman II. At the time it
was dedicated to Vishnu, the ultimate
Hindu god. The Khmer Empire,
comparable in historical significance
to Europe’s Roman Empire, was a
major Asian power from 802 to 1432.
Initially a nation of Hindu
worshippers, the kingdom also learned
of Buddhism and the two religions
often competed for prominence,
sometimes peacefully, sometimes not.
Angkor Wat is one temple; however, the
term Angkor refers to Cambodia and can
be synonymous with the collection of
wats that comprised the Khmer Empire.
In Siem Reap Province (the equivalent
of a county in the USA or UK), there
are 292 ancient temples, 40 of which
have been sufficiently restored to be
safely visited by tourists. In
Cambodia, there are nearly a thousand
ancient temples with the Angkor Empire
extending across Thailand, Myanmar
(formerly Burma), Laos, and Vietnam.
There are more ancient temples in each
of those countries. But Angkor Wat
remains the crown jewel and is the
only wat that has been continuously
occupied since being constructed.
It is also the largest monument
dedicated to religion in the world.
The wats of Angkor are mostly
amidst heavy jungle with back
roads to transport tourists,
researchers, and the small army
of engineers and archeologists
that have been focused on
learning and preserving the
temples for 102 years. It is an
endless job given the ravages of
the tropical environment not to
mention the greed of art thieves
who continue to steal whenever
anyone turns their back. Since the
Cambodian civil war (1970-75) and
Khmer Rouge genocide regime (1975-79),
other temples continue to be mined
with unexploded munitions that have
not yet been cleared.
One of the main features of Angkor Wat
is that it uses the symbolism of Mount
Meru, which is part of both Hindu and
Buddhist mythology. The legend goes
that the world is divided into regions
with heaven above and hell below.
Sound familiar? The mythical Mount
Meru separates earth from the heavens.
There are five peaks at Mount Meru.
As a result, Angkor Wat has five
towers; the main tower is 213 feet
high. As noted, the The sunrise
photograph above shows the moat with
the Angkor Temple complex in the
background.
The moat is 660 feet wide and was once
filled with crocodiles to discourage
invaders. On the left is the
causeway that allowed worshippers to
enter the 500-acre grounds. Now the
partially rebuilt causeway
transports a million tourists annually
to see the ruins, reconstruction
efforts, and feel the mood of such a
grand structure. There is one common
goal in the heart of every Cambodian
and that is to visit Angkor Wat once
in their lifetime. Photograph below is
an aerial view of Angkor Wat
surrounded by jungle. The moat is
credited with benefiting preservation
of the temple because it kept
encroaching jungle from invading the
grounds. Photograph below is aerial
view of the temple showing moat, west
and east causeways. Angkor Wat at
Sunrise complex is surrounded by a
moat; the waters in the moat represent
the mythical oceans surrounding the
earth.
Angkor Wat is a majestic complex. The
beauty and its impact on the human
spirit are astonishing. There are
stone carvings that tell stories of
everyday life, religious mythology, and
heroic battles defending the kingdom.
The symmetry of the architectural
layout provides mirrored images,
profiles and silhouettes that
keep observers in awe. What made
construction of such impressive
structures possible was the
relationship between the king and the
gods. Upon taking office, the king
would construct an impressive
temple to confirm his good
relationship with the gods. The theme
of these temples was dedicated to
whatever religion the king believed in.
It was also common for a king to
dedicate a temple to his parents and
other ancestors. So many of these
temples were constructed over the 500
year history of the Khmer Empire
because once a king died, they were
not re-used by a succeeding ruler.
In the case of Angkor Wat, it was
initially dedicated as a Hindu place
of worship, but later events changed
the orientation to Buddhism. Although
almost all statutes have been either
stolen or removed for safekeeping, the
thousands of bas (low relief) stone
carvings on the inner and outer walls
is sufficient to give pilgrims the
sense that they are The gopura or
gateway entrance is the main
architectural feature of the wall that
surrounds any Khmer temple. Photograph
above shows the gopura to Angkor Wat.
