I have few memories of Siem Reap itself from 2003. Any that might have remained were likely overwhelmed by either my experience of Angkor or the frenetic pace of development that has seized the town (thanks to the unrelenting flow of tourists).
After a few days rest, we hired a guide and a tuktuk driver for three days to take us around Angkor. That’s about as much as any person can take before getting “templed out”. It’s easy to say we would have enjoyed Angkor more on our own, and at our own pace, but there are so many sites, and so much history, it helps to go with someone knowledgeable to make sense of it all, especially when that knowledge is coupled with experience in the art of finding spots less obscured by the throng of tourists (like us).
Traffic jam at the south gate of Angkor ThomSmiling faces look out from the south gate of Angkor Thom
The itinerary for a three day guided tour of the temples is fairly well established. What we didn’t account for were some ill-chosen meals on the days preceding our tour that would wreak havoc on Stephanie’s digestive system. After passing through the south gate of Angkor Thom, some unpleasantness was passing through Stephanie, so we made a beeline to the toilets, and then worked our way in reverse, through the Leper King and Elephant Terraces and the under heavy renovation Baphuon.
After three nights at Jeoffrey’s place in San Dionisio, we returned to Iloilo City for the big Dinagyang Festival’s dance and drumming competition on January 23rd. As I understand it, the festival is held to honor a statue of Santo Niño (or holy child, also known as baby Jesus), and is patterned after a similar festival in the region, the Ati-Atihan. We didn’t know we needed tickets for the choreographed dance competition, so we watched the performers—all high schoolers—from the street, marching in flamboyant costumes made from indigenous materials.
Ubud is a shopper’s paradise, and not just for souvenirs. Paintings, sculpture, clothing, furniture, and more are all available for sale, much of it locally handmade and at reasonable prices. Of course we don’t have extra room in our packs, so we haven’t really been in a shopping mood. Anything we buy either has to be small enough to carry, or small enough to send home. For the most part, we just take photographs.
The good news is that there’s so much for sale, it almost becomes an undifferentiated blur, which makes it easier to ignore. That is until the other day. I was walking down Monkey Forest Road in Ubud, and something caught my eye. It appeared to be a cow skull, like you might see decorating a ranch in New Mexico, except this one was adorned with intricate carvings. The centerpiece of the design was a portrayal of Ganesha, the Hindu god of knowledge, surrounded by decorative floral flourishes around the eye sockets and down the snout. I later discovered that the skull most likely belonged to a water buffalo (based on the distinctive horns).
Carved water buffalo skull in Ubud, Bali
It stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t have my camera with me, but I soon went back to take a photo. I inquired about the price: 3.5 million rupiah, or about $350. Not a king’s ransom, but not a steal either. I was more concerned about the logistics of shipping it home. I talked to a specialized cargo company to try to get an estimate, but they said they couldn’t ship bone.
I tried to ask myself (and Stephanie) what I liked so much about it. On one hand, it’s completely unusual. I’ve never seen anything like it. I appreciate how it transforms a reminder of death and decay into something uplifting and beautiful. I like how Ganesha, the Hindu god of knowledge is juxtaposed against the skull of a buffalo, which, like cattle, are sacred to Hindus (in India at least). I like how this symbol of the American West is commingled with the exotic East. It just gets me on so many levels.
The carving portrays the Hindu god of knowledge, Ganesha
I found some more carved skulls in two other stores, ranging in price from 1.2 million to 2.5 million rupiah, but none were as delicate and sophisticated as that first one I’d seen. I tried to ask how I might ship one home, and though I came up against something of a language barrier, I got the sense that bubble wrap, a box, and the post office were the most obvious way to go. Apparently the horns can be removed for easier shipping, but still it must weigh 15-20 pounds. I can’t imagine what it would cost to send to the US.
I went back to the first store, figuring if I could talk down the price, maybe that would motivate me to foot the shipping bill, but they wouldn’t budge below 3 million rupiah. I also considered visiting the workshop of the man who carves the skulls (as it’s usually much cheaper to buy directly from the artist), but we already had plans to go to Amed, so I didn’t have time to arrange a visit.
Anyway, we’ve got a week left in Bali, so there’s a chance we could go back through Ubud and/or check out the workshop on the way to the airport. What do you think? Am I crazy? Is it worth pursuing?
On Thursday afternoon we took the bus up to the War Memorial Museum, which had been highly recommended to us by several people. It’s housed in a beautiful classical building on a hill overlooking Auckland. We made it through the exhibitions on all three floors, leaving just as they closed at 5.
Auckland’s stately War Memorial Museum
The Māori Court exhibition was impressive, and provided an opportunity to photograph the wharenui or meeting place named “Hotunui”.
Hotunui belongs to the Ngāti Maru (Māori) people of the Thames area. Hotunui was built in 1878 by the Ngāti Awa people of Whakatane as a wedding present for Mereana Mokomoko from her father. The meeting house takes its name from Hotunui, the celebrated tupuna (ancestor) of Ngāti Maru. The pou (vertical panels) inside Hotunui commemorate other ancestors of the Ngāti Maru people. One is unusual in that it portrays Ureia, a marakihau (sea monster) who warned the Ngāti Maru of impending storms and the approach of enemies. –From the Auckland Museum’s Māori Court educational resource.
The structure of the wharenui symbolizes the body parts of the person it was built to honor (usually the tribe’s chief). From the outside, the head at the top is obvious, the edges of the roof represent outstretched arms with hands and fingers at the ends. The outer supports are the legs, the door is the mouth, the window is the eye, the ridge of the roof is the backbone, the supports along the walls on the inside are the ribs, and the central supports are the heart and the spleen.
The wharenui is sacred, so we removed our shoes before entering
Panorama of the inside
Totemic back support of the wharenuiOne of the many carved figures on the “spines”Close up of a carved figure’s face
