Temples

Instead of writing a bunch about the temples, I thought I would just show some pictures.

This is the entrance to Angkor Thom - where the Bayon temple is that we visited.


One of the many faces at the Bayon temple.






The Bayon from a distance.


Please no standing on the toilet, no washing your feet or showering.


This little girl was selling bracelets. She also promised to look after our bikes.


Some of the many trees at Ta Prohm temple.








Yep, we rented bikes for $1/day and toured the temples that way.


Angkor Wat








Hungry for some bugs?

Happy Birthday Colin!

Colin spent birthday number _ _ with us in Siem Reap. On his big day we took a tour of a silk farm and caught the sunset, even though it was cloudy, up at the temples.

At the silk farm we saw the process of making from start to finish. We got our own personal tour and saw it all: what the silkworms eat, the silkworms (plus a bonus of the largest earthworm I have ever seen), to the natural dyes they use, to the very complicated looms. It was a cool experience, and it is so nice to know that there are people that are learning a marketable skill and earning a fair wage.











Ellen, Lizzie, Cris and Colin all had their first experience riding elephants at the sunset temple. I opted to walk - since I didn't want to pay the fee to ride, and a lot has changed since the last time I was at the temples six years ago. For those who have been following along on my blog...this temple used to have a hike straight up the side of the mountain - like the hike I did in Preah Vihear, but like I said - things have changed! They had a winding trail that led to the top! I was very happy about this, and I even beat the elephants up!

Traditional dance

Cris' friend Colin met up with us while we were in Siem Reap. His first nigh in town we got to see some traditional dance. I called around to a few places that have traditional dance and dinner, and I decided to walk by one of the places I called in order to see what we were getting ourselves into (you learn to check things out first before buying anything here - you never know what you are going to get). Well, I was not too happy with what I saw...an open sewer close to where we were going to be eating. There was a back up plan though - the Temple Bar and Restarant had free traditional dance every night, but they also had a DJ and dance club there too. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Honestly, I thought that this place was going to be absolutely ridiculous and filled with crazy people - think frat boys, etc. I was quite surprised when I went into the place, it was pretty nice. We were there in the early evening, so maybe things change after 9pm. We ate dinner and watched some traditional dance, and the dancing was free!



This video is of the coconut dance. The guy on the far right is known to us as "male model." This guy was cracking us up because he was always posing - I wish I would have taken advantage of his posing and taken a picture.

A long, long, long boat ride

We took the boat from Battambang to Siem Reap, and it took a little longer than expected, which happens a lot here. We did see some cool stuff - floating villages, water snakes, lots of French people (Note: do not sing Foux da Fa Fa while sitting behind a French couple...it might be a little uncomfortable).

Battambang

There is not much going on in Battambang. We went to Battambang to take the most scenic boat ride in the whole country to Siem Reap. While we were there we took a bamboo train ride. This trip made our list of funny things that have happened on our trip.

First you get a tuk tuk out to the train tracks, then you find some people to take you on the bamboo train - which is a flat car powered by an engine. Since these train cars have "hijacked" the track there is really no order to how things are done. For instance...if you come head to head with another bamboo car you have to decide which car is going to dismantle so the other car can pass. Usually, the car with the bigger load is allowed to pass. On our way back from the hour bamboo train ride we led the pack of bamboo train cars - we were probably 10 strong. We came head to head with another bamboo train car that was loaded with tons of stuff, and people. So, they would be the heavier one, but since there were 10 cars all headed in the same direction it seems that our side would win because it doesn't seem right to have 10 train cars get off the track to let one pass. Well, the one car was not backing down! They just stayed on the track...we discussed having a dance off, but I don't think they understood us. So, all 10 train cars decided that we were just going to muscle our way through. They all turned their engines on and we just pushed these people back to start. I'm not going to lie...it was an uncomfortable ride with everyone from the car being pushed staring directly at you.

Sound appetizing?

Cambodia's rough history

We had a very somber day as we learned a little bit more about Cambodia and it's history. In the late 70's a man named Pol Pot took over and had a dream of moving back to an agrarian society. An estimated 1-3 million people were killed - anyone with an education, glasses, monks, etc. It is hard to believe that this barbaric thing happened here not so long ago. The country is still rebuilding, and most people would be able to tell that by walking around here. So, we spent a couple hours at the Killing Fields, which were mass graves where people were brutally murdered, and Tuol Sleng, which was a high school that was turned into a torture facility.

This is a monument stupa at the Killing Fields.






Barbed wire at Tuol Sleng to keep people from escaping.


Room after room was filled with pictures of the people who were either murdered or tortured at Tuol Sleng.