SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 2025
Cambodia 
Carl
and I spent three weeks at Christmas and New Year’s in Cambodia.
Angkor Wat has been on my bucket list forever and it didn’t disappoint.
And there’s so much more to see!
We had long been pretty exhausted from deadlines at work and trying to live life to the fullest, and while we didn’t want to spend our entire vacation vegging on the beach, we did want to keep a relaxed pace during the trip. Our schedule ended up being very laid-back, and looking back we probably could have squeezed one more stop out of our time in Cambodia without it feeling too rushed. On the other hand, it was absolutely lovely to take our time, to get to know the places we visited on a deeper level, and even to have a totally relaxed day “off” from touristing.
With such a leisurely itinerary, we only visited 3 places in Cambodia: the capitol city Phnom Penh, an elephant reserve in Mondulkiri Province in the east of the country near the border with Vietnam, and the temples around Siem Reap including Angkor Wat.
I have been to the Middle East, so I have technically been on the Asian Continent (twice!). But somehow that doesn’t really seem like “Asia” to me, so I consider this trip to be my first trip to Asia. I was expecting a bit more culture shock than I actually experienced. I mean, Southeast Asia was certainly different in just about every conceivable way than my lives in Sweden or the US, but the differences weren’t as jarring as I had been warned. Perhaps I’ve traveled enough now that the differences don’t shock in the same way anymore, and perhaps Cambodia is more modernized and isn’t as severely destitute as it was just a few years ago. And perhaps Cambodia is a bit less chaotic than other Asian countries.
The Capital Phnom Penh
A case in point was Phnom Penh, which is an interesting mix of high-rise and low-rise development. A number of the high-rise buildings are unfinished or appear to be empty, however, and it seems like investors have been more eager to modernize and fancify the city than what the people want or can afford. There aren’t a ton of parks or tree-lined streets in the city, but it’s still surprisingly green as there is quite a lot of greenery escaping the individual lots and shading the streets. At first the traffic seemed chaotic (more below) but we quickly got used to it. It’s a tough city for pedestrians, however, as most sidewalks are taken over by parked cars, masses of parked motorbikes, restaurant tables, market carts selling food or beverages, and small repair “shops”. For this reason the entire city seems to take their evening stroll along the riverbank, and we likewise found this path to be a convenient way to move through the city.
We had long been pretty exhausted from deadlines at work and trying to live life to the fullest, and while we didn’t want to spend our entire vacation vegging on the beach, we did want to keep a relaxed pace during the trip. Our schedule ended up being very laid-back, and looking back we probably could have squeezed one more stop out of our time in Cambodia without it feeling too rushed. On the other hand, it was absolutely lovely to take our time, to get to know the places we visited on a deeper level, and even to have a totally relaxed day “off” from touristing.
With such a leisurely itinerary, we only visited 3 places in Cambodia: the capitol city Phnom Penh, an elephant reserve in Mondulkiri Province in the east of the country near the border with Vietnam, and the temples around Siem Reap including Angkor Wat.
I have been to the Middle East, so I have technically been on the Asian Continent (twice!). But somehow that doesn’t really seem like “Asia” to me, so I consider this trip to be my first trip to Asia. I was expecting a bit more culture shock than I actually experienced. I mean, Southeast Asia was certainly different in just about every conceivable way than my lives in Sweden or the US, but the differences weren’t as jarring as I had been warned. Perhaps I’ve traveled enough now that the differences don’t shock in the same way anymore, and perhaps Cambodia is more modernized and isn’t as severely destitute as it was just a few years ago. And perhaps Cambodia is a bit less chaotic than other Asian countries.
The Capital Phnom Penh
A case in point was Phnom Penh, which is an interesting mix of high-rise and low-rise development. A number of the high-rise buildings are unfinished or appear to be empty, however, and it seems like investors have been more eager to modernize and fancify the city than what the people want or can afford. There aren’t a ton of parks or tree-lined streets in the city, but it’s still surprisingly green as there is quite a lot of greenery escaping the individual lots and shading the streets. At first the traffic seemed chaotic (more below) but we quickly got used to it. It’s a tough city for pedestrians, however, as most sidewalks are taken over by parked cars, masses of parked motorbikes, restaurant tables, market carts selling food or beverages, and small repair “shops”. For this reason the entire city seems to take their evening stroll along the riverbank, and we likewise found this path to be a convenient way to move through the city.
Phnom Penh doesn’t have a subway, but the traffic doesn’t come to toooo much of a standstill, probably because even a motorbike is a luxury that many can’t afford. Traffic lights and stop signs are very few and far between; traffic is left to manage on its own. Stopping at red lights seems to be optional, and drivers take every opportunity that appears. Sometimes the law of mass tonnage seems to apply where bigger vehicles get the right of way, but sometimes traffic is just a game of chicken where the driver who dares gets the right of way. Once the first driver breaks into the traffic flow, many others follow creating a new flow, until someone from another direction decides that it’s their turn and breaks in. Motorbikes weave through the small gaps between vehicles, and tuk-tuks weave through the slightly larger gaps. Lane markings, like traffic lights, are advisory only.
Traffic felt dangerous and chaotic and terrifying at first, but after a day or two, I relaxed into it. Accidents seemed to be far and few between, and the chaos forces drivers to pay extra close attention. The system is not just about daring, but is also about backing down to give others space once they have broken in. A (Buddhist?) respect for life seems to govern above all else and while drivers make crazy dare-devil moves, the other drivers accommodate those moves so that no one gets hurt.
This (Buddhist) respect for life was temporarily forgotten during the short but terrible reign of the Khmer Rouge. We visited one of the country’s many killing fields just outside the city
After a depressing day of learning about the awful Khmer Rouge history, we drowned our sorrows during an evening of barhopping. First up was a rooftop bar overlooking a large market – great drinks and lovely sunset views.
We did of course visit Phnom Penh’s tourist must-sees. First up was the Royal Palace where I fell in love with the bright colors and fanciful roofs of the various buildings and pavilions.
While certainly no secret to Lonely Planet and the like, some of our favorite moments in Phnom Penh were the less obvious sights like “discovering” hundreds of fruit bats in the trees around Wat Phnom. I’ve never seen such large bats before and these “Megabats” (according to Wikipedia) are locally known as “flying foxes”. They were napping upside-down in the tree canopy, sometimes fanning out their black, Dracula-like wings.
Another favorite moment was our $5 sunset river cruise at the convergence of the Tonle Sap, Mekong, and Bassac Rivers. We motored around, drank a beer, gazed at the cityscape, and watched the sky turn from blue to deep purple to black. Oddly enough, there were only a few tourists on the boat—most everyone seemed to be locals, ranging from a family celebrating a birthday to teenagers out on the town. It was a very relaxing hour and it felt so exotic to be on the famed Mekong and to experience a bit of Cambodia’s unique river geology.
