Foreigners are more like masters, while locals become outsiders in their hometowns.

Today, Cambodia has emerged from the nightmare of totalitarian rule and has fallen into a global economic dilemma. Trade liberalization has not brought prosperity to the people of this country, but has instead caused distortions. What will the consequences of excessive dependence on foreign investment and lack of local real economy? Cambodia is probably the most vivid demonstration.

The planet we live in is very interesting: some places have high incomes and high prices, such as Switzerland; high incomes but low prices, such as some cities in the Midwest of the United States; low incomes and low prices, such as Bangkok, Thailand; and some places have low incomes but extremely high prices, that is Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

These gods couldn't control them, so they came to the famous Angkor Wat, the Queen's Palace, that is, the women's castle, which enshrines Shiva, one of the three great Brahman gods. They used a large amount of red sandstone as building materials, full of exquisite reliefs, and were known as Angkor artistic gemstones.

The size and size of the buildings are smaller than that of other Angkor monuments. They were discovered by the French in 1914. In 1923, French writer Malro stole four statues from the Queen's Palace, and the case caused a sensation. Malro was soon arrested, and the stolen statue was immediately sent back to Cambodia.

The palace is very small and can be finished after a walk, but the temple is carved from pink stones, which is very different from other gray and green temples in Angkor. When I met a group of foreigners, they were only interested in the three temples in Angkor area - Little Angkor, Tapurun, and then the Queen's Palace. In their eyes, the Mona Lisa, known as the East.

Once you enter the Queen's Palace, you will see columnar objects on both sides of the aisle. Don't doubt it. You are thinking right. This is the thing for men. It is called linga here. In Hinduism, it belongs to totem worship and is also a symbol of auspiciousness.

The moat enters the center of the Queen's Palace. As you walk, you will see a large pool. Sitting by the pool to enjoy the scenery, it is a super enjoyment to relax. There are grass all around. If you have time, you might as well sit on the grass and quietly admire this pink temple.

Walking inward from the moat is the center of the Queen's Palace, you can see three vermilion-shaped bell-shaped temples in the middle. The gable wall stands above the square door frame. The gable wall of the Queen's Palace is particularly large and magnificent than the door frame. In the history of Khmer architecture, the Queen's Palace carved myths on the gable wall for the first time.

Some reliefs worth looking at first saw a bunch of carvings when they first came in, and their eyes were blurred. In addition, they were not very clear about Hindu myths at that time, so they only saw a bunch of rose-colored rocks.

Each stone pillar is exquisitely carved, some are storytelling, and some are just simple decorative carvings. It is really hard to imagine how the craftsmen at that time thought of these patterns.

Back then, it was old and the collapse was severe. During the French colonial period, the maintenance team took out the stones and numbered them to file them. Each stone was marked with the number on the printed documents, and then placed the stones on the nearby ground to sort them out.

I originally planned to work it back one by one after another, but in 1975, the Khmer Rouge seized power and ruled, and all restoration work stopped instantly. In just three years of the Khmer Rouge, these original restoration documents disappeared. Many of the original staff were arrested and massacred because many of them were intellectuals. So they eventually became piles of stones that could not be returned.

The beauty of director Wong Kar-wai was probably the first movie filmed in Angkor. It began with not only the background of the story, but also the historical background of the entire Cambodia: President Charles de Gaulle visited Cambodia, and this historical event marked the end of Cambodia's colonial rule.

A line says: That era has passed, and nothing that belongs to that era no longer exists. Only by combining Mr. Zhou’s emotional experience with the background of the times can we further show the precious memories and no longer exist in the past.

Today, these Angkor monuments that are displayed in front of tourists are all buildings in the heyday of the Angkor dynasty in Cambodia. Later, due to war, they were abandoned for more than 400 years. It was not until 1863 that the French followed the map and discovered the crystallization of human wisdom.

Tony Leung once said: If people in the past had any secrets in their hearts, they would run to the mountain, find a tree, dig a hole in the tree, and then tell them all the secrets, and then seal the hole with mud. The secret will remain in the tree forever, and no one will know.

And this tree hole is hidden in Angkor Wat.

In fact, what Zhou Muyun found was not a tree hole, but a stone hole on a gray sandstone pillar. Weeds grew at the entrance of the buried stone hole, so people mistakenly thought it was a "tree hole". In the background shot of Zhou Muyun in the movie, based on the relief joints of the exposed windows, it can be inferred that the shooting of this scene is located in Little Angkor.

It is the largest and best preserved building among the Angkor monuments. It is known as the Four Wonders of the East together with the Great Wall of China, the Borobudur in Indonesia and the Egyptian pyramids. It consists of four corridors in the southeast, northwest and northwest, and five spires centered on the central spire of the main hall.

It is said that the hall on the top of the spire represents paradise. The steps are steep and slippery, so you can only climb up with your hands and feet. At the beginning, these steps had no handrails. In 1973, a French female tourist fell to death. Her husband was so sad that she donated money to repair the handrail on one side of the stairs. Since then, this side of the stairs is also called the love stairs.

There are reliefs of fairy apsara on the stone walls of the corridor, revealing a flowing and romantic atmosphere. Almost all buildings in this temple are covered and surrounded by big trees, and even the branches of trees are drilled into the cracks of bricks. Some have penetrated the limbs of the building and grown on the Buddha statues, forming an amazing scene of tree-covered towers. The vitality of nature is so tenacious.

There is a gate of victory to the north of the east gate of the city. The four-sided Buddha statues on the tower are inspected by everyone entering the city gate with compassion. The ruins of ancient capitals established by each dynasty are preserved in the city: the sky palace rebuilt by Suryavana I, the Bapuan Temple established by Udayatiyadhi, the Bayun Temple established by Jayavarman VII, the Elephant Team Platform and the King of the Sagittarius.

The city is connected by bridges. On both sides of each bridge, there are 27 2.5-meter-high kneeling stone busts arranged in a row, symbolizing the gods and the demons. In the movie "Tomb Raider", from the Angkor Royal City to Bayon Temple, they also appear in the camera.

Legend has it that Yevarmo II gave his heir a holy sword, which was stored in this temple, hence the name "Sacred Sword Temple". There is a two-story building at the east entrance of the Holy Sword Temple. Its circular pillars are very similar to the Mediterranean architectural style. According to legend, this is the place used to store the holy sword.

The entire building is cross-shaped, with the center of the central church. The road leading to the central church is composed of a vaulted corridor. The walls on both sides of the corridor are decorated with countless fairy dancing goddesses Apsara, with graceful postures.

Experience the off-road motorcycle and you can see a real, beautiful, unseen Siem Reap on ordinary routes. Galloping on the country trails, breathing fresh air, and contacting the green nature and yellow land is not just as simple as speed and passion, but a close collision with local life.

Along the way, you will pass by villages, schools, and locals. Friendly locals will show you a standard Khmer smile. This is the simple way for them to welcome visitors from afar. At the same time, you will pass by temples. If you are lucky, you may also see the sunset.

People living here rely on water to make a living and live on water. Tonle Sap Lake is a gift from nature to them. July to November is the rainy season in Cambodia. When friends who come to Cambodia at this time, in addition to visiting Tonle Sap Lake, they can also take a small boat to lightly start a water forest journey. At the beginning, the lake water is turbid and there is a little fishy smell along the way.
Chapter completed!