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Cambodia  

According to legend Cambodia was created when a local princess encountered an Indian brahman called Kaundinya. The princess was daughter of a dragon king who governed a wet territory. When the Indian stranger sailed by the princess wanted to bring him honour. Kaundinya however shot a magic arrow in her boat. The anxious princess conceded in a marital arrangement. Her father was obliged to offer him a dowry. So he drank all the waters in his territory and gave it to Kaundinya.  Like many legends this story is not based on historical events. However it reflects the cultural developments leading to the rise of an early Cambodian empire. In particular this story sheds some light on the former relations with the old Indian subcontinent. The religious, royal and written traditions originated from India and merged into a cultural homogeneity between the first and fourth century A.D. 

The early Indianisation of Cambodia probably occurred via trading settlements in the first century A.D. along the coastline in the south. These settlements served as ports of call for boats following the trade route from the Bay of Bengal to the southern provinces of China. In this period Cambodia was a conglomerate of states all with their own social hierarchy. Sometimes these states were active in mutual battle and sometimes they negotiated a peace treaty because of strategic reasons. Often a prominent marriage was part of such a treaty. Funan was the largest of these states situated in modern southeast Cambodia and southern Vietnam. It was a trading port from which Indian culture spread to other parts of Cambodia. Most historical information about Funan comes from Chinese sources reporting that its inhabitants embraced the worship of the hindu gods Shiva and Vishnu from the first until the sixth century A.D. as well as Buddhism at the same time. It was reported that the people focused religious rituals at the linga which was a symbol of royal power. This kind of worship later reappeared in the cult of the god king during the Angkor period.  

From the second half of the sixth century A.D. the importance of Funan as a trading port declined. Cambodia's population gradually concentrated along the Mekong river and the Tonlé Sap rivers. This move was related to the development of wet-rice agriculture. Cambodia was until the ninth century A.D. a conglomerate of competing kingdoms. They were ruled by kings who legitmised their absolute power through hierarchical social concepts borrowed from India. Sometimes a king succeeded in uniting some of these states. This era is generally referred to as the Chenla period. According to unreliable Chinese sources the united kingdom of Chenla held sway over all Cambodia. One of the last rulers in this united kingdom was Isanavarman I (611-635). After his death the kingdom disintegrated despite a short period of reunification in the middle of the seventh century under Jayavarman I (657-674). It appears there was a water Chenla near present-day Takeo and a land Chenla in the upper reaches of the Mekong river and east of the Tonlé Sap lake. The fractured kingdoms of Cambodia would merge to become the greatest empire in Southeast Asia. 

At the beginning of the ninth century A.D. king Jayavarman II (802-850) enlarged his territory by conquests and treaties. He was the founder of a large Southeast Asian empire which lasted for many centuries and later came to be known as the Angkor empire. He participated in a ritual that proclaimed him a universal monarch or a devaraja (god king). This ritual focused on the linga which was the symbol of the hindu deity Shiva with whom the king was identified. His ascendants tried to enhance their status and to celebrate their divinity by building temples and irrigation works focused on the linga symbol. The history of the Angkor empire is one of periods of dislocation and turmoil followed by periods of reunification and expansion under a powerful king. In architecture these periods were the most productive: the new ruler tried to confirm his rule by large construction projects such as temples and irrigation works. After centuries the Angkor empire started to decline. There are indications that the irrigation system was exhausted and started to silt up due to massive deforestation in densely populated areas to the north and to the east of the city. Massive construction projects put an enormous strain on the royal treasury and on the common people who had to pay heavy taxes and deliver hard work. At the end the king in Angkor lost his grip on the peripheries of his empire. In the meanwhile the Thai kingdom of Ayuthaya increased in power and several times its armies invaded the Angkor empire sacking the capital in 1431.

At the beginning of the fifteenth century the Khmer elite began to migrate to the area around Phnom Penh in fear of the belligerent Thai and drawn by the opportunities for sea trade with China. After its invasion in 1431 the capital of Angkor was left to pilgrims and elements of nature. The next 150 years various royal  families struggled for power with each other and with their Thai rivals. Although the Khmer armies once pushed westward all the way to the Thai capital of Ayuthaya (only to find it occupied by the Burmese) their rivals recovered and dealt a crushing blow to the Khmers by taking their capital in 1594. Shortly before his defeat the Cambodian king Satha requested the assistance of the Spanish and the Portuguese who had recently become active in the region. In 1596 a Spanish expedition arrived in Cambodia to assist Satha only to find out that he had been deposed by an usurper Chung Prei. He was killed by the Spanish. The actions of the Spanish were resented by the Khmer court officials. Some years later the Spanish garrison at Phnom Penh was massacred. A brother of Satha ascended the throne with the help of the Thais. 

From about 1600 until the arrival of the French in 1863 Cambodia was ruled by a series of weak kings who were forced to seek the protection of either Thailand or Vietnam because of continuous struggles with dissident members in the royal family. The Cambodian kings payed a high price for their protection. In the seventeenth century the Nguyen lords in southern Vietnam gave their assistance on the condition that the Vietnamese were allowed to settle in the Mekong delta which was a part of Cambodia at the time. In the west the Thais established dominion over the provinces of Battambang and Siem Reap from 1794. By the end of the eighteenth century they had firm control over the Cambodian royal family. Indeed one king was crowned in Bangkok and placed on the throne with the help of the Thai army. Cambodia only survived as a distinct entity because its neighbours had other preoccupations: the Thais continuously struggled with the Burmese, while the Vietnamese were involved in interior rivalries. 

Thai and Vietnamese rule over Cambodia ended in 1864 when French gunboats forced king Norodom I (1860-1904) to sign a treaty which turned the country into a French protectorate. The French gained control over Cambodia to protect their colonial interests in Vietnam. At first they showed hardly any interference with internal affairs in Cambodia. Gradually the French gained direct control over the day-to-day administration of the country. At the same time they maintained Norodom's court in a splendour probably unequalled since the Angkor period, thereby reinforcing the ceremonial position of the Cambodian monarchy. The king's increased stature served to legitimise the existence of a monarchy and to prevent the rise of a nationalist rebellion. King Norodom I was succeeded by king Sisowath (1904-1927), who was then succeeded by king Monivong (1927-1941). Upon his death the French governor placed 19-year-old prince Norodom Sihanouk on the throne assuming he would prove pliable. This proved to be a major miscalculation.

