Trips

Sat., 10/18/14 – Siem Reap, Cambodia

Map of Cambodia - our tour was in and around Siem Reap in the NW part of the country
Flag of Cambodia	License plates for Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, the capital
Stop in Cambodian	View from our hotel room
Hotel pool and grounds	Playing the Roneat (Khmer xylophone)             Each morning she sits at a Roneat and plays American.  She likes “When the Saints Come Marching In” and “Auld Lang Syne.”
Our first visit was to one of the Killing Fields here in Siem Reap.  There is a shrine and a glass tower filled with skulls and bones of those killed at this spot.
Entrance to the Killing Fields Memorial	Entrance to the Killing Fields Memorial
Stupa at the Killing Fields cemetery	Buddha at the Killing Fields
Skulls of victims	Stupas in the cemetery
Street scene	We also had a stop at the Memorial Monument to Soldiers who were killed helping to liberate the country from the Khmer Rouge. Here we got our first look at some of the beautifully detailed carving we are to see throughout our tour.
Memorial Monument to Soldiers	Carving detail
Carving detail	Carving detail
At the entrance to this monument we had our first look at the Churning of the Sea of Milk statuary – a tug of war with the seven headed snake, Naga, pulled by gods one way and evil the other way.
Local transport	Fancy transportation
Next we went to the very new (three-years-old) Cambodian Museum of History.  We walked through eight galleries including the Khmer Civilization, 1,000 Buddhas, The Four Great Khmer Kings, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Stones, and Ancient Costumes of the Aspera Dancers.  It was well done, but a lot to take in.
Butterfly (or moth) on a balustrade
Ants on a rope	After lunch in a local restaurant and an hour rest at our hotel in the heat of the afternoon, we all joined the optional tour to visit the Banteay Srey Temple.  The Temple of Beautiful Lady was built in 967 of pink and yellow sandstone, brick, and laterite and was dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma.  The stone carvings are very intricate designs created with a hammer and iron chisel after the stones were set in place one on another and using no mortar or interlocking edges.  The blocks were rough cut a the quarry 20 km away, brought here by elephant or floated on bamboo rafts, and then smoothed using a lever to lift it and rub it smooth against another stone.
On the way to Banteay Srey	rice field
Nice sign provided by Soeng for each temple	Following are pictures of structures and details at the Banteay Srey Temple
	On our way back toward town we stopped at a roadside stand and Soeng demonstrated how palm sugar candy is made.  The local people climb a bamboo ladder and place a bamboo cup under either a male or female seedpod.  The male pod looks like a long pinecone and the female like a fruit.  The tip of the pod is cut off so the sap drips into the cup.  The juice is then collected, boiled over a clay stove, and poured into small rings of bamboo to cool on a slab of wood.  We sampled the candy.  It tastes like a cross between maple sugar candy and raw sugar.  I found them very sweet and good.
Ladder for climbing up to get the seedpods	Seedpods
Cooking pot and oven	Palm sugar candy
Farmer's hut	Ants of a rope
We stopped at the local carnival with all kinds of rides for small children and balloons to break by throwing darts and winning soda, beer, stuffed animals, cookies, etc.  Unfortunately it started to pour rain so our people-watching was over and we headed to our bus and dinner restaurant.	Carnival wares
Our tour included a dinner buffet with Cambodian dance entertainment.  The hall was huge and there were about 60 buffet dishes to chose from.  Most of it was fried or stir-fried. The tempura veggies and noodle dishes were quite good.  The food in Cambodia is similar to Thai food and the Cambodians use forks, not chopsticks.  The show had Cambodian folk dances with lots of hand movements.  It is amazing how far they can hyperextend all of their finger joints.  The costumes were colorful and elaborate.