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| Left: A small garden on the riverbank and a traditional fishing boat in the water. Right: Sunset river cruise boats. |
Cambodia’s history is, like anywhere else, largely shaped by its geology, and Cambodia’s river system has two features that are unique in the world. First of all, the Tonle Sap River reverses its flow twice every year. During the winter, the Tonle Sap River flows from the Tonle Sap Lake and empties into the Mekong. But come spring, the Mekong is so flooded with snowmelt from the Tibetan Plateau that it forces the water of the Tonle Sap River to back up and eventually to reverse. The Tonle Sap River flows backwards and floods the Tonle Sap Lake, expanding its surface area by more than 500%. These shallow, flooded lands were perfect for intensive rice farming and formed the foundation of the ancient Khmer civilization that built Angkor Wat and many other impressive cities.
The second unique feature of Cambodia’s river system is that while most rivers have a number of tributaries bringing water into the larger river, the Mekong River divides in Phnom Pehn. Most of the flow stays in the main Mekong riverbed but a significant amount of water diverts into the Bassac River which empties into sea separately from the Mekong.
Our hotel in Phnom Penh was cheaper than a hostel in Sweden and featured a perfectly nice but unremarkable room as well as a lovely rooftop infinity pool
Elephants
We took a minibus from Phnom Penh to Sen Monorom in the Mondulkuri province in the east of the country near the border with Vietnam. Cambodia doesn’t have a single highway and the entire drive was on local roads, making for a long trip. Despite crazy fast and very daring driving, the bus arrived an hour late, although that was closer to on time than we were expecting given past experiences in Latin America.
We stayed the night at a very pretty hotel consisting of individual bungalows. We dipped in the scenic pool and spent the evening on a tree swing out over the creek.
The next morning our elephant adventure began!
This changed, however, over the last 15ish years or so when modern farming equipment like tractors began to replace the elephants. At the same time, small-scale farming which had left vast swaths of the forest intact gave way to more industrialized farming and the natural forest began to disappear. Suddenly, Bunong families had large, hungry elephants that no longer served a practical purpose and that no longer had free access to food. Having no disposable income, these families could not buy food for their elephants, so they had to find another solution. The elephants were rented out for various other purposes, like clearing forest for rubber plantations or giving rides to tourists. These new jobs were much too intense and they left the elephants physically injured and undernourished.
An English veterinarian came up with a better, more humane solution. First, he worked with the Bunong and the Cambodian government to get the Bunong official, collective ownership of their ancestral homelands—a very rare feat that few indigenous groups in the world have achieved. He then worked with the Bunong to establish the Elephant Valley Project. Now that the elephants had dedicated forest to graze in, they could be brought home, and The Elephant Valley Project is a non-profit that basically acts as a retirement home for elephants that had previously been work elephants in various capacities.
Paying visitors are the economic engine that supports the Bunong community, which still otherwise relies on subsistence farming. The project directly employs a large number of people (I can’t remember the exact number, but probably like 40 or 50 people), many others are indirectly employed, each family in the entire community receives a large monthly ration of rice, and all 2000 members of the community receive full health coverage through the project (insurance and affordable healthcare is otherwise non-existent in Cambodia).
The
Elephant Valley Project is a sanctuary for the elephants—visitors do
not ride them, feed them, pet them, or bathe them. Instead, visitors
quietly follow the elephants as they munch their way through the
forest. The elephants roam at their own pace and the tourists follow at
a safe distance.
Each
group has a Bunong guide that takes them into the forest to visit the
elephants. Being Christmas Day, our guide was dressed very festively.
Each
elephant has its own team of Bunong mahouts that keep watch over it.
The mahouts follow along as the elephants munch their way through the
forests, making sure that the elephants don’t wander into danger. The
elephants are generally watched over by one or two mahouts at a time,
but the Elephant Valley Project does have one bull elephant that
requires three mahouts at all times. When visitors are near, one of the
mahouts rides the elephant’s neck to make sure that the bull doesn’t
charge.
Most
people visit the Elephant Valley Project as a day trip, but Carl and I
elected to stay for three days. We slept in a rustic bungalow,
shared meals with volunteers and staff,
roamed
with the elephants during the mornings, and volunteered during the
afternoons. Our volunteer project was collecting and planting seeds of
endangered tree species for forest regeneration.
There are still wild elephants roaming the forests around the Elephant Valley Project, but because the Bunong have no need for new domesticated elephants, they have stopped capturing wild elephant babies. Eventually, when the last Bunong elephants pass on, the project will have to find a new mission. Perhaps wild elephant sightings?
We had a lovely, relaxed stay at the Elephant Valley Project and enjoyed getting to know the organization and its people a bit better than we would have on the day tour.
Ancient Temples
There is so much more to see in Eastern Cambodia but we decided to prioritize the temples around Siem Reap instead. Being the architecture and archeology junkies that we are, we spent 9 full days exploring the region’s rich built heritage, more or less in chronological order. And yet there are so many ancient cities and temples in the area that we didn’t have time to see a great number of them!
There’s not any public transportation around the sites and the distances are far too vast to be walkable or bikeable, so tourists generally hire tuk-tuk or taxi drivers for the day to take them to their archeological site of choice. Our hotel had a team of reasonably priced and friendly drivers; often we had a new driver each day but sometimes we were scheduled with someone who had already given us a ride. We preferred tuk-tuks to taxis because a) tuk-tuks were slightly cheaper and b) how often do you get to ride around in a tuk-tuk!?! and c) riding around in an open tuk-tuk somehow feels more “present” than in an enclosed car. We had SO much fun riding around the countryside in tuk-tuks!
I, of course, loved observing the roadside vernacular architecture from the tuk-tuks.
Most
houses are on stilts a full floor above the ground, keeping the floor
dry in the wet season and helping to keep critters out. Large, sweeping
roof overhangs frequently shade large areas of the yard.
The tuk-tuks are basically carriages hooked up to a motorbike, and it was fascinating to see just how much a motorbike can do. Larger carriages serve as “buses” transporting up to around 15 people. We also observed many motorbikes serving as “trucks” and pulling large loads. Now that I think about it, I don’t think we saw any large trucks in Cambodia at all.
Cambodia does have earlier temples in other regions of the country, but UNESCO World Heritage Site Sambor Prei Kuk from the 600’s AD is generally considered the prototype of Khmer architecture. Sambor Prei Kuk was a capitol city and today over 100 temples are known. Many of the temples are found within three temple complexes—each walled compound has a central temple on a raised brick platform and a number of slightly smaller temples scattered around the base of the platform.
All
non-religious architecture, including the royal palace, were built of
wood and have long since disappeared. But the temples are built in
brick
and have gorgeously decorated sandstone elements.
The vast majority of Khmer temples contain(ed) a vertical linga which represents Shiva but is also a phallic fertility symbol, and the symbolism is hardly subtle. The lingas stand upright and are inserted into a square yoni, a vulva fertility symbol, which are sometimes beautifully carved. The yoni collects the liquid that is poured onto the linga and funnels it to a vagina-looking spout.
It was also
interesting to see that the temples are still used today as religious shrines,
though the linga/yoni doesn’t seem to be the focus these days.
Sambor Prei Kuk was a bit of a unique experience for us because we were able to walk through the forest to the various temple complexes. We spent very little time wandering the forests of the Angkor region, so this was a special treat.