Sihanouk began a royal mission to gain international support for independence of his country. Independence was proclaimed on 9 November 1953 and accepted by the Geneva Conference of May 1954. The government of Sihanouk adopted a neutral policy in international affairs which were dominated by the Cold War. Although he feared the Vietnamese communists Sihanouk considered southern Vietnam and Thailand (borth allies of the United States) a larger threat to Cambodian security. He accepted that communist Vietcong soldiers would use Cambodian territory in their battle against South Vietnam and the USA. These moves and his socialist economic policies alienated right-leaning elements in Cambodian society including the officer corps of the army and the urban elite. In March 1970 general Lon Nol and prince Sisowath deposed him as chief of state with tacit consent of the United States. Sihanouk took up residence in Beijing where he set up a government-in-exile nominally in control of an indigenous Cambodian revolutionary movement nicknamed the Khmer Rouge. In April 1975 the government in Phnom Penh surrendered to the Khmer Rouge who established a regime of brutal terror. Many people were killed or disappeared. At the end of 1978 there was no more sympathy for the Khmer Rouge, however the people had no energy to end their cruel regime.

After several conflicts at their border the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia at 25 December 1978. Two weeks later the Vietnamese deposed the Khmer Rouge regime and liberated Sihanouk from detention. They installed a new government led by several former Khmer Rouge officers who had defected to Vietnam. However the power of the Khmer Rouge was not broken. They started a guerilla warfare which lasted almost twenty years to demoralize their opponents. In 1996 troubles appeared within the Khmer Rouge leadership between Pol Pot en Ieng Sary. The latter led a mass defection of fighters and their dependants to the government forces. This effectively sealed the fate of the remaining Khmer Rouge who lost important revenues from the region which was controlled by Ieng Sary. In 1997 new cracks showed up in the Khmer Rouge leadership, this time between Pol Pot and Ta Mok who seized control of the movement. On 15 April 1998 Pol Pot died. In the following elections king Sihanouk offered to act as a mediator in the formation of a coalition. He was able to bring the squabbling leaders together at his residence and to form a coalition government which allowed the politicians to concentrate on bringing an end to the civil war. In December 1998 almost all the remaining Khmer Rouge guerillas turned themselves over to government forces in return for amnesty. The Khmer Rouge effectively ceased to exist as a miltary organisation and a new period of peace and tranquility dawned. 

Because of the recent civil war there are still more women than men in Cambodia. About half of the population is under the age of 15. According to official statistics almost all inhabitants are ethnic Khmers. Their culture and religion was influenced by contacts with early civilizations in India and Java. Over the centuries the Khmers have mixed with other groups residing in Cambodia including the Thais, the Vietnamese and the Chinese. A large majority of the Khmers are followers of buddhism. This religion flourished from the first to the fourteenth century together with hinduism. Later it became the prevailing religion. Still some elements of hinduism can be traced in modern rituals concerning birth, marriage and death. Both hinduism and buddhism were gradually absorbed from beyond the borders of Cambodia, fusing with animist beliefs already present among the Khmers before Indianisation. Local beliefs didn't simply fade away but were incorporated into the new religions. The concept of Neak Ta is unique to Cambodia and has its foundations in animist beliefs regarding sacred soil and the sacred spirit around us. It can be viewed as an energy force uniting a community with its earth and water. It is manifest in many forms from wood to termite hills, and symbolises both a link between the people and the fertility of their land, as well as a link to their ancestors before them. 

Apart from the Khmers several other ethnic groups with their own language live in Cambodia. These various Khmer Loeu (Upper Khmer) or chunchiet (minorities) live in the mountainous regions and number between 60.000 and 70.000 persons. The majority of these groups live in the northeast of Cambodia, in provinces like Ratanakiri. The largest group are the Tompuon who number around 15.000 persons. Other groups include the Pnong, Kreung, Kra Chok, Kavet, Brao and Jarai. The Khmer Loeu have long been isolated from the rest of society. They practise shifting cultivation, rarely staying in one place for more than four or five years. Finding a new location for a village requires a spiritual medium to mediate with the spirit world. Some of them have converted to buddhism, but most of them still worship the spirits of heaven and earth as well as the spirits of their ancestors. In times of trouble, such as disease and bad harvest, they pray for the spirits to end their punishment. They communicate with these spirits by drinking large quantities of rice wine causing a trance. Very few of the minorities wear traditional costumes. As a consequence of modern development their culture and traditions are in danger.  

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Phnom Penh Video Phnom Penh

Legend has it that Phnom Penh was founded in 1372 when an old woman named Penh found four Buddha statues on the banks of the Mekong river. She housed them on a hill nearby. The town that emerged around the hill came to be known as Phnom Penh or Hill of Penh. This story does not tell why the old capital of Angkor was abandoned by 1432 and why Phnom Penh was chosen as the new capital of Cambodia. The site of Angkor was not favourable for trade and subject to hostile attacks from the Siamese kingdom of Ayuthaya. Phnom Penh however commanded a more central position in the Khmer empire and was perfectly located for riverine trade with Laos and China via the Mekong delta. The Tonlé Sap river provided access to the rich fishing grounds of the Tonlé Sap lake.

By the middle of the sixteenth century trade had turned Phnom Penh into a regional power. Indonesian and Chinese merchants visited the city in large numbers. A century later however Vietnamese incursions into Khmer territory robbed the city of access to the sea lanes. Chinese merchants dominated all trade south of China. The Cambodian kingdom was enclosed and increasingly isolated. It was a buffer between ascendant Thais and Vietnamese. In 1772 the Thais burnt Phnom Penh down to the ground. The city was rebuilt but it was still the stage of a struggle for hegemony between the Thai kingdom and the Vietnamese empire until the French took over in 1863. Its population during this period was approximately 25.000 inhabitants.

The French protectorate gave Phnom Penh its present layout. The city was divided into quarters and districts. By the time of their departure the French left many important landmarks like the Royal Palace, the National Museum, the New Market and many government buildings. In the post independence period the city grew fast during the peacetime years of Sihanouk's rule. When the Khmer Rouge took the city in 1975 the entire population was transported by force to the countryside as part of a programme for radical social reforms. Repopulation of the city began with the arrival of the Vietnamese in 1979, although at first it was strictly controlled by the new government. It was not until the nineties that Phnom Penh started to develop with international support of the United Nations. At present the city is still booming and has approximately one million inhabitants. The most important sites in the city are the old temples of Wat Phnom, Wat Ounaloum and Wat Botum. The Royal Palace dates from a later period. 

