More Ruins and Fishing Village

Day 11: Siem Reap

Activities:

​​Our ticket for the Angkor ruins enables us to spend more time exploring this memorable archaeological area. It is an early morning start as we travel out to Banteay Srei, famous for its detailed and intricate stone carvings. It is not a big temple, but has been sometimes referred to as ‘the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art’. Back at the main temple complex, Preah Khan contains a maze of vaulted corridors and is another complex that has been largely reclaimed by the jungle. We include a visit to the Sala Bai Hotel School where underprivileged local youths learn skills which will enable them to find gainful employment in the hospitality industry. We also enjoy a lunch prepared by students at the school.

 

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There are over 300 temples all of massive proportions here in the Seim Reap Area.  We vist Preah Khan after our sunrise at Angkor Wat:

Vaulted Hallways

After exploring these ruins, we head out to the Pink Temple or Banteay Srei   It is known for its intricate sandstone carvings:

Have you had enough temples?  By now we were really looking for something different to see.  As beautiful as these temples and ruins are, we wanted to get a taste of real life with the Cambodian People.  Our guide took us out to the largest fresh water lake in Cambodia.  It is the dry season and the lake is one huge mud hole now about 40 km wide.  It looks like a latte ocean and at this time of the year is only about a meter deep.  The fishing community that lives along its banks are high and dry.  Their homes on stills are bamboo skyscrapers at this time of the year. 

It is the only time they have land around them and the children can run and play.  Otherwise the water comes up to just under their floors in the wet season.  The downside of the dry season is the lack of water.  The people here are very poor.  We enjoyed our time here though.  The people are lovely and work hard.

We board the long boat for our river excursion

Our Group of Explorers

Couple repairs roof on their boat

Laundry Day at the Well

Little Boy Toilets over the Side of The Boat

School Children Just Finished Playing

Village Temple

Downtown

Drying the Shrimp

Boy Learning from Grandpa How to Repair A Boat

Floating Restaurant

Girl paddling home after a trip to the market

Despite their hard life, they were generous with their smiles.

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's