Day 37 Siem Reap (Angkor Temples), Cambodia

Day 37 – Hers.

Another day of exploring the temples outside Siem Reap – without the torrential downpour today, thank goodness.  We began at Ta Prohm, a Buddhist temple built in 1186 as the tomb for the king’s mother.  You might recognise it: it has been a film set several times, most notably for ‘Tomb Raider’.  I had a go at playing Angelina Jolie – not very successfully, I think....  We also saw the matching temple built five years later for the king’s father: Preah Kahn, the Temple of the Sword.  We noted the difference between the Buddhist temples – many doorways, statues of Buddha (most missing – try Paris) at each place where corridors crossed, hundreds of holes in the walls of the most sacred inner sanctum to hold precious gems (all missing – try the safety deposit boxes of generations of looters) and the Hindu temples – built later, elaborate towers, statues of warriors and demons.  Pre Rup, where we went to watch the non-event sunset last night, and Ta Keo are good examples of Hindu temples: built very high to resemble sacred mountains, accessed by steep stone steps.

The better weather this morning brought out additional groups of locals vying for the tourist dollars.  Musicians played traditional instruments on the paths leading to the temples – ‘Buy our DVD. Just 10 dolla.’ – and amateur artists painted watercolours within the ruins, again ‘Just 10 dolla’.  Heidi took a shine to an artist working in Ta Prohm and, after seeing the others at other temples, convinced Limny to divert our tour back there later.  The artist had unfortunately gone – so Limny arranged for us all to go to the foundation that sponsored him.  Unfortunately, that particular artist was not at the foundation either – so Heidi did not end up buying a painting.  Limny was perplexed. ‘They had the same paintings,’ he said.  He couldn’t understand that it was really the artist Heidi had fancied supporting....

We had also convinced Limny (and our ever accommodating driver) to take us back to a couple of places we had not been able to see properly yesterday because of the rain.  I think he is finding us a troublesome group.  We then compounded his difficulties by splitting up for the afternoon.

Heidi, Phil and James continued on to see more of the small temples – they really just wanted to explore on their own, but were accompanied by our local guide and followed by the bus.  Peter, Rob and I went to the Artisans d’Angkol workshop.  We saw young people being trained in many traditional crafts: soapstone, wood and sandstone carving (They have the commission for restoring some of the temple statuary.), lacquer work, copper embossing and silver plating, silk painting, etc.  The silk painting is done by young people who are deaf and dumb.  It was all very beautiful but the shop was VERY expensive.  Peter wanted a carving of one of the Cambodian 4 smiling faces towers – it was over $200 in the shop.  He purchased a machine-carved one later for $10 with no haggling.....

We lunched at a small restaurant in Siem Reap town centre.  We had spring rolls – both fresh and fried – and Cambodian Lak Lok, beef and onions in a delicious sauce with rice and salad.  I chose a ‘lime shake’ to drink and it was fantastic – more a slush puppy, really, but obviously made with real lime juice and no sugar.  Rob had a taste and spent the next ten minutes with his lips all puckered up – not his thing at all – but what can you say about someone who enjoys fried tarantula....

We hired a tuk tuk for the ride back to the hotel, the cooling breeze very enjoyable indeed, and then threw ourselves into the swimming pool to swim a few laps. 

The others went out to Pub Street again for dinner – but as is usual when we have a big lunch, we didn’t fancy a big dinner as well.  We walked down the street from the hotel – away from the tourist area - and bought the makings of a picnic from the street vendors.  The pineapple breads and coconut macaroons we had for dessert were absolutely first class! A lovely day in Siem Reap....