Wat Phnom is situated on top of a tree-covered hill 27 metres high. It is the only hill in town. According to legend the first pagoda on this site was erected in 1372 to house four statues of Buddha which were found by the old woman named Penh. The main entrance to Wat Phnom is a grand staircase in the east, which is guarded by lions and nagas or mythical serpent balustrades. Today many people come here to pray for good luck and success in school exams or business affairs. When a wish is granted the petitioner returns to make the promised offering like a garland or a bunch of bananas which the spirits seem to favour most. The viharn or temple sanctuary was rebuilt several times. West of the viharn is a huge stupa containing the ashes of king Ponhea Yat (1405-1467) who moved the capital from Angkor to Phnom Penh in 1432. In a pavilion on the southern side of the passage is the statue of a smiling and rather plump madame Penh. A bit to the north and below the viharn is a shrine dedicated to the genie Preah Chau who is especially revered by the Vietnamese. On either side of the entrance to the chamber containing a statue of Preah Chau are guardian spirits bearing iron bats. On the tiled table in front of the two guardian spirits are drawings of Confucius as well as two Chinese-style figures of wise men. To the left of the central altar is an eight-armed statue of Vishnu. 

Wat Ounaloum is one of the first temples in Phnom Penh. The original temple was built in 1432. Nowadays it is the headquarters of the Cambodian buddhist patriarchate. The compound comprises more than forty structures including statues of Buddha and former buddhist patriarchs. Many of these statues were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and were restored later. The present temple was built in 1952. Behind the main building is a stupa containing an eyebrow hair of Buddha. There is an inscription in Pali (an ancient Indian language) above the entrance. Wat Botum is also one of the first temples in Phnom Penh. The temple was built in 1432 by king Ponhea Yat (1405-1467). The temple took its present name in 1865 and its present appearance in 1937. The temple compound has many graceful stupa's. 

The Royal Palace was built around 1866 by king Norodom I (1860-1904). The Throne Hall topped with a high tower inspired by the Bayon at Angkor was inaugurated in 1919 by king Sisowath. The present cement building replaced a vast wooden structure that was built on this site in 1869.  The Throne Hall was used for coronations and ceremonies like the presentation of credentials by diplomats. In the courtyard nearby is a curious iron house given to king Norodom I by Napoleon III of France. The Silver Pagoda has its name from more than five thousand silver tiles covering the floor. The Silver Pagoda is also known as Wat Preah Keo or Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha. It was conctructed of wood in 1892 during the rule of king Norodom I and apparently inspired by Bangkok's Wat Phra Keo. In 1962 the Silver Pagoda was rebuilt by king Sihanouk. The staircase leading to the Silver Pagoda is made of Italian marble. Inside the Emerald Buddha sits on a gilt pedestal on top of a platform covered with many other precious objects including a golden litter. Other structures in the complex of the Royal Palace are the Banquet Hall and a memorial for king Norodom.

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Northwestern Cambodia Video Battambang  

The northwestern part of Cambodia includes some of the most fertile areas in the country and is considered to be the rice bowl of the nation. The Tonlé Sap lake is in the centre of the area. Along the border to Thailand are some inhospitable mountain ranges including the Cardamom Mountains and the Dangrek Mountains. Among the provincial towns Pursat and Battambang attract the most visitors. Beyond these towns is a number of remote temples dating from the Angkor period. For a long time the area was in the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Much of the region was plagued by war for considerably longer than other parts of the country.  

Pursat is the capital of a province which spreads from the inhospitable Cardamom Mountains at the Thai border in the west to the Tonlé Sap lake in the east. The capital itself has not much to offer to visitors. Nearby is the floating town of Kompong Luong on the Tonlé Sap lake. It is a town of ten thousand inhabitants who live permanently afloat on the lake. The town moves with the level of water in the lake. That is why the signpost states that the distance to Kompong Luong varies between two kilometres minimum and seven kilometres maximum. The town has all facilities found in other Cambodian towns except for roads, cars and motorbikes. There are floating restaurants, schools, medical clinics and karaoke bars. The population of Kompong Luong is predominantly Vietnamese. Many of its inhabitants suffered from the civil war. Their ambiguous status in Cambodian society has taught them to be wary of outsiders. 

Battambang is the capital of a province which changed hands between Thailand and Cambodia on several occasions in the past few centuries. It was only returned to Cambodian control in 1907 and as recently as the second world war the Thais cut a deal with the Japanese to take control again for several years. The province shares a long border with Thailand and a short border with the Tonlé Sap lake. The capital Battambang is Cambodia's second-largest city. Around the city are several old temples from the Angkor period. Wat Ek Phnom is a rather dilapidated temple from the eleventh century dating from the reign of Suryavarman I (1002-1049). The temple consists of prasats or stone halls on a platform. Some of these prasats contain well preserved carvings. Wat Banan was built in the eleventh century by Udayadityavarman II (1049-1065). The temple is located on a hill and its five towers dominate the surrounding countryside. There are several impressive carved lintels above the doorways to each tower. Most of them are in a museum now.  

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Siem Reap Video Siem Reap  

Siem Reap is the gateway to the temples of Angkor. More than one hundred temples in Angkor (Capital City or Sacred City) constitute the sacred skeleton of a spectacular administrative and religious centre. Its houses, public buildings and palaces were constructed of wood and decayed a long time ago. Only the temples remain for the right to dwell in structures of brick or stone was reserved to the gods. The architecture of the temples was inspired by the concept of the mythical mountain Meru. The first temples resemble this basic concept at best. Essentially the mountain was represented by a blunt-topped tower mounted on a tiered base. At the summit was the central sanctuary usually with an open door to the east and three false doors to the other directions. Later this layout was embellished. The summit of the central tower for example was crowned with five "peaks" in a quincuncial arrangement - four cells at the corners and one in the centre. Other features that came to be favoured included an entry tower and a causeway lined with naga balustrades or sculptures leading up to the temple. Much later the central tower became a less prominent feature although it remained the focus of the temple. Courtyards enclosed by colonnaded and richly decorated galleries came to surround the central tower. Smaller towers were placed on gates and on the corners of the walls. At last the horizontal layout of galleries, corridors and courtyards seems to completely eclipse the central tower. The corridors and doorways in these structures were very narrow because the architects engineered false arches. They laid blocks on top of each other until they met at a central point. These arches can support only very short spans.