A
little closer to Siem Reap and within the Angkor UNESCO archeological
park, the Roluos group of temples date to the 800’s AD and were the
first still-intact Khmer capitol within the Angkor region. The Roluos
group consists of three distinct temple complexes, all built by the same
king (although they were enhanced by later kings). Preah Ko consists
of 6 brick towers on a very low sandstone platform
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| * Plan of Preah Ko |
with lovely sandstone carvings
and even some remaining plaster.
At
Preah Ko we first became acquainted with several architectural elements
that we’d see in many later temple complexes, such as the carved
“flame” stone steps,
The Preah
Ko temples were dedicated to a couple of the King’s favorite ancestors
and to a couple of his favorite gods. The temple complex is surrounded
by a laterite wall, and near the wall are a couple of “extra” stone
buildings with an unknown purpose—I’d guess administrative or
repositories of temple relics or gifts.
Bakong is probably the first Khmer stepped pyramid (or temple mountain) and was the king’s state temple.
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| * Plan of Bakong. Note that the moat outside of the temple complex is not shown here. |
The pyramid sits in the middle of the moat
Several brick temples circle the pyramid’s base,
and there are also a few of the “extra” buildings between the causeway and the pyramid.
Bakong
is an example of a temple with a long, continuous history as a more
modern temple now sits inside the moat below the pyramid.
With Preah Ko and Bakong, this king set a pattern that was to be repeated for centuries: First a new king builds a temple complex dedicated to his ancestors; these temples sit on a low platform. Then the king builds a moat-surrounded pyramid-shaped state temple representing Mt. Meru—the center of the universe and axis of the world in Hindu mythology—a huge and very visible undertaking symbolically anchoring the Khmer empire (and by extension the king?) to the center of the universe. Everything else symbolically revolved around the state temple.
Lolei was conceived as island temple. The surrounding “moat” was a gigantic baray or water reservoir, the first of many to be constructed in the Angkor region. The exact purpose of these reservoirs is contested, but it seems clear to me that a) the barays are a flashy show of power as only a royal, almost divine, power would have the resources to harness water in this way and that b) controlling water was equivalent to controlling life and the entire agricultural cycle in a culture based on rice farming. The reservoirs clearly had both a symbolic and a practical purpose. The Lolei reservoir is now dry and used for rice farming.
Lolei’s temple was the least impressive of the three and consisted of a relatively high terrace topped by four brick temples
I
have read nothing supporting this, but extrapolating from later
patterns I would guess that Lolei was originally built as a monastery;
today, a modern monastery shares the island with the ancient
temples.
No one knows exactly why but the next Khmer capital, built in the 900’s AD, was built about 90km (56 miles) away at Koh Ker. Like the Roluos group, Koh Ker was a complete city with different neighborhoods, each with their own small temple complex, palaces and administrative buildings, a number of very large reservoirs, and a huge state temple surrounded by a moat. All of this was built during the reign of one king, though the state temple was left unfinished which is noticeable as the rough blocks do not have any reliefs or carvings. Only the temples survive, but seeing the numerous neighborhood temples scattered about what is now forest gives a good feeling of just how huge this city was.
Koh Ker’s state temple, Prasat Thom (“Big Temple”), is approached from a long, linear causeway crossing the moat. The approach was once a long gallery but the walls and roof are now collapsed.
Inside the moat, you enter the inner wall 
and you finally get a glimpse of the temple which is a 35m (115 feet) high stepped pyramid with 7 levels. 
Like
Bakong, Prasat Thom’s form reminds me a lot of Mayan temples. Again
like Bakong, Prasat Thom was built of laterite blocks and faced in
sandstone. The steps are in bad condition so access to the top is via a
modern stair to the side of the pyramid. 
The
pyramid was once topped by a temple, but it is now collapsed. However,
the view out over the forest remains! Koh Ker is known for its
beautiful statuary; most of it has been removed to museums but you can
still catch a glimpse of some of the carvings at the top of the pyramid.
Like Cambodia’s other ancient temples, Koh Ker’s Prasat Thom is still actively used as a shrine. Just behind the temple is a more modern elephant shrine that was getting a loving bath when we passed by. (Cambodians were taking photos, too, so it seemed ok to snap a shot.)
We visited a number of the neighborhood temples but my favorite was jungle covered Prasat Prom.
It
was also interesting to see a linga in situ at Prassat Balang
Cheung—most of them have been removed to museums or looted. And the
elephant statues at Prasat Damrei were pretty fun, too. 
Prasat Kravan is a fairly small and minor site in the main Angkor archeological zone from roughly the same time period as Koh Ker, the 900’s AD. Prasat Kravan consists of five brick temples on a low brick platform which was once surrounded by a relatively small moat.
Prasat
Kravan’s unique feature is its reliefs made out of the same bricks
which form the building—a similar artform that we saw at Sambor Prei Kuk
but exceptionally well preserved at Kravan. Sambor Prei Kuk’s brick
reliefs were on the outsides of the temples, but Kravan’s were on the
inside, which probably helped to preserve them. 
Banteay Srei from the mid 900’s AD is a very unique temple built not by a king, but by one of his administrators.
The temples are faced with pink sandstone that has been meticulously carved. 
Here, there are “extra” buildings both inside and outside of the inner walls along the causeway. There is also a large baray or reservoir beside the site which is today used for rice and lotus farming.
No one knows exactly why but the next Khmer capital, built in the 900’s AD, was built about 90km (56 miles) away at Koh Ker. Like the Roluos group, Koh Ker was a complete city with different neighborhoods, each with their own small temple complex, palaces and administrative buildings, a number of very large reservoirs, and a huge state temple surrounded by a moat. All of this was built during the reign of one king, though the state temple was left unfinished which is noticeable as the rough blocks do not have any reliefs or carvings. Only the temples survive, but seeing the numerous neighborhood temples scattered about what is now forest gives a good feeling of just how huge this city was.
Koh Ker’s state temple, Prasat Thom (“Big Temple”), is approached from a long, linear causeway crossing the moat. The approach was once a long gallery but the walls and roof are now collapsed.
Like Cambodia’s other ancient temples, Koh Ker’s Prasat Thom is still actively used as a shrine. Just behind the temple is a more modern elephant shrine that was getting a loving bath when we passed by. (Cambodians were taking photos, too, so it seemed ok to snap a shot.)
We visited a number of the neighborhood temples but my favorite was jungle covered Prasat Prom.
Prasat Kravan is a fairly small and minor site in the main Angkor archeological zone from roughly the same time period as Koh Ker, the 900’s AD. Prasat Kravan consists of five brick temples on a low brick platform which was once surrounded by a relatively small moat.
The
nearby Sra Srang is a reservoir from the mid 900’s AD. It is one of
Angkor’s smaller reservoirs, but it is still an impressively large
engineering project. Most of the other reservoirs are either totally or
partly silted up, but Sra Srang is still water-filled (I’m guessing
that it has been re-dug out at one point in time).
Banteay Srei from the mid 900’s AD is a very unique temple built not by a king, but by one of his administrators.
This
administrator was clearly more interested in quality than quantity—this
temple complex is diminutive in size but is the most exquisitely and
extensively carved of them all. The complex is approached by a small
causeway, is enclosed by a small moat and short walls, 
and consists of four mini-temples on a low platform.
