More Temples!

My hair is down because we're just getting started - soon it will go up so I'll feel a little cooler!

Phnom Dei (the hill) in the background

We get to spend another day viewing ancient Cambodian temples.  Kimthet, our guide, starts us off with some scenic countryside photos.  As we pass through the village, he comments that the wires are for cellphone coverage - they're not for electricity.  The houses use car batteries to provide power.  That's how they watch tv - you can see the antennas on the roofs.  People aren't relaxing inside right now though; we see them working in the fields.

working in the field

The main doorway - with a line of people

Our first temple of the day is Banteay Srei.  It's over a thousand years old, and was rediscovered by the French in 1914.  It is made of red sandstone, which can be carved like wood, and doesn't seem to wear away as much as other stones.  It also ends up being the most crowded location we've been - quite a few tour buses have arrived.   There's a large line of people waiting to go in the main entrance so they can take their photos/selfies.  (It's kind of fun to watch the women preen once they reach the doorway, spending a couple of minutes fixing their hair while everyone waits in a line behind them.  Apparently if they arrange their hair before they make their pose it would be messed up.)  However, Kimthet leads us to a side entrance where there's no line.

It's a smaller temple than the other ones we've seen - it's tallest column is only 30 feet high.  But the pretty pink stone and intricate carvings make it a fascinating place to explore.

This is the only major temple that was not built by a monarch, instead it was a couple of courtiers who oversaw its construction.  It was originally dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva.

Some of the gorgeous carvings - see the birds?

Some of the statues have been been replaced by replicas.  Due to the popularity and beauty of the temple, it has been a victim of theft and vandalism.  Some items have been saved and are in museums.

replica statues

The temple's current name means "citadel of women" or "citadel of beauty," and probably came about because of the many dancing women carved into the stone or the smaller dimensions of the buildings.

the sanctuary

Of course, it's surrounded by a moat! We don't bike around this one.

I wonder if they purposely picked pink lotus flowers to plant in order to highlight the stone?

Our next stop isn't a religious location, but the Landmine Museum.  I wasn't sure what to expect, after some of the other museums we've visited during this trip.  But I ended up finding it very informative and interesting, though again, humans find way too many ways to be cruel and evil to each other.  It does help to educate us on how the landmines got here, who contributed to help clear them and how they are cleared according to international standards.  It also explains in detail how Aki Ra, a CNN Heroes Award recipient, has managed to disarm tens of thousands of the landmines in order to make his country safe again.

Coconut drink selfie!

We stop for lunch, which the tour company has prepared for us each day we're been in Siem Reap (there's not a lot of restaurants around the temple areas, and the food that is cooked nearby would probably not be appreciated by our stomachs).  We feast on lots of goodies like chicken stir fry, papaya salad, sweetened rice, and fruit.  Somehow we never manage to take a picture - it's too exciting to open our "lunch box" and see what we're having that day.  It's like being a kid again and finding out what your Mom packed for your meal at school.  I do have my favorite drink - a coconut!

Steve, helping to hold up the wall.

Then we go to Banteay Samre temple. The king built this one in the early 12th century in honor of farmers, since they provide food for the people.











There are elaborate carvings here, too. 

More quilting ideas...

Love the monkeys!

Carved over a doorway - this is kala, a mythical creature who represents time.  I wonder what room the doorway led into??

Where's the moat?

I think the moat around Banteay Samre has dried up!











Our last religious sanctuary for the day is Pre Rup.  It's modern meaning is "turn the body."  The story is that after the Buddha statue was stolen, the base left behind looked like the place where bodies were cremated.  During the service the ashes are rotated in different directions - the turning of the body (which is also when the spirit realizes he/she is dead).  However, no one was actually cremated here.  This building is also over a thousand years old.

Notice the stair height - they almost
reach Steve's knees!

We get to climb again!  Steve and I take pictures of each other while we're on the stairs, but I think it's really just an excuse to take a break and catch our breath.

Almost there!

The view from the top - the outer wall and lots of green!  Notice the edge of the platform in the bottom right of the picture - no wall or warnings signs about the 40 foot drop!

Ooh - my very own piece of ancient temple!

Steve considers taking home a souvenir, but decides he doesn't want to risk being caught and spending time in a Cambodian jail.  

Steve, with no temple pieces in his pockets.

Yippee!

Kimthet has a little picture fun of his own.  The guides have peach colored shirts to wear when they go to the official sights.  Whoever made the design decision was good with color - it's perfect at the temples because it blends in with the backgrounds.  When you have hundreds of guides in one location, you don't want to focus on them instead of the ruins.

We make one final stop, and I've been looking forward to it since I saw our itinerary.  We go to Les Artisans d'Angkor, to see local crafts being made and sold.  This is a Cambodian company created to help young people find work near their home village.  They currently employ 1300 people, including more than 900 artisans.  Kimthet tells us he worked for them for awhile, and currently two of his siblings are employed by Artisans Angkor.  

The demonstrations are well done, and it feels much more authentic than the ones we saw in Bali.  I enjoy the carving, especially the recreation of the apsara (dancing goddess).  I'm able to imagine what the temples must have looked like before time eroded them away....and pick up quilting ideas, of course.

apsara

close up of the apsara - look at all the details!

Artisan at work!

A few of the crafts even have stations so you can try it out (though Steve is disappointed they don't have one for the jewelry, where you work with blowtorches...).  Steve and I both see if we can carve the Buddha, and Kimthet directs us.  It doesn't go so well, though I pretend I finish one.

Really, it's just like quilting...not!

Ta da!

I have a lot of fun shopping afterwards, and we come back with several souvenirs...though I think my favorite is my very own 5-inch high soapstone Naga! 

My very own protector!

