The photo above is Neak Pean in Angkor Historical Park, Cambodia. I didn’t know what it symbolised then. My friend and guide, Bunna, was taking me around to the temples in his tuk-tuk. To get to Neak Pean, I had to walk a long, long way across a wooden bridge to discover that there was not much there. Maybe once it was a beautiful fountain, but now it is just worn, and old and sitting in a swamp. With ants and birds and bugs.
There were unenthusiastic musicians along the bridge, who weren’t playing as I walked either way across the bridge. They were victims of landmines. I wish they had been playing; it would have made my visit more interesting, and I could have given them some money. But I have learned not to give money to people for doing nothing.
I walked the long, long way back across the bridge. I said to Bunna, “It’s hot”. He disagreed. I told him he hadn’t been walking around and all over the temples in the tropical heat. I bought a nice cold coconut to drink through a straw as we continued our jungle and temple tour.
I asked Bunna if we could have lunch at the place where we had had breakfast on the first day. I liked it there. He was happy to take us to the restaurant as his friends owned it.
I had a nap in a hammock after lunch. It’s good I am such an experienced napper, as it wasn’t easy with children deciding to play right next to me, but I am the napping queen and accomplished one of my micro naps. I woke up as refreshed as a person can feel in tropical heat.
My Second Visit to Nean Peak
My second experience at Neak Pean was when I hosted a tour to Southeast Asia. I took my small group of ladies to the island temple across the long bridge. The first time I had visited, it was so hot, and I was so tired, and I got all the way across to see a dirty pond, even though it might once have been a beautiful fountain; it was an offering cave with mosquitoes.
I told them it was one thousand miles across the bridge & as I had already been, I wasn’t going again. When they asked how long it took to walk the 1000 miles, and I said 5 minutes, they rolled their eyes at me. I warned them that it was not very spectacular, but in the big scheme of Angkor Wat, it held great significance. I think they enjoyed the walk across the moat far more than I did.
I stayed behind and read about it in a book I had bought. When it was made, it was encrusted in gold and jewels. It was the sacred island of healing where they grew magic herbs. People came to be cured of sickness and absolved of their sins. It was built by King Jayavarman VII, who built many of the temples in the Ancient Angkor Kingdom.