The
buildings are just big enough for one or two people to fit in, so
they’re not dollhouse-sized, but it is as if a “regular” Khmer complex
was shrunk to a scale of 1:3 or 1:4 and then covered in even more
carvings than usual.
Phimeanakas is a pyramid temple from the beginning of the 1000’s.
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| * plan of the Phimeanakas temple |
Kbal Spean was a totally different kind of archeological site located about an hour north of Angkor on the Kullen Mountain.
This creek is commonly known as the “River of a Thousand Lingas” because tens of thousands of linga/yoni symbols are carved on the creek bed. The farther you walk along the water, the more lingas and yonis you see. Some are giant, maybe six feet x six feet and correspond to the actual size of these talismans in temples,
The creek seems to have been part of a bathing ritual as a “bathtub” is carved into the sandstone riverbed both just above and right below a waterfall. It’s not just lingas and yonis that are carved into the stones, there are also a number of Vishnus and other figures from the Hindu mythology.
After
exploring the carvings for a couple of hours, we hung out on a huge
boulder overlooking the waterfall for a while. Eventually we changed
into bathing suits and ducked under the waterfall and “baptized”
ourselves in the bathtub at the base of the falls.
Bapuon from around 1060 AD was a state temple built amidst the many temples of central Angkor.
Inside
the wall galleries and on higher and higher levels of the pyramid is a
second and a third ring of galleries which encloses the courtyard around
the central temple.
The central temple is itself a multi-tiered pyramid stepping up into the sky.
Bapuon was built of laterite blocks and faced with beautifully carved sandstone, but only some of the sandstone carvings are visible today.
Each successive Khmer king had to outdo his predecessor. Not only did the temple complexes become larger and larger and more and more complex, but the kings also built more and more temple complexes. Khmer architecture culminated under King Suryavarman II who built Angkor Wat as well as a number of other temple complexes, including Banteay Samre in the early1100’s AD which was dedicated to Vishnu.
Like its predecessors, Banteay Samre was surrounded by a large moat and approached on a causeway.
This site continues the new tradition of rings of galleries surrounding the central temple and has two layers of galleries,
but
the central temple is not a pyramid and is basically on the same level
as the galleries (meaning that the temple was most likely dedicated to
ancestors or was built as a monastery or university).
Here, both rings of galleries are accented with corner pavilions and central gate pavilions.
Banteay Samre is in surprisingly good condition and all of these concentric layers create very complex spatial relationships
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| The corbeling gets more complex at Banteay Samre |
and
an extremely rich spatial experience as you move through the compound.
At times you look through a door through a door to a door and beyond, a
seemingly endless expanse of rooms unfolding before you. Looking down
the central axis you see the central temple’s yoni “altar” in the
distance—the linga would have been the central exclamation point of the
complex before it was removed.
The galleries and temple are raised on platforms about 2 meters above the ground. Steep stairs lead from building to ground and up to the next building, but the complex is so compact that the stairs practically meet each other between the buildings.
The complex is built of laterite blocks and faced with sandstone, some of which is exquisitely carved—pavilion crests, door jambs, door lintels, door surrounds and pilasters.
The window balusters are more detailed than older examples.
Angkor Wat is the highest apogee of ancient Khmer architecture. As the largest religious building in the world, it is an unimaginably giant complex, but it was built in only 30 years in the early 1100’s AD.
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| * Angkor Wat |
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| * Angkor Wat's central temple complex inside the moat |
Angkor
Wat is like Banteay Samre on steroids and covered in kilometers of
intricately carved murals. While all of the Khmer temples are currently
used as Buddhist shrines, Angkor Wat never fell into disuse. It was
therefore maintained over the centuries and never fell into ruin or was
overtaken by jungle like most of the area’s other sites. There is a
reason that Angkor Wat is the only temple commonly known outside of
Cambodia—it is truly a masterpiece.
Some statistics on Angkor Wat’s size: the moat is 200m (655 ft) wide and about 5km (3.1 miles) in circumference. There are 600 linear meters (about half a mile) of bas relief murals, all of them 2m (6 ½ feet) tall. Among other carvings, more than 2000 apsaras or dancing women are featured, each with their own hair style, facial features, dress, and hand gestures. Angkor has not two but three layers of concentric galleries, each a bit higher up the temple pyramid platform. The summit consists of five towers, the middle of which is the tallest with a total height of 42m (140 ft). Most of the area inside the moat is now wooded, but it was once the site of a bustling city and a royal palace complex, but because they were built in wood, they have not survived.
There is just about nothing on earth as grand as the approach to Angkor on its grand, broad causeway from the west. First you cross the gigantic moat
and finally, you see it!
Once you reach the main temple complex, you climb the first platform
and then pass through the first ring of mural-covered galleries.
emerging into another inner courtyard. Here you can finally see
the central temple pyramid.
Steep stairs lead up the central pyramid
where there is a central temple surrounded by another ring of galleries and another central courtyard.
The
central temple was dedicated to Vishnu and the gallery murals feature
different episodes from Hindu mythology—creation, battles, processions,
Like its contemporaries, Angkor Wat was built of laterite blocks and then faced in carved sandstone. But besides the murals, Angkor Wat is today not as richly decorated as some of the other temples. Much of the carved sandstone is “melty”, probably a result of the fact that these stones were never buried under a pile of rubble, protecting them from the worst of the rain.
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| Left: The laterite structure peeking out from behind the sandstone facing. Right: "Melty" sandstone carvings. |
However,
there are clues that this temple was probably the most spectacularly
decorated of them all—just comparing the complexity of carving of the
window balusters to other contemporary temples shows that this temple’s
carvings were in a class above all else.
There are also a number of intact inscriptions.
Because
it was never ruined, there are remnants of details at Angkor Wat that
are lost at other sites. For example, the roof corbels were all at one
time plastered and decorated with low relief. The reliefs were at one
time colorfully painted, and we even saw a couple of wooden beams here
and there.
Beng Mealea was built by the same king as Banteay Samre and Angkor Wat, but a bit later, in the mid 1100’s AD. Beng Mealea’s plan is a smaller version of Angkor Wat’s with a moat and a causeway
A series of wooden platforms winds through the site,
After Suryavarman II, there was a pause of about 50 years without a lot of building activity. But then there was a last frenzied surge of building under Jayavarman VII in the late 1100’s and the first half of the 1200’s AD. The preceding kings had built a lot, but Jayavarman built on an even greater and almost unimaginable scale. He built so much that the fall of the Angkor Kingdom is largely attributed to how far Jayavarman overextended the kingdom’s physical, monetary, and human resources.
With Jayavarman VII, the state religion turned from Hinduism to Buddhism, but Hinduism was tolerated and the Hindu gods were still revered under Buddhism. It does not seem like the architectural expression of religious architecture changed just because the religion shifted from Vishnu to Buddha, though the architecture continued to become more and more complex.
Like other kings before him, Jayavarman first built temples dedicated to his ancestors before building a new state temple. Ta Prohm from the late 1100’s is a Buddhist monastery dedicated to his mother.
