Angkor: Asia's ancient 'Hydraulic City'

[reader]

From the BBC

The Angkor Empire spanned much of modern-day Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam (Credit: Richard Sharrocks/Getty Images)

Angkor Wat attracts millions of visitors a year, but most know little of the intricate and vast water system that fed the empire's rise and demise.

Every April during Khmer New Year celebrations, Sophy Peng, her four siblings and parents make the pilgrimage to Cambodia's most sacred mountain, Phnom Kulen. As the birthplace of the mighty Angkor Empire, fabled Kulen's gentle slopes hold a special place in the hearts of locals.

During religious festivals, Cambodians flock to its peak to be blessed by the same waters used to coronate kings since 802 AD. This was when empire founder Jayavarman II was washed with sacred water and declared a devaraja or God King, marking the start of the Angkor Empire. The empire went on to span much of modern-day Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, and house the world's largest pre-industrial urban hub – the city of Angkor.

To immortalise this sacred spot that sits about 50km north of Siem Reap city, 1,000 lingas – a phallic symbol incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva – were carved into the riverbed at Kbal Spean, where water flows to the Angkor plains and into the Tonle Sap Lake. Even today, this water is regarded as sacred, and its power is believed to cure illnesses and bring luck.

"This is a very special place for Cambodians; it's an important part of our history," said Peng. "Every year, my family visit Mount Kulen as part of our Khmer New Year rituals. We bring food donations to leave at the temple and pour water from Kbal Spean on us to bring good luck."

Jayavarman II's spiritual blessing marked the start of the Angkor Empire's close relationship with water. However, it wasn't until the capital shifted south to Rolous and then to its final resting place for more than five centuries – Angkor – that master engineers were able to use their skills to create the intricate water system that fed the empire's rise and demise.

"The plains of Angkor are ideal for an empire to flourish," explained Dan Penny, a researcher in the geosciences department at the University of Sydney who has extensively studied Angkor. "There are ample resources, such as good rice soil close to the Tonle Sap Lake. The lake is one of the world's most productive inland fisheries and Angkor is sitting right on the north shore of this enormous food bowl. Angkor grew to become a success on the back of these resources."

In the 1950s and '60s, French archaeologist Bernard Philippe Groslier used aerial archaeology to reconstruct the layout of Angkor's ancient cities. This revealed its vast reach and the complexity of its water management network and led Groslier to dub Angkor the "Hydraulic City".

Continues with photos

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20211201-angkor-asias-ancient-hydraulic-city

[PeterRS]

Frankly not sure of the point of the BBC's including this article as it is primarily about Angkor Wat's water management system and the reason for the Empire's demise. This has been well known for decades. My 2000 issue of the Lonely Planet Guidebook on Cambodia describes it in more detail.

It also gives over two pages to Phnom Kulen and its importance to Cambodians. But it adds that this area used to be heavily mined and in 1998 two boys were killed when wandering off a path for a pee when they stepped on one. It also mentions the trash left by Cambodian families and strewn around the area. Hopefully both issues have been addressed by the government and the area has now been cleaned up.

[caeron]

 

It's a travel article, not a news article.

[reader]

17 hours ago, PeterRS said:

It also mentions the trash left by Cambodian families and strewn around the area.

It's reassuring that you're always prepared to call attention to the positive aspects of a poorer county's people.

[PeterRS]

9 hours ago, reader said:

It's reassuring that you're always prepared to call attention to the positive aspects of a poorer county's people.

Not my words - the words of Lonely Planet. Perhaps you might contact them.

An accumulation of trash in locations visited by many people is far from limited to poorer nations. Just look at the plastic and other waste on beaches in many far more wealthy countries. I can recall rats scurrying around London when there was a strike by the waste disposal unit.

[reader]

But you had to go back 21 years to find something disparaging to say about Cambodian families in an old guide book. Last month you were talking about Thais who toss trash into the Sathorn canal.

You have the capacity to write eloquently about places you've visited. Can't figure out why you feel compelled to dwell on the behavior that doesn't live up to your western standards.

[PeterRS]

2 hours ago, reader said:

But you had to go back 21 years to find something disparaging to say about Cambodian families in an old guide book. Last month you were talking about Thais who toss trash into the Sathorn canal.

You have the capacity to write eloquently about places you've visited. Can't figure out why you feel compelled to dwell on the behavior that doesn't live up to your western standards.

You clearly have a selective memory. I have written about the appalling garbage mountains in Manila which are still barricaded with the brick walls former President Marcos built in an attempt to keep the sight from visitors. Only the dumps are too high.

