Cambodia, Day Two
We woke up bright and early after sleeping like a rock from the previous days’ tiredness and heat drain. Today would be much less gruelling, as we were only going to be seeing a few small temples then back to the hotel after lunch. That suited us just fine. First up was Banteay Srei temple, which was dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. It’s surrounded by a moat, which is usual, and made of red sandstone, which is not.
Remember, you can click any photo to see it fully on your screen without scrolling
While quite small compared to some of the other temples we’ve seen, it’s one of the most beautiful.
A few of the statues have been replaced by concrete copies due to the originals being vandalized.
The temple itself, however, is beautiful even without statues.
Outside the temple, there was a band playing traditional music and raising money for families affected by land mines. There are still over four million unexploded land mines in Cambodia left over from the Vietnam war.
Nearby, a few water buffalo grazed on some grass.
Then it was back on the bus and off to Bakong temple. This one is a step pyramid with elephants standing guard on the corners. The elephants are missing their trunks and tusks because some idiots thought the tusks were ivory and stole them.
Sentinel out-buildings stand guard off to the corners. Interesting to note that these are made of brick rather than from large blocks of stone.
Yes, you can climb the steep stairs to the top of the temple. Yes, I did.
Honestly, there wasn’t much to see from there, other than getting a better look at the top of the temple, which was added a few hundred years later, around the same time as the construction of Angkor Wat (temple: 9th century; tower: 12th century)
Then back on the bus again for a quick stop at Preah Ko (sacred bull) temple.
It was nice enough, but very small and to be honest, we were both kinda “templed out” by this point. We both skipped the guide’s explanation of what we would see and just poked around it a bit, took a few pictures, and headed back to the air-conditioned bus to wait for the others.
For all of its cultural treasures, Cambodia is still a very poor country. Things are improving with time and tourism dollars help.
Another help are Non-governmental Organizations that provide jobs, training, education, and assistance. One of these NGOs is Phare, the Cambodian Circus.
the stuff on the floor is rice
The show was called “White Gold”, a reference to rice - a staple food. It combined acrobatics, live music, and dancing - both traditional and modern.
If that sounds like a Cirque du Soleil show, you’re not far off. Same format, same obscure storytelling methods, but on a much lower budget.
According to the sign outside the tent, the show is about a guy who gets kicked out of his village and has to work in the rice fields while his community turns toward worldly things, creating competition, greed, and self-interest. Oh, and lots of flipping.
By the end, the man is on stage alone with the rice. Not sure if it’s a happy ending or not, but it was pretty.
And that was it for another busy day in Cambodia. Tomorrow, we fly back to Bangkok.