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| * Ta Prohm's extensive area inside of the walls. |
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| * The central Ta Prohm temple complex inside the moats. |
Ta Prohm’s main gate tower features large faces which face each of the four cardinal directions. These oversized faces would become a theme throughout Jayavarman VII’s building spree. Are the faces gods or kings? Probably both, one and the same.
From the main gate, the causeway over the moat
is widened to include a large building with many
columns (the Khmer did not have the technology of the arch so they
couldn’t have very long spans). 
Crossing through the outer gallery,
Moving through Ta Prohm is to move through a sea of columns. The lower scale of the buildings make for a heavier, more earthly experience than some of the other loftier complexes (like Angkor Wat).
Ta Prohm is partially ruined
Some bas relief murals and
sculpture remain, but much of it has “melted” after centuries of rain.
After centuries of detailed minutia, Ta Prohm’s sculptural style is
starting to become a bit more large scale and less intricate.
Preah Khan, also built by Jayavarman VII in the late 1100’s, was a Buddhist university with 1000 teachers and was dedicated to the king’s father. It was built atop the site of a previous palace.
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| * Preah Khan - note that the plan only shows the central temple complex. The moat and surrounding walls are not shown and lie outside of the plan. |
Like all other Khmer sites, you cross into the religious complex from the four cardinal directions through a gatehouse or gopura.
The site's floor plan is
even more complex than any of the previous Khmer buildings. The
various buildings are so packed into the plazas that sometimes you can
barely see the sky between them.
The central, most holy of temples is not raised and given the complex geometry of the site, it is not especially easy to know when you've reached the middle. A "modern" Buddhist stupa from the 1600's now graces the central temple.
Sculpture at Preah Khan follows Ta
Prohm’s trend with fewer fine details and larger gestures. It’s almost
like the sculptors couldn’t quite keep up with the frenzied pace of
construction during Jayavarman VII’s reign and blew up their templates
to a larger scale. Even so, many of the buildings are completely
covered in carved sandstone decoration, unlike many older buildings
which had carved sandstone decorations only in some key locations.
Ancient Khmer’s only known two-story building is on the edge of Preah Khan’s complex. The many thick columns sit very closely together—again, without the arch, stone architecture can become very chunky.
Banteay
Kdei was built in the late 1100’s over a temple from the 900’s.
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| * Plan of the linear Banteay Kdei. The outer gates, moat, and walls are not depicted. |
Like
Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, this complex consists of a series of compact
galleried enclosures surrounding a main temple—apart from its central
location, the temple is otherwise not very prominent within the
complex. However, Banteay Kdei is significantly smaller than its
contemporaneous temples so it’s a bit easier to orient yourself.
The face entrance gate theme continues at Banteay Kdei.
Jayavarman VII’s city of Angkor Thom and its main Bayon temple (both from the early 1200’s) were the swan song of Angkor architecture.
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| * The central part of Angkor Thom, with the Bayon toward the bottom. The city walls and moat are very far outside of this image and enclose a huge amount of territory. |
and the gates into
Angkor Thom (which traffic still passes through!) are towers with large faces carved into the blocks.
The newer Angkor Thom walls enclosed a number of existing buildings including Phimeanakas and Bapuon (see above) as well as a number of other “random” pre-existing temples. However, Jayavarman VII built a new state temple in the middle of Angkor Thom’s enclosure, Bayon.
In addition to the new face theme, the Bayon is a further development of Khmer temple architecture. It is a low pyramid with two layers of galleries, but the central temple compound is even more complex than at Angkor with a large number of towers and very complicated geometries. The central temple is now basically circular in plan with niches jutting out into the exterior walls much like chapels radiating from the apse of a Gothic cathedral.
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| * Bayon's plan |
The Bayon is an interesting example of bigger, temples being built over older temples, much like in the Mayan world. But here, both the smaller, older temple and the larger, newer temple were built by the same king. Worried that it wouldn’t be finished in time for his death, the king first had a smaller complex built before starting in on the larger vision. You can wander through the “basement” of the larger temple and see much of the original building.
Like Angkor Wat, Bayon is also known for its murals, especially of a historic (not mythological) naval battle that took place on the Tonle Sap lake nearby. There are also depictions of daily Khmer life, a source of information on a culture that didn’t leave a lot of written records. Honestly, after Angkor Wat, we were underwhelmed by Bayon’s murals. If we hadn’t already seen Angkor Wat, they would have been amazing. But compared to Angkor’s murals, Bayon’s murals are flat and far less detailed.
Another disappointment with Bayon is that the public is no longer allowed to climb to the top of the pyramid to see the central temple. This means that you never get to experience the new-fangled architecture, nor do you get good views of the faces on the lower towers like so many of the photos depicting Bayon. I think that the faces have also collected a lot more lichen since the iconic photos were taken, and today the faces aren’t as clearly visible.
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| Best glimpse of the central temple. |
Bayon was built as a Buddhist temple but it ironically is one of the few examples where the linga is still onsite and inserted into the yoni. Perhaps the linga and yoni are a later addition during the Hindu backlash of the 1300's? Today, offerings are still left at the temple's Buddha shrine, though these get quickly devoured by the area's monkeys.
Just
outside of the royal palace at Phimeanakas (still within the walls of
Angkor Thom), the same king Jayavarman VII built a royal viewing
platform looking out over a parade ground. Today known as the Elephant
Terrace, the walls of the platform feature elephant reliefs as well as
elephants with three dimensional tusks and trunks walking out of the
walls (there are some 3D elephant trunks on the gate to Angkor Thom,
too).
The adjacent Leper King Terrace is another example of one structure being built on top of another. Here, the older structure had started to collapse, so a new casing was built around it in the late 1200’s. The newer casing has protected the original sculptures on the inside, and these are in incredibly good shape. It’s unclear what the original building was used for.
Jayavarman VII didn’t just build in Angkor—he is also known
for an extensive building campaign across the empire including roads,
bridges, hospitals, and administrative buildings. We noticed several
small ancient bridges in various states of ruin beside modern-day
bridges while driving around, but the most impressive bridge we saw was
Spean Praptos. Original from the 1100’s (though maintained and
renovated over the centuries), this bridge is still in use today! The
bridge is a good visual example of the Khmer not possessing arch
technology—here, corbels are used to span over the small openings
between columns. The structure is solid but not very graceful!
The Khmer Empire didn’t immediately collapse after Jayavarman VII’s reign, but the kingdom quickly declined and dissolved. There were no significant building projects in the Angkor area after Angkor Thom and Bayon. Eventually, the capital was moved to Phnom Pehn.
So while Europeans were building soaring Gothic cathedrals, the Khmer were building extensive temple complexes. Both religious expressions are beyond impressive, but two things really struck me about the Khmer building spree. First, the speed: European gothic cathedrals took centuries to build, while Khmer temples were completed within one generation. And then there's the ornamentation: Yes, Gothic cathedrals have impressive decorations like embellished column capitols, stained glass windows, and carved altars, but in comparison to Khmer temples, they are practically bare.