It is 750 feet wide with five
entranceways: three for pedestrians
and two are large enough for vehicles
and elephants. The southern pedestrian
entrance on the right is dedicated to
the Hindu god Vishnu (shown at left).
The three principal Indian
gods at Angkor Wat are Shiva, Brahma,
and Vishnu. Vishnu is known as the
Protector and is shown in a typical
position: standing with four arms and
holding a conch shell for sounding
victory over chaos; a ball
representing the Earth; a mace which
is the symbol of his power; and a
discus, an invincible weapon. A good
god, whenever the world is threatened
by evil, he assumes the role of savior
and descends to Earth, usually
reincarnated as a human or animal
and guides mankind through the
dissemination of his love, which
ultimately triumphs over the forces of
evil. Gopura, Angkor Wat walking
through what was once a celestial
paradise and that is precisely the
mood that the architects and
artists intended to convey.
The area around Angkor Wat was the
largest preindustrial city in the
world with an estimated population of
one million people. Many of the
citizens were artisans and working
class people who built and maintained
the temple complexes in the area. At
Angkor Wat an estimated 97,000 people
were involved with construction and
the ongoing maintenance. Angkor Wat
was constructed of two primary
materials: Laterite, which was cut
from the ground, especially the moat
area, dressed into building blocks
and left in the air to cure.
Relatively soft mudstone, when exposed
to the air and sun it became quite hard
and proved an excellent material for
foundations and interior structures.
Reddish in color, it is porous and
not suitable for outer decoration or
carving. Sandstone is the other
natural resource mined and moved to
Angkor Wat. The sandstone was
quarried in the Kulen Hills, located
about 30 miles northeast of Angkor
Wat. It was first moved on the
Siem Reap River, then transferred to
elephants, carts, and a roller-pulley
mechanism for transportation to
the building site. The sandstone was
used for all facing on the laterite
and it is on the sandstone that
we see the beautiful carvings. The
stones vary in color from grey to
pinkish, yellowish to greenish.
Missing building materials are wood
and paint, which have deteriorated to
nonexistence. Further, Angkor Wat was
sacked by invading Thais who not
only carted off tapestries, carpets,
furniture and jewelry, but also took
thousands of slaves back to Siam for
temple construction of its own. As an
aside to the capture of slaves, the
king’s Apsaras (royal dancers) were
also captured and became the genesis
for classical dance in Siam (now
Thailand).
Historians suspect that this massive
attack on the Khmer capital was one of
the major factors in crumbling of the
empire. Besides incursions by the
Thais, the Chams from Vietnam were
regular attackers. Even today
Apsaras There are many fine sculptured
features at Angkor Wat, but none is
more intriguing or beautiful than the
Apsaras, which adorn the inner and
outer walls. At Angkor Wat there are
2,000 of these celestial dancers who
entertained the gods and were the
sensual rewards of kings and heroes
who died bravely. In Khmer mythology
they were elevated alone to special
importance in temple decoration. All
of the 2,000 Apsaras at Angkor Wat are
shown with a smiling face, beautiful
costumes, and jewelry. They are carved
in low relief (bas) in sandstone and
stand from 2-5 feet in height.
The human dimension that made such
grandeur possible was a caste system
similar to the hierarchy in ancient
Egypt and Mexico where the Pharaohs
and Maya erected their pyramids. There
was a long line of kings, a class of
priests, and merchants, and a pcaste
of slaves (captives of war), laborers,
masons, sculptors, and decorators.
Architects and the artisans at Angkor
Wat were part of the lower level of
society. The area around Angkor Wat
was comparable in size to Greater
London, held far more people, making
it the largest population center in
the pre-industrial world.
In preserving Angkor Wat, the ravages
of nature are one thing to contend
with in the encroachment of jungle and
harsh tropical climate, the other is
encroachment by all of us. There are
now a million visitors annually to
Siem Reap where we find luxury hotels,
golf courses, swimming pools,
restaurants, and transportation. In
our human wake we leave pollution, the
Siem Reap River is now terribly dirty,
but worse is the lowering water table.
