Word: kulen
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...Phnom Kulen is the holiest mountain in Cambodia and a picnic destination for Khmer families. But few foreigners visit. On this peak in 802, King Jayavarman II declared himself a Hindu god-king and kicked off the four-century Angkor period of Khmer history that produced the Angkor temples, constructed of Phnom Kulen's sandstone. The Khmer Rouge used the mountain as a final stronghold for two decades after losing power in 1979, so it's only been three years since visitors have again been able to enjoy the cool waters and artistic treasures...
...Buddhists co-opted Phnom Kulen as a holy site of their own after the Hindu heyday. A 10-minute car ride up the mountain brings tourists to Preah Ang Tho, a 16th century Buddhist monastery notable for the giant reclining Buddha carved into the top of a 20-m boulder. Climb the rickety wooden staircase to a landing that surrounds the 17-m-long Buddha, where monks and believers bow, burn incense and leave fruit...
...last major site on Phnom Kulen takes a bit of perseverance and imagination to enjoy. From the base of Preah Ang Tho, hire a motorbike driver for a challenging ride deep into the jungle wilderness (cost: about $10). He'll take you to a clearing that was home, about 1,000 years ago, to an Angkorian Period pottery factory. Shards of jars and fragments of sculptures are everywhere, seemingly untouched by archaeologists. Instead, amateurs, in the form of residents from nearby villages, have tried putting pieces together, standing them up against dead trees...
...Mindful of the pillaging of Angkor Wat, the locals in and around this magical Cambodian mountain want to keep the hordes away. Some Siem Reap guesthouse managers warn that Phnom Kulen is riddled with land mines, even though the paths are well worn and thousands of Khmer visit every year without incident. Motorbike drivers, too, routinely discourage travelers by insisting it's too far, too expensive and there's not enough to do for the effort. They're partly right; it's too bum-numbingly far on a motorbike and, at about $150 for a day trip in a four...
...major passenger carriers before World War II; its queenly Europa and Bremen IV competed with British and French ships on equal terms. But the war cost the line 99.5% of its tonnage. The task of reconstruction fell to brisk Director Richard Bertram, 55, and pfennig-pinching Co-Director Johannes Kulen-kampff, fiftyish, who personally picks through the company's discarded files to salvage used paper clips...