"Templed Out": An Afternoon through the Cambodian Countryside and along the Tonle Sap Lake

Day three of Siem Reap, and we’re still at it. We had bought a 3-day temple pass, and today was the final day. By the end of the morning, after seeing five more temples, we were all “templed out.”

Ted and I began our morning on the back of an elephant; we rode the elephant from the South Gate to Bayon through Angkor Thom. Rachel and Jason opted for some more sight seeing. Ted was thrilled because this was his first elephant ride. Our ride was a little bouncy but relaxing. We even saw some monkeys grooming themselves on the side of the road. After carting us around, we fed the elephant some bananas. I think he or she enjoyed the tasty treat!

The first of the next set of temples was Prasat Preah Khan. I wish I had more to say about it, but after 2 ½ days of walking up hundreds of steps in the extreme, exhausting heat, visiting temple after temple, it’s getting hard to distinguish between some of the smaller ones and keep up our enthusiasm. After Prasat Preah Khan, we visited Neak Pean and Prasat Ta Som. Prasat Ta Som had huge centipedes and some rather large spiders within the crevices and in the corners of the large, moss-covered stones.

Our final destination before lunch, and the last temple of our days at Angkor Wat (at least this visit), was East Mibon, which had 8 rather large stone elephants around it. We took a ton of photos, and we’ve been enjoying taking it all in.

After lunch at a nearby touristy restaurant, Ted and I veered paths from Rachel and Jason. They went to an artisan shop, and we went to the floating villages along the Tonle Sap lake. I’ve never really been anywhere quite like it. Some of the houses are built on stilts and many of the others are built of bamboo and float along the river. The houses move at least 3 times a year. We even saw some being tugged by a boat, and some of the floating market boats passing from house to house selling groceries. If it’s at all possible, I think it was even more impoverished along the river and lake than in the countryside. It’s devastating to see the conditions that the majority of the people live in here. Ted has been shooting a lot of video. I hope it turns out. Still shots will surely not do justice.

We’ve observed quite a bit of wildlife, especially driving in the countryside and through the small villages on the way to different ruins and the floating village. Cows, yaks, chickens, roosters, dogs, and cats have free rein in the streets. There are also horses and water buffalo along the roadside. We have seen a lot of crocodiles on farms and elephants and monkeys while touring some of the ruins. In addition to all of the wildlife we have been able to listen to the live music of disabled, landmine victims. These people got tired of begging for money, so they have learned to play instruments and formed bands playing traditional Khmer music. The bands are at many of the temples. They accept donations and sell CDs. Ted, Rachel, and I all bought CDs from various groups.

Tomorrow we plan to do a bit of shopping before heading to the airport. Ted and I will fly to Phnom Penh, and Rachel and Jason are heading to Hanoi to stay with one of their friends. We’ll all meet back up together in Hanoi to head to Ha Long Bay early next week.