Below is a description of the most interesting temples in and around Angkor. It describes the monuments in consecutive order: Phnom Kulen, Kbal Spean, Preah Ko, Bakong, Lolei, Bakheng, Mebon, Pre Rup, Banteay Srei, Ta Keo, Phimeanakas, Baphuon, Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm and Preah Khan. Many of these monuments give their name to a certain period in the architectural history of Angkor because of their characteristic style of construction. Other monuments are interesting because of their well crafted statues and carvings - some covered by lichen and roots from the trees in the surrounding jungle.

About fifty kilometres north of Siem Reap is the sacred mountain Phnom Kulen. It played a significant role in the history of the Khmer empire, as it was from here that Jayavarman II (802-850) proclaimed independence from Java, thus giving birth to modern-day Cambodia. At the summit of the mountain is a small temple which houses a large reclining buddha carved into the sandstone boulder upon which it is built. Nearby is a large waterfall with a number of stone carvings in the riverbed. Near the waterfall are the remains of a jungle-clad temple from the ninth century known as Prasat Krau Romeas.  Further down the mountain are numerous lingas carved in the riverbed - hence the name “river of a thousand lingas”. There are plenty of other Angkorian sites on Phnom Kulen . These are very difficult to get to because of landmines from the recent civil war. 

About fifty kilometres northeast of Siem Reap is Kbal Spean (Bridgehead) a spectacularly carved riverbed set deep in the jungle. The name is a reference to the natural rock bridge at the site. The site is more commonly referred to as the “river of a thousand lingas”. In the riverbed lingas have been elaborately carved and images of hindu deities are dotted about the area. It was believed that these lingas spiritually enriched the water of the river and thus fertilized the ricefields of the nearby eastern baray further downstream. On the upper section of the river is an impressive carving of Vishnu followed by a series of carvings at the bridgehead itself including Shiva's mount Nandi. Down the river there are more impressive carvings of Vishnu, and Shiva with his consort Uma. Further downstream appear hundreds of lingas on the riverbed. 

About 15 kilometres east of  Siem Reap are the temples of Roluos with names such as Preah Ko, Bakong and Lolei. Roluos was the former capital of king Indravarman I (877-889) with the name of Haliharalaya after the hindu deities Shiva and Vishnu. The monuments of Roluos are among the earliest, large permanent temples built by the Khmers. They mark the beginning of the age of Khmer classical art. Before the construction of Roluos generally only lighter and less durable construction materials such as brick were employed.  

Preah Ko (Sacred Ox) was erected by king Indravarman I (877-889) in the late ninth century. The six prasats or brick halls are aligned in two rows and face east. They are decorated with carved sandstone and plaster reliefs. The central tower of the front row is a great deal larger than the other towers. The doorposts of each temple have elaborate inscriptions in the ancient hindu language of sanskrit. In front of the first row of temples there are three nandi or sacred oxen. The statues are all in poor condition. Preah Ko was dedicated by king Indravarman I to his deified ancestors in 880 A.D. The front towers relate to male ancestors or gods, the rear towers to female ancestors or goddesses. A series of lions guard the steps up to the temple platform.

Bakong is the largest and most interesting temple of the Roluos group. It was built by Indravarman I (877-889) and dedicated to Shiva. It served as the city's central temple and was the first monument built as a representation of mount Meru. It was also the first temple built of sandstone. The complex faces east and consists of a five-tier central pyramid of sandstone. At the base the complex is 60 metres square. It is flanked by eight towers of brick and sandstone and by other minor sanctuaries. Several of the eight towers are still partly covered by their original plasterwork. The carvings on the lintels of the outer towers are well preserved. The complex is enclosed by three concentric walls and a broad moat. On each corner of the first three levels are well preserved statues of stone elephants. There are twelve stupas on the third tier three to each side. The sanctuary at the fift level was added in the twelfth century.  

The four brick towers of Lolei were built by king Yasovarman I (889-910) on an islet in the centre of a large baray or water reservoir created by his father. The baray was the first step to an extensive irrigation system for the agricultural fields around Angkor. But the baray was of religious importance as well because it symbolized the waters surrounding mount Meru. The niches of the temples have sandstone carvings. The decorated lintels are well preserved. There are sanskrit inscriptions on the doorposts. One of these inscriptions tells the four towers were dedicated by king Yasovarman I to his mother, his father and his maternal grandparents on 12 July 893. It was the last temple built in Roluos before the capital moved to Angkor. 

About ten kilometers north of Siem Reap is Phnom Bakheng. On top of this hill the first of the temple mountains was built in the vicinity of Angkor. King Yasovarman I (889-910) chose Phnom Bakheng over the Roluos area where previous temples had been built. Phnom Bakheng was the heart of his new capital Yasodharapura. It is a five-tiered temple mountain with seven levels including the base and the summit. Each of the five tiers had twelve towers. The summit of the temple has four towers at the cardinal points of the compass as well as a central sanctuary. The seven levels represent the hindu heavens while the total number of towers correlates to the lunar calendar. In contrast to many other monuments the base of the temple is cut from the rocks. A raised highway was constructed to connect Phnom Bakheng with Roluos. Consequently a large baray or water reservoir was formed to the east of Phnom Bakheng - it is now known as the Eastern Baray and has entirely silted up. 

The hindu temple known as the Eastern Mebon was erected by king Rajendravarman II (944-968) on an islet in the centre of the eastern baray but is now very much on dry land. The temple is like a smaller version of Pre Rup which was built fifteen to twenty years later. The temple mountain form is surmounted by a quincunx of towers. The elaborate brick shrines are dotted with holes for a plaster cover which has disappeared. Stone figures of harnessed elephants guard the base of the temple at its corners. The temple was built by king Rajendravarman II to honour his parents. Inscriptions also suggest that the temple was built to confirm royal power in Angkor after a short period between 928 and 944 when Koh Ker served as a capital of the empire. 

Pre Rup was built by Rajendravarman II (944-968) south to the Eastern Mebon. Like its nearby predecessor the temple consists of a pyramid-shaped temple mountain with the uppermost of the three tiers carrying five square shrines as a quincunx. The brick sanctuaries were also covered with a plaster coating in the past. Fragments of the plaster coating still remain on the southwestern tower. There are some detailed lintel carvings here. Several of the outermost eastern towers are close to collapse and are supported by wooden girders. The name Pre Rup (Turning Body) refers to a traditional method of cremation in which a corpse's outline is traced in the cinders, first in one direction and then in the other. This suggests that the temple may have served as a royal crematorium. 