As the groundwater lowers beneath the
temple complex, buildings sink, tilt
and ultimately collapse.
In closing, I thank my guide, Meng
Chhieng Yin (nickname Tiger), for his
explanations and patiently answering
all my curious questions about not
only the temples at Angkor Wat, but
also life in Cambodia. Professional
guides are expected to go the extra
mile with their clients, but Tiger put
his heart into being more than what one
would expect. Thank you also to
Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques for
the education I received in reading
their book, Ancient Angkor (River
Books, 2008); and to Dawn Rooney for
all the knowledge she shared in her
book, Angkor (Airphoto, 2005).
Where would we be without books and
teachers who give light on our journey
of discovery?
I hope you will continue your stroll
along the following pages for more
photographs and captions of the
interesting world at Angkor Wat.
King Suryavarman II and his Entourage
In an area nearly 300 feet long on
what is referred to as the South
Gallery, there is a continuous
sculpture of a military procession,
which has an historical basis. It
shows King Suryavarman II, the
temple’s builder, and his army. This
small section shows the king seated
and in keeping with his rank, larger
than any other figure. The entire
procession features war elephants,
priests, soldiers, musicians,
servants, standard bearers, Siamese
mercenaries, princesses, ladies of the
court, ministers and army commanders.
The detail is sufficiently rich that
educated observers can easily identify
ranks and nationalities, and the
royal symbolism intended by the
artists. These bas reliefs have a
total extent of 1,800 feet by
6-feet high and are one of the most
famous creations in Khmer art. Besides
the military procession shown above,
most of the themes are from Hindu
sources and feature the gods with all
their bravery, challenges and ultimate
triumphs.
Weather Worn Angkor Wat This view of
east side of Angkor Wat shows years of
tropical weathering. What isn’t shown
because it was closed for restoration
is one of the greatest scenes ever
sculpted into stone, Churning of the
Ocean of Milk. In Hindu mythology,
Churning of the Ocean of Milk is a
famous event in which the gods and
demons churn the ocean in a tug
of war that lasts 1,000 years. In
the end, an elixir is produced
giving the gods immortality and
incorruptibility. More than
immortality the gods are rewarded by a
three-headed elephant named Airavata,
the goddess Laksmi, a milk-white
horse, Chanda the moon god, and a cow
of plenty among other prizes. Out-of-
sight in this photograph is
scaffolding being used by workers
sponsored by India who are making an
effort to preserve the building and
important sculptures. Central Tower
There was nothing built at Angkor Wat
without design, purpose and
calculation. At left is the temple’s
central tower. It is surrounded by
four lesser towers. The collection of
five is shaped in the form of a lotus
bud. The central tower rises from the
center of the temple 213 feet
representing the mythical Mount Meru,
which according to Buddhist and
Hindu legend is situated at the center
of the universe and is home of the
gods. The towers are symbolic mountain
peaks, the outer wall of the temple
are mountains at the edge of the
world, and the surrounding moat is the
oceans beyond. The stairs take
climbers up 40 steps (131 feet) at a
70 degree angle. The climb isn’t easy
and is characteristic of many Buddhist
temples. The trek up is intended to be
a formidable experience representing
the climb up a real mountain.
These two Apsaras (heavenly dancers)
are upper left are part of the
collection of 2,000 that adorn the
walls at Angkor Wat. At first glance
they appear repetitive, and then you
realize that each is different in
personality. Although all have an
adorable smile, faces are different as
well as costumes, hairstyles,
headdresses, and jewels that are
uniquely their own. Some are dark,
others light and that reflects
cleaning for preservation. Left to
nature’s way, the entire temple
complex would be covered in black
mildew and mold. In the photographs at
upper right are two real life Apsaras
from a dance troupe at Siem Reap. The
graciousness of their movements and
physical beauty are qualities that
never tire the eye. There are stories
in stone a thousand years old and
stories that are told in their dance
equally distant from our day and age.
