Thursday, November 9
Our first stop was Banteay Srei temple, the temple of women, which was an hour outside of town. It was built in 967 AD and is called the women’s temple or temple of beauty likely because of the intricate carvings. The temple is smaller than yesterday’s and also restored so many of the structures were in place, although there seems to be a lot of looting of the statues so some are replicates and the originals are either in a museum or never recovered.
After leaving the temple, we went to a water project the tour company is sponsoring through their philanthropic arm. I thought it would be a large building with a water processing plant, but was really water piping for four families. The piping filters the water as it is sent to a water pump so they have clean water to drink. Our guide said about 12% of deaths each year is due to bad water.
Next we had lunch at a nice restaurant near our hotel to have Cambodian food. While it was good, I do think I like Vietnamese food better. We then had a break for 1 1/2 hours and I went out to a store on a tuk tuk. As we headed back to the hotel, the driver took me to some crazy store with statues, silk scarves and rugs. The store was not on my itinerary, but my guess is the driver would get a commission if I bought something.
After our break we went to Angkor Thom, and focused on the Bayon section which is where the many Buddha faces are. Our guide told us how he was taken from his family at the age of 10 and made to live at the temple to guard from looting. He was to go to war, but instead his father traded places. It reminded me of hunger games. As we were leaving the temple, the monkeys came out. We got some pictures as they were very close and did not care about us.
After the temple we went on a sun downer cruise. It was outside the walls of Angkor Thom and was very beautiful. We then ended with dinner which was the best meal to date from Cambodia. Early morning tomorrow as we go to the temple to see the sun rise.
Photos
Additional photos coming