On the other hand, Gothic cathedrals are much more technologically advanced with their arches and domes, slender columns, and soaring naves while the Khmer didn't seem to test the boundaries of what they could do with stone. Khmer temples became larger and the architectural style evolved over time, but they never tested new technologies, even though those new technologies must have been relatively close at hand—there's a clear influence of ancient Greek architecture, for example, so it’s not so crazy to think that the Khmer would have known of the arch from neighboring India who was building with them since the 5th century BC. And Hinduism itself came from India…I’ve wondered about this to the extent that I’ve now done a little research on Indian architecture and learned that Hindu temples in India were never built with the arch, either! So it’s not just the Khmer.
Phew! That was a lot of archeology and ancient architecture to write about! Over our 9 days in Siem Reap, we sure did see a lot of ancient temples, though not nearly all of them—there’s definitely more to experience and gaps in the chronology to fill if we ever go back.
The temples were amazing already, but the experience was heightened even more by the fact that some of the temples were literally crawling with monkeys! We loved watching the macaques scamper, climb, jump, and play. Sometimes they were snoozing or calmly grooming each other. We watched adults, babies, and adolescents. Sometimes the monkeys were in the trees or on the grass nearby a temple, and sometimes they were climbing around the temple itself.
On the other hand, Gothic cathedrals are much more technologically advanced with their arches and domes, slender columns, and soaring naves while the Khmer didn't seem to test the boundaries of what they could do with stone. Khmer temples became larger and the architectural style evolved over time, but they never tested new technologies, even though those new technologies must have been relatively close at hand—there's a clear influence of ancient Greek architecture, for example, so it’s not so crazy to think that the Khmer would have known of the arch from neighboring India who was building with them since the 5th century BC. And Hinduism itself came from India…I’ve wondered about this to the extent that I’ve now done a little research on Indian architecture and learned that Hindu temples in India were never built with the arch, either! So it’s not just the Khmer.
Phew! That was a lot of archeology and ancient architecture to write about! Over our 9 days in Siem Reap, we sure did see a lot of ancient temples, though not nearly all of them—there’s definitely more to experience and gaps in the chronology to fill if we ever go back.
The temples were amazing already, but the experience was heightened even more by the fact that some of the temples were literally crawling with monkeys! We loved watching the macaques scamper, climb, jump, and play. Sometimes they were snoozing or calmly grooming each other. We watched adults, babies, and adolescents. Sometimes the monkeys were in the trees or on the grass nearby a temple, and sometimes they were climbing around the temple itself.
While cute and fun to watch, the monkeys have
unfortunately become a nuisance, and many of the tourists make the
situation worse. The monkeys have learned that humans have food and
drinks in their bags, so sometimes the monkeys try to steal people’s
backpacks. They’ve also learned that the shrines inside of the temples
are rich pickings—people leave water bottles, fruit, other foods, and
money at the shrines as a religious offering, but the monkeys scamper in
and eat it all. We watched as one monkey literally sat in a Buddha’s
lap and ate paper money.
Many of the temples are scattered within a vast UNESCO archeological park, but a number of them are further out and are scattered around the countryside. Siem Reap is the nearest big town to the sites, and today it has ballooned to accommodate the hordes of tourists that come to visit Angkor Wat each year. Siem Reap is in other words the tourist capitol of Cambodia, but it still manages to have an authentic vibe. Much of the city’s commerce caters to relatively wealthy tourists, but the local population is visibly present and well integrated into the city’s fabric.
Siem Reap is a pleasant place to wander and features a number of tourist sites in its own right. The local branch of the National Museum is excellent with an impressive collection of archeological sculpture, and unlike the main branch in the capital you get a lot of information and context. We also enjoyed an evening of Apsara dance. This form of dance is so different than European ballet, but impressive in its own right.
We stayed at a fabulous hotel in Siem Reap called Rambutan. It was very reasonably priced (for us westerners) and a night at the hotel costs about what we pay for two beds in a bunkroom in a mountain cabin in Sweden. Each room is actually a little two- or three-story villa
Our days in Siem Reap followed the same pattern that we had more-or-less followed since the beginning of our Cambodian adventures: Up early, breakfast at the hotel, and then out touristing. Back to the hotel in the late afternoon for a cooling swim. Beer on our balcony or a drink at the hotel bar or at one of the city’s many bars. Dinner out—sometimes fancier, but often street food or a locals-dominated restaurant with zero décor but cheap and delicious food. Dinner out at a restaurant catering mainly to locals cost about $2 per person, beer included.
I’m pretty sure that we tried every Cambodian beer in commercial circulation (as well as a number of Thai, Laotian, and Chinese beers too) during our trip. Beer is so cheap that if a beer cost more than $1 in a restaurant, Carl and I started talking about if it was worth it to order a beer at such inflated prices!
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| Our favorite: Good time Krud time! Oh, the translation fun! |
We tried a number of cocktails, too, but
were frequently disappointed by the concoctions which were uncreative
and not based on local flora or local spirits; additionally, the drinks
were often too sticky sweet. A few bars, however, produced well
composed and very tasty cocktails made with home-infused ingredients
like pepper-infused vodka.
We enjoyed the food in Cambodia but decided that Cambodian is not our new favorite cuisine. It is not spicy at all, salt is used very sparingly, and at times the dishes are a bit bland.
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| When a tourist, be a tourist. Drink and eat out of a coconut! |
A lot of
Cambodian fare is fish-based, and a dried fish paste is a common base.
In addition to the more common meats, we also tried water buffalo
Our favorite aspect of Cambodian food was the fruit—so fresh,
perfectly ripe, and in season. Pineapple in abundance, jack fruit,
mangos, and a new favorite, mangosteen. We also snacked on a lot of
uber tasty dried fruit and cashews procured in the market. We didn’t,
however, munch on a lot of insects, one of Cambodia’s favorite snacks.
Neither Carl nor I are big shoppers, and most of the souvenirs that we brought home were edible. However, I couldn't resist coming home with a pair of elephant pants! They're my new favorite pajamas. I was also intrigued to see that many middle-aged Cambodian women wear pajama sets as regular daytime clothing. I didn't see any Cambodian women wearing the touristy elephant pants, however.
Neither
of us had any debilitating stomach issues, but my stomach was unsettled
for most of the trip. Carl’s stomach was fine until he got home. It
took us both about two weeks for our stomachs to fully recover. I do wonder how we would have fared without the cholera/traveler's diarrhea vaccine that we took before leaving... It's a side note but this trip required a lot of different vaccines. Adult vaccinations are generally not covered by the Swedish healthcare system and the total cost of the vaccines ended up being about the cost of a third plane ticket between Sweden and Cambodia!
Our appetites were somewhat dampened by the heat. The rainy season lasted a bit longer than usual this year, and our first week featured afternoon thunderstorms and downpours which made for extremely humid conditions. But then the weather cleared up and there was no more rain during our trip, though a lot of humidity remained. Some days were clear with burning sun, while others were cloudy and thus slightly cooler. However, even the cloudy days were well above our comfort range and we were hot and sweaty and uncomfortable for most of the trip. It was amusing to learn that the Cambodians found the weather cold—they were wearing coats and sweaters in the evenings and mornings and drinking hot tea to stay warm!
