Day11 Monday 9th January 2006

The first temple this morning was Banteay Srei. The young guide had plenty to say about it but all I remember was steps everywhere.

Next we cycled to see the ruins that all cinema goers know. Either Pre Rup or Ta Phom was used in Tomb Raider. Here the Stung tree roots wrap themselves around the ruins. It seems as if the seeds have germinated well above ground and the aerial roots have grown down to find the earth. By the time the tree has fully grown the roots are massive. I had lunch with Moya and David.

In the afternoon we visited Angkor Wat. This temple was originally built as a funeral temple for Suryanarman11 in honour of Vishnu. The whole temple system here is a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist. Cambodian Buddhism is not the same as Indian Buddhism. Ankor Wat faces West. I climbed a very steep set of steps and came down again intsantly but gingerly. I was foolish to even attempt it .

To me the best part of this visit was discovering tiny frogs in the lake. They made a noise out of all proportion to their size. They were extremely difficult to see below the water because they were nearly transparent and had green stripes. They were present in their hundreds. To make the croak the expanded their throats like balloons. I suppose the noise was that of air being released under pressure.

In the evening Debbie and Moya had massages and I had dinner with John. Very nice it was too.

Roots!

More roots
Day 12 . Tuesday 10th. January 2006

This was our last cycling day. We cycled from the Hotel Casa Angkor to the 12th. century temple of King Jayavarman v11, reputedly Angkors greatest king. Angkor Thom is a Buddhist temple which is enclosed by a square wall 8 metres high with 5 20 metre tall monumental gates decorated with stone elephant trunks. Originally the moat around the Thom was filled with crocodiles. Tall statues of 54 different gods protected each gate.

The city itself contains another of Angkors gems, The Bayon. We cycled there and marvelled at its maze of corridors and 54 gothic style towers. The central temple has 1200 metres of of the finest bas reliefs depicting scenes of every day life in 12th. century Cambodia. This is where the Group photo was taken.

Group photo at the Bayon

In the afternoon we took an optional trip into the huge lake, Tonnel Sap, in the middle of Cambodia. It is a fresh water lake with floating villages. Pigs were kept on rafts; there was a floating school, a floating Catholic Church and many floating homes. The boats are moored but have to move as the lake expands to 40,000 sq.km. after the rainy season and contracts to 12,000 sq.km. during the rest of the year. This lake is famous for having more fresh water fish varieties than any other lake in the world. We sailed into the centre of the lake and just floated there. Some little boys in basins came along side from a nearby floating restaurant. They were begging. The weather was perfect . We had taken beer and just relaxed totally in the sun. Mel. and No. are getting closer. Watch this space.

Sue collected a contribution from everyone to thank Laura for being an excellent guide.

Our final meal was at The Khmer Kitchen in Siam Reap.

This trip was for me very memorable. I have memories of all the members of the trip and even if you don’t get a mention I would like to thank you for your company. It was superb.

Love from Joan