About thirty kilometres north of Siem Reap is Banteay Srei (Citadel of the Women) a hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. The temple is cut from stone of a pinkish hue. The stone carvings are among the finest of all Angkor temples. It is said that the temple must have been built by a woman as the elaborate carvings are too fine for the touch of a man. Construction of the temple began in 967. It was not the king who commissioned it, but a brahmin tutor to Rajendravarman II (944-968) and later Jayavarman V(968-1001). The temple is square and has entrances at the east and the west. The eastern entrance is approached by a causeway. Of interest are the lavishly decorated libraries and the three central towers which are decorated with male and female divinities and filigree relief work. Classic carvings at Banteay Srei include delicate women with lotus flowers in their hands and traditional skirts, as well as recreations of scenes from the Ramayana epic adorning the library frontons. Almost every inch of the interior buildings is covered in decoration. 

Ta Keo is a stark, undecorated temple that undoubtedly would have been one of the finest of all structures in Angkor had it been finished. The temple was built by king Jayavarman V (968-1001) and dedicated to Shiva. Remarkably it was situated outside the territory of the former capital. It was the first Angkorian monument built entirely of sandstone. The summit of the central tower is almost fifty metres high. The central tower is surrounded by four lower towers at the corners of a square. This quincuncial arrangement is typical of many Angkorian temple mountains. It is not certain why work was never completed, but a likely cause may have been the death of Jayavarman V. The temple was formerly known as “the mountain with golden peaks”. 

Phimeanakas stands close to the centre of a walled area that once housed the royal palace. Not much is left of the palace today, except two sandstone pools for royal ablutions. The palace was used by king Jayavarman V (968-1001) and Udayadityavarman I (1001-1002), but was later added to and embellished by Jayavarman VII (1181-1219) and his successors.  Phimeanakas means “celestial palace” and some scholars contend that it was once topped by a golden spire. According to legend it was inhabited by a snake who turned into a woman when the king visited her at night in order to prevent misfortune coming over him or his empire. The temple is another pyramidical representation of mount Meru with three levels. The second and third levels offer good views of the Baphuon. 

The Baphuon marked the centre of the city that existed before its destruction by the Cham. Construction of the temple probably began under king Suryavarman I (1002-1049) and was later completed by king Udayadityavarman II (1049-1065). An elevated walkway made of sandstone leads to the Baphuon. The summit of the central structure has unfortunately collapsed and is now being restored. The retaining wall on the western side of the temple was fashioned into a reclining Buddha in the fifteenth or sixteenth century. The figure is difficult to make out. Only the head, the hips and one arm can be identified. The other parts of the body are entirely gone. This huge project undertaken by the buddhist faithful demonstrates that Angkor was never entirely abandoned in the total sense of the word. 

About ten kilometers north of Siem Reap is Angkor Wat. Most probably it was constructed as a funerary temple for Suryavarman II (1112-1152) to honour Vishnu. The temple is oriented to the west where the sun sets – the symbol for death. The magnificent bas-reliefs of the temple were designed to be viewed in an anticlockwise direction, a practice which has antecedents in ancient hindu funerary rites. A causeway leads to the main entrance. Behind the entrance are various temple courtyards at different levels. The temple has three tiers and five beehive towers. Its architecture symbolizes the four ages in the creation of the universe according to hindu thought. The central tower is mount Meru with its smaller surrounding peaks (towers) surrounded in turn by the continents (lower courtyards) and an ocean (moat). In the central tower the king prefigures the heaven that awaits him after his death, the lofty peak where apsara or heavenly nymphs frolic with boundless amorous desire. These celestial dancers were created when the gods churned up the sea to extract the elixir of immortality. Almost two thousand different apsara carvings decorate the temple walls. They are among the finest in the Angkor era. The most extraordinary bas-reliefs are depicted on the panels in the outer gallery of the temple complex. They depict subjects and scenes from hindu mythology as well as historical battles of king Suryavarman II. 

The fortified city of Angkor Thom (Great Angkor or Great City) was built by king Jayavarman VII (1181-1219) just after the disastrous sacking of the previous Khmer capital by the Chams. At its height it may have supported a population of one million people in the region. The city was ten kilometres square and enclosed by a wall eight metres high and a moat one hundred metres wide. The city map was yet another expression of mount Meru surrounded by peaks, continents and oceans. The city had five monumental gates: one each in the northern, the western and southern walls and two in the eastern wall. The gates are decorated with stone elephant trunks and crowned by four gargantuan faces of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara facing the cardinal directions. In front of each gate stand giant statues of 54 gods to the left of the causeway and 54 demons to the right of the causeway. This motif was taken from the story of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk illustrated in the bas-reliefs at Angkor Wat. 

Bayon in the centre of Angkor Thom is a place of stoped corridors, precipitous flights of stairs and 54 towers each decorated with four gargantuan faces of Avalokiteshvara. Some scholares suggest they may also contain a representation of  Jayavarman VII (1181-1219), the buddhist king continuing the devaraja cult of his predecessors. There is still much mystery about the exact function and symbolism of the Bayon. Locals suggest that the Khmer empire was divided into 54 provinces at the time of Bayon's construction, hence the all-seeing eyes of Avalokiteshvara or Jayavarman VII were keeping watch on his subjects all over his  kingdom. The basic structure of the Bayon consists of three levels. The first two levels are square and adorned with bas-reliefs. They lead up to a third circular level with the towers and the faces. In the centre of the third level is the central sanctuary, a cave-like cell in a round mass of intricately embellished rock. The carvings on the outer wall of the first level are well preserved. They depict a historical battle between the Khmers and the Chams. Some of the reliefs remain unfinished indicating a sudden end to the construction project due to an early death of king Jayavarman VII. 

