The friendliness of the Cambodians continues to delight us; even the hawkers aren’t pushy and also give a little friendly banter. A total contrast to the hawkers on the beaches of Goa; Rottweilers when they smell fresh meat. Chatting about it we remembered that even the immigration officials at the airport had a good morning, a smile and time to explain how the visa system worked. Most of you would agree that the term immigration official and the word smile just dont go together, especially those of you that have visited the USA.
On Wednesday we saw the sunrise over the big boy, Angkor Wat, followed by a number of other smaller temples. By smaller we mean standard or average as anything compared to Angkor is small. We didnt find it the most interesting compared to some of the others but its condition after around 900 years is quite astounding. Its size? Well, sorry boys, quite clearly 900 years ago size really did matter!! Its absolutely humongous which, sadly, the pics dont do justice. Believe us, or better still, come and take a look yourself.
Thursday we just chilled in Siem Reap, catching up on the blog, emails etc and took some pictures of some of the other inhabitants of our guesthouse, about a hundred crocs! The family who own the guesthouse also farm crocs in a large pool at the rear. As you can see from the pics some of them are pretty large. We didnt get near enough to measure them but the biggest ones must be over 4m…….big enough to handle Cheryl in one gulp! It was a pity that we missed feeding time. They get fed twice a month and on the day they got fed we were out templing.
Friday, last day of templing, and we started at 8am to take the 90 minute ride to Kbal Spean. Its a 1.5km hike through the forest up a fairly steep and difficult track. The end result was worth it as there is a carved river bed, The River of a Thousand Lingas, where you find carvings of Vishnu, Shiva and other Hindu deities. To come in the wet season would be a tragedy as most of them would be covered by the rushing water.
Following our walk back down the hill we visited Banteay Srei where the carvings were just so intricate and well preserved it looked like they had been done yesterday. This was a much smaller temple than most but what it lacked in size it really made up for in the complexity and condition of the stonework.
Neil writes: The vastness of Angkor Wat, the number of temples to visit in such a relatively small area plus the intricate and extent of the stonework makes Siem Reap a must see before you die. However, on the down side for me was that most of the temples follow a similar pattern of design and appear to me to be as much ego trips of the King at the time, as temples of worship. However, climbing to Kbal Spean this morning to visit the very atmospheric waterfalls and to see the carvings in the riverbed epitomised for me what is a true spiritual place of worship. No ego trips here, just a beautiful place to worship with some wonderful carvings in the water to express your commitment to your beliefs……wonderful and only around 1000 years old!
Finally, on our return trip we stopped at the Cambodia Landmine Museum which is also a rehab centre for victims. The founder, who did his stint as a child soldier (aged 5 to 13) with The Khmer Rouge laying some landmines before seeing the light, continues to this day to spend his life deactivating them. Around 4-6 million landmines dotted the Cambodian countryside and to this day men, women and children continue to die or be maimed by these horrors of war. A sobering end to our visit to Siem Reap and which also explains the number of amputees selling things in and around the town and the temples.
We finished the day with a trip to a Cambodian Beer Garden with Sambo for more draft beers and shouts of Jol moi or cheers when the glasses were raised. Back for dinner at the guesthouse, and were were delighted to find that Sony, who runs the place, had taken our advice to start selling simple cocktails. He had bought a range of spirits & mixers and we were invited to become temporary bar staff to make the first Gin & Tonics ever served at The Golden Mango.
Cheryl & Neil Our Story 
You must be logged in to post a comment.