A Temple with a View

Feb 6/10 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

On the morning of January 24th I was swimming in the South China Sea off the Vietnamese coast in Nha Trang. The soothing splendour of the swelling sea betrayed the true nature of other events that same morning.

Elsewhere on the Indochinese Peninsula, a Thai border patrol came across Cambodian soldiers felling trees. The Thai's took up position, and yelled across to the Cambodian army-men to explain their presence in the grounds surrounding the disputed Preah Vihear Temple.

The Cambodians responded with M79 grenades and shots from their automatic rifles. The sides exchanged fire for 20 minutes, leaving two Thai soldiers injured, and the prospect of greater regional cooperation in ruins.

I thought back to ten days earlier, where deep inside the Temple of Preah Vihear, I came across an elderly lady making a traditional offering of incense to a golden-clad statue of the buddha. Despite the heavy army presence surrounding the temple, the lady held nothing but affection in her eyes as she bowed within the peaceful confines of the temple: once, twice, thrice; for luck.

I left the sanctum of the centre, and stepped back into the courtyard, where I was confronted with the image of a child, dressed in army fatigues. I wasn't giving this boy any cigarettes. I'd given them all out anyway just to get this far.

There is no entrance ticket to Preah Vihear. If you want to enter the temple these days, you do it with the judicious distribution of cigarettes. A carton goes for $4 US dollars from the villagers that still make the temple outskirts their home.

Getting up the ridge was a lot easier than finding the Temple. For $5 US dollars, the locals took us up to the mountain ridge on the backs of their motorbikes.

I visited - no - conquered Preah Vihear with Malcolm Azzopardi. After we successfully teamed up to successfully rid our room in Bangkok of mosquitoes, we figured we were ready to make the trek into Northern Cambodia.

This is our story...



There have been at least three more clashes since that morning in the sea. It is my long-held hope, that through the regional mechanism of ASEAN, Cambodia and Thailand will find a way to share the beauty of Preah Vihear.

A Dedication

Jan 24/10 - Ha Noi, Vietnam

On January 15th, two thousand and ten, my Grandad passed away.

I will remember him as a great man, who brought joy and laughter to the lives of those around him. Nobody could act up, or tell a story like my Grandad.

Though life afforded me too little time with him, limited to the seven years I lived in England, and the occasional trip we made across the Atlantic. I have always felt, through the passing of tales, and retelling of old yarns, that he was never far from my side.

In his honour, I am dedicating this mission to my Grandfather, and will endeavour to live up to his memory, each and every day.

May he rest in peace.

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