Ta Prohm was built around 1186 as a buddhist temple dedicated to the mother of Jayavarman VII (1181-1219). It is one of the few temples in the Angkor region where an inscription provides information about the temple's dependents and inhabitants. The inscription quotes a number of 80.000 people, including over 2700 officials and 615 dancers. This number seems to be an exaggeration to glorify the king. Ta Prohm is a temple of towers, close courtyards and narrow corridors. Many of the corridors are impassable and clogged with jumbled piles of carved stone blocks dislodged by the roots of long-decayed trees. Bas-reliefs on bulging walls are covered by lichen, moss and creeping plants, and shrubs sprout from the roofs of monumental porches. Trees, hundreds of years old, tower overhead, their leaves filtering the sunlight and casting a greenish pall over the whole scene. On the inside of the eastern gopura or entrance pavilion is a strangulating root formation. On various other places the temple is overgrown by the roots of the trees in the surrounding jungle. 

Preah Khan (Sacred Sword) is a maze of vaulted corridors, fine carvings and lichenclad stonework. The temple was built by king Jayavarman VII (1181-1219) probably as a temporary residence while Angkor Thom was being built. The temple was dedicated to his father. Like Ta Prohm it is a place of towered enclosures and narrow corridors. Unlike Ta Prohm, however, it is in a reasonable state of preservation and ongoing restoration. The central sanctuary of the temple was dedicated in 1191 as a centre for worship and learning. The temple was dedicated to 515 divinities and during the course of one year many major festivals took place here, requiring a team of thousands just to maintain the place. The complex covers a large area, but the temple itself is within a rectangular enclosing wall of seven hundred metres in length. Four processional walkways approach the gates of the temple and these are bordered by statues depicting gods and demons from the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. Four vaulted galleries lead to the central sanctuary. Many of the interior walls were once coated with plaster. Today many stone carvings remain including essai (wise men) and apsara. The main entrance of Preah Khan is in the east, where a pair of trees with monstrous roots embrace as they reach for the sky. There is also a curious two-storey structure with circular columns inside the east gate, the purpose of which is unknown. It is the only structure with circular columns in the entire region and it may well be from a later period.

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South Coast Video Takeo

The south coast is a cradle of ancient Cambodian civilisation. In the first century A.D. trading settlements appeared along the coastline in the south. These settlements served as ports of call for boats following the trade route from the Bay of Bengal to the southern provinces of China. In these settlements a cultural exchange took place of hindu and buddhist beliefs. Wealthy people commissioned the construction of temples and other monuments to enhance their status. Each of these economic and cultural centres had their own social hierarchy. Sometimes they were active in battle and sometimes they negotiated a peace treaty because of strategic reasons. Often a prominent marriage was part of such a treaty. Funan was the largest in this conglomeration of states. It was a trading port which flourished between the first and the sixth century A.D. Later Chenla dominated the region from the sixth until the ninth century. At the start of the ninth century the region was part of the Angkor empire.  In the south several historical monuments from the (pre) Angkorian era remain. 

Somewehere near the provincial capital of Kampot are the caves of Phnom Chngauk. This cave complex contains one of the earliest recorded discoveries of hindu artifacts in the country. There is a brick prasat or temple within the cave that dates to the Funan period. There are formations of crocodiles and elephants in the lofty green cathedral like cavern in which the temple stands. The walls of the cave are smoothly carved by the water of many monsoons. The temple itself has a stalactite emerging through the roof to become the centre of veneration. The stalagmite that accompanies this formation is the actual growth that is held sacred. The stalagmite has over the course of many years grown into an almost perfect linga. This temple is dedicated to Shiva and provides the first example of solely Indian influenced architecture. The slow nature of calcium deposits indicates that this could have been a sacred site even earlier than the Funan period.

Around the provincial capital of Takeo there are several other interesting historical monuments. Some of them were built in the Chenla period. Other monuments were built in the Angkor period on the site of a former sanctuary. In the past the area was a part of water Chenla and now it still confronts water floods each year. The most important centre of  the empire was Angkor Borei. Other religious centres were Phnom Chisor and Tonlé Bati. These places also attracted the later kings of the Angkor empire who came to honour their ancestors with large ceremonies and monuments.  

Angkor Borei was known as Vyadhapura when it served as the capital of water Chenla in the eighth century. A few kilometres south of Angkor Borei is the hill of Phnom Da. In the wet season the hill becomes an island isolated by annual floods. In this season it is possible to reach Phnom Da by water only. Four artificial caves built as shrines are carved into the northeastern wall of the hill. On top of the hill is a square laterite temple open to the north, dating from the eighth century. Nearby is another temple built in the Angkor period.

About thirty kilometres north of Takeo is a temple called Phnom Chisor. The temple is set at the eastern side on top of a solitary hill. Constructed of laterite and brick with carved lintels of sandstone the complex is surrounded by the partially ruined walls of a 2.5 metres-wide gallery with windows. Inscriptions found here date from the eleventh century when this site was known as Suryagiri. On the plain to the east of Pnom Chisor are the sanctuaries of Sen Thmol at the bottom of the hill and Sen Ravang farther east as well as the former sacred pond of Tonlé Om. During rituals held here nine hundred years ago the king, his brahmans and their entourage would climb the monumental steps to Suryagiri from this direction.

About fifty kilometres north of Takeo is a small place called Tonlé Bati. Here is the laterite temple of Ta Prohm which is famous for its bas-reliefs. The temple was built by king Jayavarman VII (1181-1219) on the site of an ancient sixth-century Khmer shrine. The main sanctuary consists of five chambers each containing a linga or phallic symbol. The reliefs on the outer walls of the main sanctuary are well preserved. One of these reliefs depicts a woman and a man who is bowing to another, larger woman. The smaller woman has just given birth and failed to show proper respect for the midwife (the larger woman).The new mother has been condemned to carry the afterbirth on her head in a box for the rest of her life. The husband is asking that his wife be forgiven. Many women come here to pray for the birth of children.  

Near the Ta Prohm temple is the Yeay Peau temple named after the mother of king Ta Prohm. Legend has it that Peau gave birth to a son called Prohm. When Prohm discovered that his father was a king, he set off to live at the royal court. After a few years he returned to his mother but did not recognise her. Taken by her beauty he asked her to become his wife. He refused to believe Peau's protests that she was his mother. To settle the matter Peau suggested that she and Prohm build a temple. Whoever finished first would get his way. The contest was held at night, with the women helping Peau and the men helping Prohm. After many hours Peau sent aloft an artificial morning star. The men, thinking it was dawn, went to sleep. Meanwhile Peau's temple was completed, and Prohm had to recognise Peau as his mother. 

