Another day another Temple ! At this stage I have to confess that I have slightly lost the plot as far as which temple is which. The Khmer Empire celebrated a combination of religions – A combination to Buddhism, Hindu and a smattering of animism and their temple architecture reflects this. The next two are, I think, Mebon and Bantay Srei.
Mebon ???
Bantay Srei ???
Then Lunch in a Cambodian Village house prepared by a couple who has been Khmer Rouge soldiers and definitely must have had some stories to tell !!
Palm Sugar
A brief stop on the way to Roulos to see palm sugar being made.
Roulos Group of Temples
The earliest group of Temples to be built (9th Century) and carved out of red sandstone: We explored two of them.
Preah Ko
Bakong
Another huge temple and the last marathon climb up the steps to the sanctuary at the top. For a nation of little people they built staircases that are both steep and with extremely high steps. My calf muscles are reeling after 3 days of this !
The last temple (for now anyway) so back to the hotel and then out to explore Siem Reap´s night time scene. A very nice Khmer restaurant down an alley way for a couple of beers and delicious fresh spring rolls.
A relatively early night as we leave Siem Reap in the morning to meet up with the Tonle Pandaw which will be home for the next seven nights
Temples galore! Amazingly intricate aren’t they. Are they all still in use?
No. All that remains is the stone skeletons of what was once a huge empire and civilisation. All the original timber elements have long since disintegrated. Still stunning though !!!