It was interesting to experience what a huge difference in temperature the forest makes. We would leave hot and steamy Siem Reap in the morning, and immediately upon driving into the densely forested archeological park, the temperature would drop significantly causing shiver bumps on my bare arms. The lovely coolness didn’t last long—the sun warmed the forest even under the dense canopy, but it was still significantly cooler in the forest than in the city.
Cambodia’s tourist industry has still not fully recovered after the pandemic. Several large hotels in Siem Reap are still closed because the demand is so low. There were no lines to get into archeological sites or to climb to the tops of pyramids. We were certainly not alone as tourists, but we were very thankful that the crowds were so manageable.
The thinned crowds of tourists has certainly not helped Cambodia’s economy. While 85% of the population are farmers, the vast majority have at least one or two side gigs, often catering to the tourism industry in some way. Several people had warned us that the poverty in Cambodia would be hard to stomach, but actually, we didn’t find it all that shocking. Yes, people live much simpler and sometimes much poorer lives than we do. And yes, we did see some barefoot children and there were several instances where we saw children laboring instead of going to school during the day. There were also some beggars, many of whom have lost limbs to the land mines that still litter the country after the Secret and Civil wars, but we didn’t see more beggars in Cambodia than in the US or Sweden. We never saw the level of poverty that we have witnessed in Latin America, and we certainly never witnessed the level of desperation that is so prevalent in some Latin American countries.
Our appetites were somewhat dampened by the heat. The rainy season lasted a bit longer than usual this year, and our first week featured afternoon thunderstorms and downpours which made for extremely humid conditions. But then the weather cleared up and there was no more rain during our trip, though a lot of humidity remained. Some days were clear with burning sun, while others were cloudy and thus slightly cooler. However, even the cloudy days were well above our comfort range and we were hot and sweaty and uncomfortable for most of the trip. It was amusing to learn that the Cambodians found the weather cold—they were wearing coats and sweaters in the evenings and mornings and drinking hot tea to stay warm!
It was interesting to experience what a huge difference in temperature the forest makes. We would leave hot and steamy Siem Reap in the morning, and immediately upon driving into the densely forested archeological park, the temperature would drop significantly causing shiver bumps on my bare arms. The lovely coolness didn’t last long—the sun warmed the forest even under the dense canopy, but it was still significantly cooler in the forest than in the city.
Cambodia’s tourist industry has still not fully recovered after the pandemic. Several large hotels in Siem Reap are still closed because the demand is so low. There were no lines to get into archeological sites or to climb to the tops of pyramids. We were certainly not alone as tourists, but we were very thankful that the crowds were so manageable.
The thinned crowds of tourists has certainly not helped Cambodia’s economy. While 85% of the population are farmers, the vast majority have at least one or two side gigs, often catering to the tourism industry in some way. Several people had warned us that the poverty in Cambodia would be hard to stomach, but actually, we didn’t find it all that shocking. Yes, people live much simpler and sometimes much poorer lives than we do. And yes, we did see some barefoot children and there were several instances where we saw children laboring instead of going to school during the day. There were also some beggars, many of whom have lost limbs to the land mines that still litter the country after the Secret and Civil wars, but we didn’t see more beggars in Cambodia than in the US or Sweden. We never saw the level of poverty that we have witnessed in Latin America, and we certainly never witnessed the level of desperation that is so prevalent in some Latin American countries.
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| It is not advisable to stray from established trails in Cambodia, as landmines still litter much of the countryside. Even the off-trail areas of archeological sites are dangerous. |
One sign that Cambodians are used to tourists is that almost all important text—road signs, store signs, even most menus—is written both with the Cambodian alphabet and with the Latin alphabet. Menus without English text usually had pictures so you could get somewhat of an idea of what you were ordering. A number of the English translations were pretty amusing—I certainly don’t want to entrust my savings with Woori Bank or to get HIV from my beer!
The majority of the Cambodians in the tourist industry spoke some English, but we encountered only a few that really mastered the language enough to be able to answer spontaneous questions. As soon as we were off the tourist trail, at a simple locals-only restaurant for example, no English was spoken. However, we never felt like it was impossible to communicate, and the traditional tourist language of charades worked quite well.
Carl
and I rarely return to places we’ve visited—even if there’s so much
more to see, we usually choose to explore a completely new place instead
of returning to somewhere we’ve already been. I would not be opposed
to returning to Cambodia—there’s so much more to experience and I really loved our time there—but perhaps our next exotic adventure will be to…Laos???
Sources
We read a lot about the ancient Khmer civilization before our trip. My two favorite books were
* Ancient Angkor by Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques (2012) and
Angkor and the Khmer Civilization by Michael D. Coe (2003).
The first book focuses on archeological sites, architecture, and sculpture, but there is some good background information about the ancient Khmer culture. It is more of a guidebook and the plan drawings in my post come from this book. The second book gives a much broader and very interesting view of ancient Khmer culture but does also have a lot of site-specific information.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2024
Windy Gotland 
We
took the ferry to Gotland over All Saint’s weekend to visit Carl’s
parents. It was an extremely windy weekend and we were worried that our
ferry would be canceled. The ferry after ours was in fact cancelled,
but luckily ours ran according to schedule. I had been worried that the
3-meter (9-foot) waves would make for a queasy crossing, but the rough
sea was actually barely noticeable—we’ve definitely experienced worse
crossings to Gotland in the past.
The theme of this visit ended up being turn of the century artist’s homes, two of which are next door to each other and within a few miles of Carl’s parents’ house. Saturday dawned a bright, sunny day with scarcely a cloud in the sky, so Carl and I decided to brave the wind and walk to the day’s destination, Brucebo. It was a beautiful hike
The theme of this visit ended up being turn of the century artist’s homes, two of which are next door to each other and within a few miles of Carl’s parents’ house. Saturday dawned a bright, sunny day with scarcely a cloud in the sky, so Carl and I decided to brave the wind and walk to the day’s destination, Brucebo. It was a beautiful hike
We
eventually found a sunny spot in the lee of the wind for a picnic lunch
before continuing on to Brucebo. We met up with Carl’s parents and
toured the house together.
Brucebo was built in the very beginning of the 1900’s by Karolina Benedicks Bruce, the Swedish heiress of one of Sweden’s largest fortunes, and her husband William Blair Bruce from the Canadian middle class. The pair met at the artist’s colony Grez-sur-loing in France in 1885 (where Karin and Carl Larsson were also in residence). William was a talented painter, and Karolina was a talented sculptor who also dabbled in paint.
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| Brucebo |
Due to Karolina’s fortune, the pair never had to earn an income. They therefore created for the sake of creating and never sold their works, resulting in their being relatively unknown despite their talent. Interest in their art has increased in the last decade and their art and story have begun to be exhibited in respected museums in various temporary exhibits, but the bulk of their art remains on the walls and in the attic of Brucebo.
Brucebo and its servants’ cottage were built in the National Romantic spirit. The house has large windows to view the surrounding forest and sea and to provide light into the atelier. The interiors are livable but were never completely finished—William died of a heart attack before the house was completed and Karolina never had the heart to finish the house without him. Even so, it almost feels like the pair still live in the house which is filled with their furniture, belongings, sculptures, and paintings.