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Eastern Cambodia Video Ban Lung  

Eastern Cambodia is a vast area stretching from Laos in the north along the Mekong river to Vietnam in the south. The area has a long frontier with Vietnam in the east. The northeast is one of the most remote areas in Cambodia. Almost all visitors of eastern Cambodia start their trip in Kompong Cham as every central road by land or water leads through this town on the Mekong river. Near the town is a buddhist sanctuary from the eleventh century. The shrine of sandstone and laterite is part of a modern structure called Wat Nokor. Various statues and sculptures are well preserved despite the ruinous state of the sanctuary. From Kompong Cham the trip leads to the notheastern provinces including Ratanakiri.  

In Ratanakiri province live many ethnic minorities known as chunchiet or Khmer Loeu (Upper Khmer). Three quarters of its population belong to these ethnic tribes.  Sometimes these tribals leave their villages for the market in the provincial capital Ban Lung to buy and sell goods. They have a basket on their back which is used to transport the goods they bought on the local market.

Among these tribals are the Kreung (18%), the Tompuon (24%) and the Jarai (19%). They live in the jungle, the hills and the mountains in small isolated villages and practise shifting cultivation as well as hunting and collecting fruits. They still believe in the spirits. These tribes have their own distinct language and customs, although today they dress as most other poor Cambodians and lack colourful clothing. They consider the vulcanic crater-lake of Yak Lom near Ban Lung a sacred place and their legends talk of mysterious creatures that inhabit the waters of the lake. Near the lake is a small centre that has information on ethnic minorities in the province. It also features a replica of some Kreung houses. At the age of fifteen the youngsters of the Kreung start building a stilted house next to the house of their beloved.  In the evening they meet each other and when things go well they marry each other some time later. 

In the forests near Ban Lung there are many chunchiet villages and cemeteries. At a distance of about twenty five kilometres at the shore of the Sesan river is a Tompuon cemetery next to the village of Dal. Here family groups are buried side by side in the forest. There are also effigies of the deceased. The tombs have a rectangular fence, a bamboo shed and two wooden statues. They also have carved wooden likenesses of elephant tusks on the fence. Each tomb contains household materials for the deceased to use in the afterlife like baskets, plates, bottles, pots and bowls. Some of these tombs date back many years and have been abandoned to the jungle. Sadly some unscrupulous art collectors and amateur anthropologists have been buying up the old effigies from poor villagers and deprived them from their cultural treasures.  

The Tompuon build their houses in a circle around a community centre. This is also the layout for the Tompuon village of Dal. Just a few years ago the inhabitants left their old village because of an epidemic disease. The villagers thought the place was cursed by evil spirits. A spiritual medium had to make contact with the spirit world in order to find a new location which was less than one kilometre away. By burning and slashing the forest they created an open space where they built their first houses. These houses are on wooden stilts, the roofs are covered with rotan, the walls are made of  bamboo mats or twined bamboo strips and the floors rest on wooden girders. The shallow place beneath the house is used for storing wood or for wandering pigs and chickens.

The villages of the Jarai include longhouses or stilted houses containing several compartments occupied by matrilineally linked nuclear families. There are several hearths in each house for these different households. Older children and pre-marital teenagers usually sleep together in a designated area. The women initiate marriage negotiations and residence is matrilocal. Some of the Jarai villages have a community longhouse for communal activities, but it appears to be more usual for feasts and communal events to be held in family longhouses. This is the way of life in the Jarai village of Anedong Meas. The village has about twenty houses. In an attempt to integrate them into the rest of society the Cambodian authorities registered the inhabitants and put a sign near their houses. 

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Chunchiet

The chunchiet believe that arak bri or spirits dwell their natural environment. The forest, the earth, the river, the lake, the hills, the fields and even the villages have their own spirits. They also believe in the kayok or the spirits of the dead. All these spirits rule their life in all its aspects. The spirits are believed to control the quality of their rice harvest as well as their health and prosperity. In the agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting, in cases of human illness and at other times of fortune or misfortune the villagers try to propitiate these supernatural forces with the sacrificial offering of animals and rice wine. The village festivals and religious rituals offer the villagers regular moments of relaxation after a period of hard labour. For the occasion many villagers -men as well as women - drink large amounts of wine until they are drunk. Traditionally wealth is vested in cows and buffaloes. These animals are a means of exchange for other valuable objects: brass gongs for sacrifices and feasts to please the spirits and tall wine jars for the village festivals.

At regular intervals the chunchiet burn the forest areas surrounding their villages to establish new plots of land for cultivation. A few years later they clear other areas from the forest and leave the old fields to remain fallow until they regain their fertility and are fit to be reused. The villagers consult their spirits before turning a piece of the forest into an agricultural field. An arak or spiritual medium examines the area prior to clearing and burning it. In his dream at the night of this examination he enters the realm of the spirits to consult the spiritual and agricultural status. Whenever the dream reveals a negative energy or a bad harvest, the villagers will not clear the area.   

The cleared areas provide each chunchiet family with their food staple of rice. They complete their menu with cultivated fruits and vegetables like onions and chile. Other supplementary sources for their diet are hunting and fishing as well as collection of fruits from the forest: bananas, mangoes, grapefruits, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, beetles, fish, frogs, crabs, rodents and small animals. These food  sources are not available in every season. Limited supplements are bought from the local market. These include salt,  fish paste and flavourings. 

The whole family is involved in agricultural and domestic activities. Children are a vital source of labour and take a substantial workload. From a very early age the girls look after their younger siblings. At the age of eight they learn how to pound rice and to collect water for the household. Pre teenage boys accompany older boys and men when herding livestock and hunting. As the children grow older they learn more of agricultural work and other additional skills. Because of these activities the children are not able to attend school. There is hardly any division of labour between men and women on the fields. Some tasks which require physical strength , like felling large trees, are left to men.  The women are responsible for the daily running of the household. Sometimes men prepare food, collect water and take on some of the burden of child care. This appears to be the case at times when their wives are sick or have given birth to a child. 

The members of a chunchiet family work together on their field and in their household. During times of harvest or in cases of human illness or death when there is a shortage of labour they get help from their extended families. Nevertheless some families with many old people, young children or disabled persons find it difficult to manage their affairs.  The number of fit and able workers determines the wealth or poverty of a family. That is why many married couples want a large family. Despite economic differences the sense of communal solidarity prevails. This is apparent during the regular feasts and religious festivals which are fundamental to the village life. During these festivals the well to do chunchiet offer more and larger animals to the spirits, but their meat is divided equally between all households in the village. This increases a sense of communality.         