Bamboo Cake

Cooking the cake

Today we're driving out to see Beng Mealea temple, but we make some stops along the way.  Our first visit is at a roadside stand cooking bamboo cake.  It's not really cake, but a sweet rice, coconut milk and red bean mixture that's cooked inside a section of a bamboo pole over a fire. 

close up of the cooking bamboo

 It's a family business - the man oversees the fire and his wife, her sister, and a third woman prepare the bamboo after it's finished cooking.  The harder outside portion is hacked off.

Slicing the bamboo

The fire is started around 4:00 am to prepare the day's food, but they have a special order, so they started at 3:00 am this particular morning.  We get to see the mixture that goes into the bamboo (also made in the middle of the night) before it is cooked.

Before cooking

Can you hear me now?

It's not all work!  I always find it striking to see the combination of "primitive" work with technology.






















Speaking of primitive, as we continue our drive we see the cart being pulled by the cows.  Normally we see mopeds pulling smaller carts like this.  The animals look like they're used to the traffic, though.

At least he has rubber tires on the cart!

fish drying in the sun

We then make a stop at a local market.  Our guide, Kimthet, says he eats dried fish and rice for breakfast every morning.  (BTW, I have a hard time with the pronunciation of our guide's name.  It's "Kim-Tate," but I keep wanting to say "Kim-Tet."  He points to the name tag to show me the spelling, but that doesn't help.  The Khmer language has a lot of sounds that are different that I expect - like "ch" is pronounced as "j.")

Almost everything in the market is a product from Cambodia, except for ginger, garlic, and mango.  Thailand and Vietnam use chemical fertilizers to grow plants year round, but in Cambodia they follow the traditional growing seasons.  The manufactured products also come from those two countries because there are no factories here.  We've been told that the prime minister and his family members own all the profitable businesses (like telecommunications) and will take steps to make sure no other citizens will start a successful business venture.  Currently a large percentage of the population is under the age of 25, so maybe that will change as they become adults.

Chopping heads...and no gloves.

The fish come from a nearby freshwater lake.  There are about twenty different kinds and about 400 lbs of fish are sold each day.  The lake dries out after the rainy season, and then they plant rice in the basin.  It's almost like a crop rotation.

As we walk around we see people preparing the fish and other products for sale.  I'm not sure if the preparation methods are up to FDA standards. There are also flies everywhere.  I'm sure the fish and meat I've eaten so far have not been processed in this manner....

Not as many flies with the vegetables!

While walking around, it's interesting to see the clothing similarities and differences to Vietnam.  Women of both countries try to protect their skin from the sun with long sleeves, pants and hats.  In Cambodia they don't match the exact fabric between the shirt and pants, like they do in Vietnam.  They seem to favor different prints, with a bit of coordination between the colors of the top and bottom.

There's also prepared food, too, but we decide to skip it.

Smells good, but....maybe our stomachs wouldn't appreciate it.

Is Steve ready for a nap in the hammock?

I see a hammock made of water hyacinth. We've seen the plant in all the waters in Vietnam and Cambodia, so it's nice to finally see a product made from it.


We then take boat ride on the Tonle Sap Lake floodplain.  No one hands us fishing nets or poles, so I guess it's not a working excursion.

boat selfie

We still have cell phone service, even at the fishing village.

We stop at Kampong Khleang, a village on stilts.  As Kimthet walks us around, we develop a little entourage.  The kids seem fascinated with me, and couldn't care less about Steve.  They talk a little with Kimthet, and apparently I look like a doll that they have.  They're adorable, and I just want give them lots of hugs and attention.  Curiously, no parents come over to find out what I'm doing with their children during the 15 minutes they're walking with us.  I'm sure lots of people are watching where I can't see them. 

My fan club

I feel like the Pied Piper.

We return to the boat and depart the village with lots of waving.  As we continue on the lake we see some "little" monks - they are younger than any of the ones we saw when we stopped at the monastery in Phnom Penh.  School has also just gotten out and we see the kids returning home - all paddling their own boats.  No school buses here!

Do they know "Row, Row, Row Your Boat?"

Good to the last bite!

Back at the car, it's time for the bamboo cake. It's very good - my favorite dessert of the ones I've tried so far!  The bamboo is a nice holder, but it's not reusable. 







 


We finally arrive at Beng Mealea, which was probably the model for Angkor Wat.  We're greeted with this sign, which states the number of land mines that have been cleared from the area.  We're deep in the jungle, and the Khmer Rouge used the temple as a base during their war with Vietnam.  When they left they attempted to tear it down and planted thousands of land mines around it.  

Beng Melea

During the war the Khmer Rouge would use young teenage boys and some girls to walk in front of the military in order to explode the mines so they wouldn't kill the soldiers (but apparently it was okay for the kids to die).  Kimthet tells us he was conscripted when he was twelve, and worked one day before his sister came up with the money to bribe the officers so he didn't have to do it anymore. His parents were killed early in the war and his brothers and sisters had a difficult time keeping the family together.  

It's picturesque, here, too, but not the same as Ta Phrom.  I don't know if it's the knowledge that the Khmer Rouge used it as a headquarters and then tried to destroy it. 

No "fun" photos here, but we try to do a Naga selfie.  His poor noses have broken off, though.

Noseless Naga selfie

After returning to Siem Reap, we decide to go out for dinner.  There's a nice downtown area - lots of restaurants and shops and markets.  We don't see all the fake designer products like we did in Phnom Penh and Vietnam.  One road is aptly named "Pub Street," and it reminds me of Bourbon Street in New Orleans - there's lots of bars and partying going on.  People look like they're having a good time.  We forget to take pictures, but we do have a halfway decent shot of the sunset as we ride the tuk tuk into town.

The sky is like an opal!