Bayon

take my guitar on my moto to Bayon, a temple in the middle of Angkor Thom, a huge area that used to be ancient monk's residential complex, now covered in jungle. once again, lots of tourists and vendors swarming around them. does not a bit feel like a ancient temple.

in the very top room of center tower, there is an old woman -a nun, offering incents and gesturing you to pray in from of buddha stature, then asking for donation.(reasonably) the only two things she keep saying is "sok sabai dtei" (how are you?) and "ackun chiran" (Thank you very much) very nice woman, it makes me feel bad to see so many tourist ignore her as if she's just another begger or something. i give incents, give donation, and sit and meditate for 10 minutes or so, while the woman's daughter(?) are arguing loudly about something with her. i open my eyes and stare at her with my trained loving kindness until she notices. it's actually the old woman who notices and whispers something to the young one. she stops and says "I'm sorry." i reply "Muyn ei dtei"(that's okay).
as i get up about to leave, she points at my guitar and gesture me to play. i hesitate, for this is such a secret place. yet her big smile finally convince me to pull the guitar out of the sack, i finger-pick something i come up with on the spot with the softest delicate. i could be very likely be the first person ever to have played guitar in top center room of Bayon. no tourist come into the room while i play, just watch from down the corridor curiously. there are only the nun and her daughter and me, in the holy ancient temple. no camera to flash the moment off, (yet i took this picture above with her permission --i'm an incureable photographer...)

find a relatively quieter spot in the temple and sit and start working on a new song, calling it "Bayon" the chorus part goes;
>>Ghost of Bayon's in children's faces as they scrub the floor
>>So I played a tune for them, they gave me a cigarette and asked for more
you never see any tourist stop and be quiet, or writing or watching or drawing or talking to local people or stranger or whatever... they all come in in group, and they all immediately pull out their digital camera, snap, snap, snap, then go. do you really feel like you've been there? it really bothers me and and it always has... i don't know why.

outside the temple where i left my moto, in front of a souvenir and refleshment stand, i had bought a coconut from them before i went in to the temple, so the kids remember me and ask me to play music. the father of them offer me a cigarette, i was gonna buy a few bananas but they give me for free. what can i do? i thank them and play songs, let the kid play, a tuk tuk driver waiting for his client's return from the temple, join in with a drum from the souvenir stand. people here are so kind and fun to be around.

little trivia i remember -not sure if true, is that the first western guy who ever discovered Angkor Thom was a French butterfly researcher (don't remember the name. anybody?) traveling in jungle a few centries ago, wander into the whole site of ruins of buildings with strong Khmer faces curved onto them. apparently he was haunted by his discovery later, caught some mysterious fever and went insane, which eventually took his life. wow!