Many chunchiet build their houses in a circle around a central longhouse. This is where village meetings, communal feasts and some healing ceremonies are held. Smaller houses form an inner circle and are built in the vicinity of or facing larger houses which are occupied by the heads of the family. These smaller houses are inhabited by pre-marital teenagers or individual households of young couples and their children. These households have yet to establish a large family home of their own and are still under the authority of the heads of their family group. Some of these households do not live in separate small houses but in the main family house with the head of the family group. 

The main family house is not just the home of the head of family and the base for family activities such as communal eating. It is also the habitat of the arak hnam or  house spirits who protect the family members and watch over them both in the village and outside it. The villagers believe they must constantly be propitiated to sustain their protective role. If they are angry or dissatisfied they can cause problems to family affairs by sickness and misfortune. When a new house has been constructed a feast is held at which the spirits are invited to come up into the new family house and feast with the family members. Each member of  family has to pay respect to these spirits even after marriage when he has moved away to live with a different family or in a different village. Married family members are often called back to the natal family group to participate in ceremonies involving these house spirits.

The unmarried teenagers live in a small house near the larger family house. This facilitates them to spend more time with their friends and to decide upon their future partner. Every night much visiting takes place between houses and villages. It is usual for courtships to continue for a long period, with the couple more or less living together before the formal marriage ceremony takes place.  However sexual relationships are not accepted practice at this stage. When a couple wants to marry they have to ask for family approval. The couple selects a confidant for services or mediation  when the parents do not consent. After marriage the new couple lives within the family group of the bride's parents (or older siblings if the parents are dead) usually in their own small house. They work in the fields as a part of this family group for two years. After this time they then move to live with the groom's parents for a further two years. This service alternates for an extended period until the couple has established a family of their own. They eventually settle themselves in the wife's village.

In every chunchiet village traditional authority resides with the mekra or elders. They are chosen and accepted by their community as those who know how to speak and who know wrong and right. The group of elders ranges from two individuals to a larger group of eight or more individuals. These elders are always men. They have their own leader who is the final arbitrator  or decision maker in the group. In village meetings they play an important role in mediation and are turned to as the source of authority. When a village wants to shift site because of mysterious sicknesses or deaths or because of the agricultural fields being too far away, the elders define the new site.  

Every village has a village chief and his deputy. These posts are always held by men and provide a link between the village and the local Khmer government.  The village chief must be able to speak Khmer. It is preferred that he can read and write the language as well.  The villagers have some say in those chosen for this position, but often the commune chief as a representant of the local government has substantial influence in the selection procedure. Nevertheless the village chief and his deputy wield some authority at village level. Their position appears to command some status and respect. However they act primarily as a go-between with the state, organising meetings to present and discuss new local government policies - such as education, security and infrastructure. The village chief presides these meetings, but the traditional authority of the elders is still crucial for the decision making process. 

In every chunchiet village community the ganong or mediator is an important person for the resolution of conflicts and the smooth running of village affairs. The mediator is a man or a woman who brings people together when a controversy appears in the village. Any parties involved in a dispute can choose who they want to represent them as a mediator. The mediator arranges a meeting where each party is given space to state their position. Other villagers are allowed to participate freely in this discussion. The words of the elders are attended most carefully to decide on an appropriate solution.  Once consensus has been established it is expected to be followed by all parties. In addition to regular conflict mediators there are also special marriage mediators. The marriage mediator makes a speech at the wedding ceremony together with the bride's and groom's relatives. 

All villagers respect the arak or spirit medium with his perceived knowledge of the realm of the supernatural and his role as a vehicle for communicating with this realm. The spirit medium has two ways of consulting the spiritual world. In some cases the medium waves a waxed cotton  candle over a bowl of uncooked rice to get contact with the spirits. In other cases the medium rests with his head on a sacrificial offering and visits the spiritual realm in his sleep. Sometimes the spirits manifest their presence through the body of the spirit medium in a state of trance. This kind of spirit possession appears to be unique for some hill tribes like the Kreung, the Brao and the Tompuon. The medium has considerable influence on behaviour and decision making where aspects of the supernatural are concerned - particularly in cases of sickness and death. While the medium is feared for his spiritual powers he lives apart from the other villagers at the edge of the community.  

The open space in a chunchiet village is a general living area for all domestic animals like chickens, pigs and dogs which are left to wander the village. Pigs are rarely penned in. They usefully forage around and clear away much of the debris around the village. Cows and buffaloes are herded into the open village arena for the night, so it is often covered with animal faeces and mud. As many people, especially children walk barefoot and this is the area where children play, the spread of bacteria and worms is a major hazard. The villages are usually close to a water source like a river or a small running stream which provides water for washing and domestic purposes. The villagers take care that water sources for washing and cleaning are strictly separated from the sources for drinking and cooking. They clean their utensils after cooking and eating and keep them away from domestic animals.

Modernization has increasing influence on the natural environment of the chunchiet minorities and their traditional way of life. Logging companies who cut the trees are destroying the forest as well as mining companies who dig for gold and gems. Some chunchiet people leave their village in search of modern wealth and offer their services to these companies. These individuals abandon a traditional system of communal decision making and mutual assistance. They are increasingly involved in a modern market economy where money replaces a traditional barter system. Employees of governmental and non-governmental aid organisations diminish the influence of traditional authorities in the chunchiet villages. They introduce new secular and religious ideologies which change traditional spiritual beliefs.    

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Literature

Bugge, Jon                        -     "Prasat Phnom Chngauk", article in the tabloid Leisure of Red Dot Co.

Chandler, David            -    "A History of Cambodia", edition of  Silkworm Books

Cramer, Kenneth                        -    "Siem Reap Angkor", edition in the series Visitors Guides of CanBy

Cramer, Kenneth.                     -     "Phnom Penh", edition in the series Visitors Guides of  CanBy

Cramer, Kenneth    -     "Sihanoukville Kampot and Kep", edition in the series Visitors Guides of CanBy

Mabbet, Ian en David Chandler    -      "The Khmers", edition of  Silkworm Books

Ray, Nick                          -    "Cambodia", edition in the series travel guides of  Lonely Planet

White, Joanna                 -   "Of spirits and services", research for the Health Unlimited Ratanakiri Integrated Health Programme

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