March 4, 2017

Today was a ruinous day, not a day that was ruined but a day where we visited lots of ruins! or as Ralf summarized it \”old grey and black temples falling down everywhere\”

Our first stop was at Banteay Kdei. This complex needed a lot of restoration work. Some of the pillars were definitely on the move, as were most of the structures. The Nagas are mythical serpent beings that originated in Hinduism. In Buddhism, they often are protectors of the Buddha and of the dharma. However, they also are worldly and temperamental creatures that spread disease and misfortune when angered.

After Banteay Kdie we headed to Ta Prohm. This temple is where the movie the Tomb Raider was filmed. The temple is now referred to as the tree-temples. Ta Phrom temple was built in 1186 by King Jayavarman VII and was dedicated to his mother in honour of the goddess of wisdom in Mahayana Buddhism. Most of this temple has been overtaken by the trees.  Ta Prohm has two entrances the east gate and west gate, we were hoping that we would be able to wheel our bikes through the area.  It would have been impossible to lift our bikes in some of the areas.  We had to retrace our steps, other tourists were dropped of at one of the gates and were picked up at the other.

At the ‘famous’ tree we all lined up to take photos, apart from the Chinese who joined other people while they were having their photos taken. Eventually, we were next in-line and the Russian couple ahead of us offered to take our photo, we of course reciprocated.

We stopped at the Bayon Temple in Central Angkor Thom. The Bayon was built in the heart of Angkor Thom a city spanning nine square kilometres. The distinctive feature is the multitude of massive serene stone faces that grace its towers. I think it would be a great place for the Amazing Race, how many faces are there?

I found some building tools near Angkor Thom.  Maybe I can help with the restoration. 

At Angkor Thom in the Bayon there was a very gentle looking lady bestowing blessings on tourists. If you donated, she would pray with you and then tie a small ribbon bracelet on your wrist. I think Ralf got an excellent shot.

We had a nice lunch at one of the stalls near Angkor Thom and then headed back to the guesthouse. We had a good day, wandering around some of the temples.

All this money is being added to coffers in this area, but they cannot afford to help their own people live in good housing.  The large pots are their water source. There really is something wrong with this country.

We headed into Town for dinner. Our guesthouse is about 1.5 kms away from the busy pub street. We passed a statue standing by the side of the river – Lord Lokesvara – the Saviour of the World. The 8 armed form of the Lord shown here is a symbol of the Lord’s many skills to bring souls into enlightenment. King Jayavarman VII placed 108 of these statues in hospitals built all across the Angkor Empire.

As we walked into town we passed the active temple in Siem Reap – Wat Preah Prom Rath.

There is an area in Siem Reap Town that is known as Pub Street, lots of restaurants to choose from with lots of choices  We had a nice meal – the westernized meals are more expensive (about $7.00 U.S) but the beer was cheap .50 cent a draft!

In Siem Reap there are lots of places for massage as well as the fishy massages.

There was a family of Americans, “feeding” the fish and trying to encourage us to do it as well. Maybe tomorrow?!

A nice walk back along the river to our guesthouse. Amazing shot, this has not been enhanced at all.