Funding helps protect Angkor Wat Temple complex

The Cambodian Government and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) signed an agreement on September 6 to protect the Angkor Wat Temple complex.

The deal was agreed to by Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and UNESCO Representative to Cambodia Anne Lemaistre.

After the signing ceremony, Sok An said that the project will cost $250,000, including $200,000 provided by the Italian government and $50,000 coming from the Cambodian government.

Ancient Cities: Chichen Itza

Of the three Mayan cities we were to visit over the next two weeks, Chichen Itza was the most desirable. For us the iconic temple was a figurehead for Mayan civilisation. Based in Mexico’s Yucatan province, the UNESCO World Heritage site is one of the more popular ancient ruins, with over a million people visiting the thousand-year old city every year.

However, despite our high-expectations, standing in-front of El Castillo at Chichen Itza had us surprisingly unfulfilled. A few feet away was part of an ancient major city, a famous landmark of the Mayan empire and an overrated tourist attraction.

Angkor Wat: Magical, Mysterious and Mystical

When King Suryavarman II built what was eventually to become his mausoleum in the 12 century, he surely could not have realised that some 900 years later thousands would flock from all over the world, every day, just to look at it. He broke with tradition and instead of dedicating it to Shaivism, as was the custom, he dedicated this particular temple to Vishnu. Walking around the gardens and corridors it is beyond belief that this ancient wonder was built in just 35 years. Christian cathedrals such as Gloucester started during the same era, would take 400 years to complete.

Angkor Wat and the Ancient Cambodians

From Bangkok I was going to take the train up to Chang Mai and then though Laos and Vietnam and then end in Cambodia and fly to China, but then I realized that Siem Reap is very close to Bangkok. If you were able to drive straight through it would only take about 5 and a half hours to drive. So I booked a bus ticket to go there from my hostel. 

Apparently many people travel this path from Bangkok to Siem Reap. I had read on some travel web sites that there is a scam at the border where the hostel buses drop you at a restaurant some unknown distance from the border and then over charge you for your visa. 

Restaurare în Angkor

După o perioadă tumultuoasă marcată de războaie, molime şi dezastre naturale ce au dus la căderea civilizaţiei kmere, marele complex intră în declin la sfârșitul secolului al XV-lea şi, pentru o perioadă de aproape 400 de ani, ajunge, treptat, acoperit de vegetaţie şi uitat de istorie. 

Redescoperit pentru cultura occidentală în 1860 de către echipa de arheologi francezi condusă de Henri Mahout, com-plexul intră într-un lung proces de restaurare şi conservare. Între 1907 şi 1970, sub conducerea École française d’Extrême-Orient, au loc operaţiuni de eliberare a vegetaţiei, refacere a fundaţiilor şi a sistemelor de drenaj. Aflat în prezent sub protecţia UNESCO, în complex îşi duc munca de restaurare numeroase echipe internaţionale: Authority for the Protec-tion and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (APSARA), German Apsara Conservation Project (GACP), Japan-APSARA Safeguarding Angkor, World Monuments Fund, The Archaeological Survey of India, China, S.U.A.