Photograph at left shows history in
the making at Angkor Wat as I
sampled my first ever glass of
palm juice. Besides the refreshing
pick-me-up (high sugar content), I
met Sophan Pring, a 22-year old
palm juice maker and saleslady.
Business was slow, she smiled, I
smiled, and we got our picture
taken together. The grounds of
Angkor Wat are filled with the
Asian Palmyra Palm, producer of
this great tasting juice. Palm juice
can also be distilled into beer and
wine while the palm leaves are
used to weave baskets, fans, hats,
mats, and umbrellas. Asparas, Then and
Now Palm Juice and a Pretty Girl
~ In Closing ~ Thanks for being the
good readers that you are and hanging
onto every last detail.
As I reflect on Siem Reap and the
temples at Angkor, it is seems that I
had the perfect holiday for meeting
people, seeing sights, and learning
more about the world.
Now living in the reality of being a
school teacher I reflect and write
while finding myself caught in the joy
of being amidst 3,300 smiling
youngsters. I’ve decided that it is
all but impossible to have a bad day
in such circumstances; the personality
power behind those smiles just won’t
let it happen. I know that some of
them think I am the best thing since
the invention of fried rice, but from
my sense of being it is the reverse
that is true.
Living in Pathumthini Province just
north of Bangkok, we’ve just come off
of a cold snap, the chilliest in 10
years. Kids came to school wrapped in
scarves, sweaters and jackets. Their
teeth chattered, they had goosebumps,
and there was a rash of runny noses.
The temperature had dropped to 59F
degrees. I also put on a jacket, but
it was a little out of sympathy for my
family and friends in Michigan who are
under Jack Frost’s thumb with subzero
temperatures along with snow and wind.
It is now in the 70-90F temperature
range in the Bangkok region and I am
not exactly chomping at the bit for a
family reunion in Michigan.
Hello! Very nice to meet you. Thank
you for coming to see Angkor Wat. I
give you flower for souvenir. I wish
you good luck with your job and all
your family. Nice to speak with you.
I’m very happy to meet you. I hope you
coming again. I hope to see you again.
I like your smile.
I hope you coming to see Angkor Wat
again. I hope you like my flower. I
hope you don’t forget me. From Sary,
good bye! Good bye! Drawn on the
handwritten note was a bouquet of
flowers and each small merchant: Sach,
Sary, and Sreyoun, (photograph at
right) gave me a note with identical
handwritten wording. This excellent
public relations maneuver on the
grounds near Angkor Wat almost swayed
me into buying something, instead I
gave the girls a monetary donation,
and they in turn gave me samples of
what they were selling. They also made
me promise that if I saw them again I
would buy substantial quantities of
merchandise. Sadly the local police
shakedown many children like these for
$1 a day for them to stay in business.
If it doesn’t show in the
photograph, please know that these are
among the most adorable kids in the
world.
Sach, Sary, and Sreyoun Two weeks ago,
I had a rare opportunity to visit with
two of my former workmates from
Singapore. This was the first time I
had met with any of the old gang since
retiring 18 months ago. Frank Boyd and
Jack Stanley were passing through
Bangkok on a Navy assignment at the
nearby beach resort of Pattaya. Frank
in particular makes a
specialty of being selected for these
locations! We had a great lunch and
chit-chat at Finnegan’s Pub and it was
yet another experience proving that
old friends are the best friends. We
talked about old times and new times.
Returning home by taxi I decided
that I am glad that the old times are
in the past and that I am now having
new times in the sunny radiance of
Thai kids.
You may be pleased to know that in the
next issue of On the run... I’ll
continue to explain more about the
wonderment at Angkor. I want to show
you where Angelina Jolie and Harrison
Ford filmed parts of their now classic
movies, Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones,
Raider’s of the Lost Ark,
respectively, plus so much more.
Keep being your best!
12/19/02
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