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| Brucebo's servants' cottage |
Upon
her death, Karolina gifted the Brucebo property and a sizeable fortune
to a foundation which was to take care of the house as well as to
provide for artist’s scholarships. The foundation is still at work
today—maintaining the house and grounds, giving tours, and granting
stipends.
After visiting the house, Carl and I walked through the neighboring Brucebo Nature Reserve and watched the sun set into the Baltic Sea from the top of a cliffside hill fort.
After visiting the house, Carl and I walked through the neighboring Brucebo Nature Reserve and watched the sun set into the Baltic Sea from the top of a cliffside hill fort.
On Sunday, we drove over to Muramaris, the estate next door to Brucebo. Muramaris was built by another artsy couple who were contemporaries and friends of the Bruces. Ellen von Halwyll was the daughter of another of Sweden’s wealthiest families. She was originally married into another wealthy family, but the marriage was not a happy one. She fell in love with her children’s tutor Johnny Roosval, managed to receive a divorce from her husband (no mean feat at that time), and married Johnny instead. Ellen was another talented sculptor (with a more modern slant than Karolina) and Johnny was an art historian.
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| Muramaris |
Together, they built Muramaris which in my eye is reminiscent of Mediterranean villas with its large windows overlooking an extensive formal garden. Sadly, scandal has enveloped the property and its owners since Ellen’s death, and the house was nearly lost in a fire about 10 years ago. The house and garden are still maintained in a minimal way, but the property has a lonely, neglected air. The house and garden are not open to the public, but you can see quite a lot from the driveway and the hiking paths that crisscross the estate.
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| One of Ellen Roosval von Hallwyl's scupltures in the garden |
We also visited Väskinde Church where Ellen is buried beneath a grave monument that she herself carved.
Visiting
Carl’s parents also means imbibing gourmet meals and this visit we were
treated to a deer roast the first evening and grilled marinated shrimp
the second evening. Delicious as always! Thank you Ylva and Anders for
a lovely visit!
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 07, 2024
Anniversary Weekend in Sörmland's Farmscapes
We
rented a small, historic cabin on the farm’s land but off by itself
down the farm road from the main house, barn complex, and restaurant.
The original cabin consists of two rooms, but a kitchen, bathroom, and
bedroom have been discreetly added on to the back.
The
weather was far too warm to light a fire but the cabin has a large
fireplace as well as a tile stove, which would be very cozy in cooler
weather.
We enjoyed a cocktail in the unseasonably warm setting sun before walking to the farm restaurant to pick up the hamburgers that we had ordered. We enjoyed them with a bottle of Petit Syrah outside on the cabin’s lawn – delicious, and definitely the best hamburger, eaten in the best setting, that I can remember! It was so peaceful sitting out in the warm evening.
The next morning, we walked farther down the farm lane and explored the landscape a bit before heading to Julita Gård, another farm with medieval roots. Julita was donated to the church as a monastery in the 1100’s, and traces of the medieval monastery buildings are still visible in the manor’s cellars.
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| Julita cellar |
After several hundred years, the estate was sold in 1877 to a businessman who had made his fortune in tobacco. His son Arthur Bäckström inherited the estate in 1902 and updated the house to his taste and according to the current style, inside and out.
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| Julita main house |
Several wings were added to the existing, medieval wings in the same style.
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| Julita wings |
The wings housed everything from the kitchen to the estate office to a stable and a garage.
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| Julita office |
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| I loved this mural of sledding on the lake in the Julita office |
Bäckström was one of many during the National Romantic era who was interested in documenting and preserving artifacts from Sweden’s dying-out rural way of life. He collected everything from ancient farm buildings to porcelain services. He moved a number of historic buildings, including a parish church, to his property
and built an impressive museum on the property to house his artifacts.
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| Julita museum, exterior and interior |
The extensive gardens and the greenhouse have been recently restored and make for a beautiful place to spend the day.
Additionally,
the Nordic Museum has planted Julita as a living gene bank and hundreds
of historic Swedish varieties of fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, roses,
and bulbs thrive in the gardens.
The setting is made even prettier by its location on the shores of Lake Öljaren.
We spent the entire day at the estate touring the house,
and all of the various outbuildings
and finally just relaxed with books by the lake.
The day almost couldn’t get better, but it did: we had dinner reservations at the Magda Farm restaurant. The weather was warm and dry, so the seating was out under the massive oaks with views of the pastures and farm buildings. It was an enchanting setting that reminded us of a farm restaurant in Italy that we have fondly remembered for about 15 years. The beautiful setting was only augmented by the food. The Magda Farm restaurant serves simple but delicious dishes based on their own cattle. We shared steak tartare (which we had also had at the farm restaurant in Italy!) and a (cooked) steak, both of which were wondrously delicious. I’ve never been a huge steak person but it’s amazing how good it can be when it’s so local, of such high quality, and so well prepared!
The day almost couldn’t get better, but it did: we had dinner reservations at the Magda Farm restaurant. The weather was warm and dry, so the seating was out under the massive oaks with views of the pastures and farm buildings. It was an enchanting setting that reminded us of a farm restaurant in Italy that we have fondly remembered for about 15 years. The beautiful setting was only augmented by the food. The Magda Farm restaurant serves simple but delicious dishes based on their own cattle. We shared steak tartare (which we had also had at the farm restaurant in Italy!) and a (cooked) steak, both of which were wondrously delicious. I’ve never been a huge steak person but it’s amazing how good it can be when it’s so local, of such high quality, and so well prepared!
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| Magda Gård |
On Sunday, we checked out a few of Magda Farm’s historic farm buildings (so many pretty ways to use simple wood planking!)
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| Magda Gård |
before
checking out of our cabin and heading to the Sävstaholm Estate house
which was built in the 1600’s, probably by architect Erik Dahlberg. We
hadn’t realized how little of the original interiors or gardens are
intact, but the house’s interiors have been impressively restored under
the circumstances. Randomly, Sävstaholm is today a well-known Swedish
apple variety, giving our weekend a bit of an apple theme.
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| Sävstaholm |
From Sävstaholm, we left the main roads and wound on gravel roads through a series of incredibly beautiful farms.
We
stopped at Uppsa Kulle, a burial mound that stands prominently above
the surrounding landscape of farms and waterways. The mound has not
been excavated but probably dates from 500-1000 A.D. We sat atop the
mound and enjoyed the view while eating our picnic lunch. Carl realized
that we were gazing out at a farm that he had visited several times as a
kid, as it is owned by friends of his parents. It was quite windy atop
the mound, but the weather was so warm that we still didn’t need our
jackets. We could have relaxed atop the mound for hours more but alas,
it was time to head back to Stockholm and to rescue our kitty cat from a
lonely weekend.
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| Uppsa Kulle burial mound |
This weekend out in the countryside not too far from Stockholm reminded me just how absolutely gorgeous much of rural Sweden can be, especially in the golden dog days of summer. It’s a landscape that has been cultivated for thousands of years—it’s not a natural landscape, but a cultural one, reminding me how the words cultivated and culture are so closely linked. The synthesis of open, rolling fields, wide oaks, scenic farm buildings, and planted allées is exceptionally charismatic and attractive.
