Blue Heart Journey: Temples of Angkor: Part 2 of 3

BENG MEALEA

We spent one of our temple touring days off the beaten path in Beng Mealea. It is considered the most explored temple in the region and involves a lot of climbing. Beng Mealea is located about 45 minutes out from the city center of Siem Reap where most other temples are found. Despite the far drive by car or tuk tuk, it is worth the ride to this romantic site that has been left in the condition in which it was discovered.

Douglas and I hired a local named Sam to drive us to the temple. The ride ended up being a little less than one hour. The temple is set far back into the jungle. There is no concrete path to follow, just dirt roads surrounding by stone carvings and lots of rubble.

There were several children sitting on rocks, kicking dust at one another, and climbing the sturdy fallen stones scattered throughout the temple. During our exploration of the site, Douglas and I reached a point where we could go no further without squeezing through a small opening that led to the other side of the park. We could have chosen to turn around and walk back across the rubble we had just managed to get across and enter through an open dirt path, but that seemed like more of a feat than attempting to get through this small opening. While neither one of us had faith in each other, there was a little boy on the other side of the wall who held enough faith for the both of us. He appeared to be no more than 7 years of age. He stuck out his scrawny little arm and said, “Come on. You can do it.” He kept saying those words and then said, “I will help you.” I couldn’t believe how the nerves shook so heavily inside me contemplating how my large body would fit though this not-large opening. I was in even more disbelief that it took a 7-year old boy to talk me through it. I looked behind me at the unexciting option of going back and opted to go forward instead. After some slight contortion, I made it through! I also learned that I do not give myself enough credit and I am not as big as I think I am. Douglas followed behind me with the little boy guiding him along. Douglas was just as nervous as I was but he is always willing to try anything. And if he were to get stuck then he would just figure out the next step in the process.

Once we were both on the other side of the wall, the little boy and his friends decided to follow us along the rest of our tour of the temple. They kept telling us which way to go and what to avoid. I didn’t expect much from them and thought I would just go along with them because they were sweet and helped us get through a tight situation…literally. But these kids turned out to be the best tour guides ever. There was a little girl that was 10 years old and she explained most of the history of the temple. She also acted as our photographer for the morning. Every picture below of the two of us was taken by her. We were impressed by how well she spoke English. I asked, “Where did you learn to speak English so well?” She replied, “At school and here.” I thought, “Here...where?” “Here at Beng Mealea Temple during tours,” she said. The girl continued to tell us she spoke other languages too. Our mouths nearly dropped when she said she spoke six other languages. Again, this little girl is 10 years old. How in the world…I thought to myself. These kids are very bright. The girl, along with many of the other children, spends her entire morning at the temple and goes to school in the afternoon. She follows the people, guides them around, and learns the language and historical facts from them. The more she knows, the more opportunity she has to get paid offering her services as a guide. Now that is sharp thinking!

Beng Mealea was easily our best temple experience because of those children. They left us with an experience to remember for years to come.