And since this topic is about Cambodia, you might wish to read this article from the Cambodian Children's Fund website. The title is "From Garbage Dump to Valedictorian".

"Sophy would spend seven days a week knee-deep picking through noxious trash on the dump to earn money for her parents, surviving by eating discarded food that she managed to scavenge from amid the filth."

https://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org/stories-news/garbage-dump-valedictorian

That dump was the notorious Stung Meanchey Dump close to the centre of Phnom Penh. It covered around 100 acres. Roughly 2,000 Cambodians lived there picking through the rotting garbage for what they could eat or sell. It was known everywhere as "one of the world's most famous rubbish dumps." That was finally closed in 2009 and eventually moved to the outskirts of the city. Many of the pickers moved to the new dump but the old waste dump still remains along with its smaller army of pickers. As an article in The Guardian wrote, "the old dump is still a desperate place."

That Guardian article pointed all this out only 5 years ago. It rightly added that "around the world, millions of people make a living a living by waste picking."

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/11/hell-earth-great-urban-scandal-life-rubbish-dump

Or perhaps you might wish to view this more recent television news clip about Phnom Penh recorded 3 years ago.

As for my standards, I hardly think you can call them western when I have lived and worked in Asia for over half my life and visited most of its countries, many regularly.

Perhaps it might help if you did not pick on every post that is anti something you have quoted from endless media outlets and of which you yourself seem to have little personal experience. I suppose you have been to Phnom Kulen. I trust you enjoyed that trip and did not see lots of trash nor had experience of any landmines.

[reader]

Sorry, Peter, I still don't get it.

You have, of course, the prerogative to present any viewpoint of a topic. If you choose to emphasize the trash and landmines and other lousy stuff, more power to you. But with so many attractive things about those countries to talk about, I find the negativity disheartening.

Maybe my reaction is influenced by the fact I've been away from SE Asia--and the person I love-- for 20 months and it's grating on me. I've made arrangements for my return flight and now just hoping that it becomes a reality in a few moths.

I can't afford to dwell on the downside at this moment in my life. I'm more inclined than ever to believe that.....

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

 

[PeterRS]

13 hours ago, reader said:

You have, of course, the prerogative to present any viewpoint of a topic. If you choose to emphasize the trash and landmines and other lousy stuff, more power to you. But with so many attractive things about those countries to talk about, I find the negativity disheartening.

I wonder how many of my contributions you have actually read. When I contribute a piece based on my travels, surely it is only natural that I point out what I have enjoyed, the sights that I believe should be seen, bars to be visited and other positive things. The whole point, if I enjoy a place, is to convey that sense of enjoyment as possibly an incentive for others to visit. In Tokyo, for example, I'll write about cheaper hotels, ease of getting around the huge city, the attractions it offers, detailed directions to the Shinjuku ni-chome gay district and what readers will find there - including a warning that most bars will not accept non-Japanese - as well as a bit about other gay venues in Ueno and Asakusa.

I deliberately do not write about the many street sleepers in their cardboard boxes you see every night in one section of Shinjuku station. Who plans a trip around seeing street sleepers? When I have written elsewhere about two visits over a 30 years span to Nepal, I did not write about the filth and the squalour, although some would have been evident from the photos I added. Far more important is the history, the stunning historic buildings, the visual variety and the magnificent views over the Annapurna range as dawn breaks. 

Similarly I will rarely comment on posts made by others who have visited certain cities/countries unless it is to add value to their experiences - not to undermine them because they fail to point out negatives.

To my way of thinking, however, any post that is merely a click and paste job from a newspaper or other media outlet is nothing like a personal opinion - unless it is accompanied by some personal comments from the poster. It is therefore perfectly acceptable to point out issues which the paste job omits, positive as well as negative. As far as Phnom Kulen is concerned I have never wandered that far from Angkor. You complain about my quoting from a travel book written two decades ago. Any internet check will reveal there is now an even worse critique of the garbage there. Even the Khmer Times wrote only 4 years ago that the rubbish problem there is getting "even worse" and that visitors had complained about the "huge piles of rubbish in the park". The following year, one tourist commented, "There is a lot of garbage lying around. Why, oh why would anybody treat this holy site like this?" The poster added the site was crowded with Chinese and Korean tourists. They could just as easily be responsible for the trash-piles as local people.

To me, my comment was perfectly valid. It had nothing to do with a poorer country's people. It is simply a fact!

Wishing you all the best in getting back to Thailand.

[reader]

Thank you for your thoughtful response.