After Viet Nam, Cambodia was a breath of fresh air. We loved it. The people were friendly--although they were all over us to "buy" things. Many children were selling goods. I was amazed that most of them could speak relatively good English. I finally asked one girl why she wasn't in school. She said she went in the morning and sold things in the afternoon. I later found out that schools in Cambodia only last a half a day. Too bad.
We stayed near Angkor Wat. I had assumed that it was one temple, but there were dozens of temples in the area. We visited several. This is the first one we saw. The statues are impressive, as are the carvings on the walls.
Sometimes you run across interesting things. This brings a whole new meaning to the term "nose to nose."
One area we visited had huge trees growing through and around all the walls. This particular temple was the site of the movie Tomb Raider with Angelina Joli. The guides were sure to tell us every place that was in the movie. Since I haven't seen that particular movie, it didn't mean much to me, but some people were suitably impressed.
We finally made it to the "real" Angkor Wat. This is take on the way in. It is a huge structure! We are quite far away.
Now we're getting closer. As you can see, there were people everywhere. In fact some places were so crowded that it was hard to move through the area. I had no idea that we would find so many people visiting the ruins. To show what a small world it can be, here we ran into two families from our church district. They both live in Shanghai, but we are acquainted with them.
The moat surrounding Angkor Wat was almost as impressive as the temple itself. I thought it was a river when I first saw it. Now it is peaceful and calm, but when the temple was in use, the moat was filled with alligators, making a good barrier for those who wanted to get into the structure.
We were told that the sunset was beautiful from another ruins at the top of a hill. Since it was almost time for the sun to go down, we, along with a thousand other people ran (well, hurried anyway) to the top of the hill to catch this sight. It was a little hazy, but still quite spetacular and worth the climb--not sure about the walk back in the dark, however.
The next day we visited my favorite temple. I think I liked it because of the red stone and the intricate carvings. At any rate, I could have spent more time here. It wasn't so crowded as the other places and one could get a real sense of history. I liked the leisurely pace better.
On the way back to town, we stopped and our tour guide showed us how they get sugar from palm trees. They cut this fruit and let the sap drain out. Then they boil it down and get sugar. Not quite like sugar maples in New England, but a new idea for me. I didn't know there were some kinds of palm trees that were grown for their sugar content.
The sugar was a family affair. For $1 they let me take my picture with the grandmother and the children. The inside of their house is in the background. Many of the houses were up on stilts. I hadn't seen houses built that way since we lived in Guyana.
Our last stop in Cambodia was a village built on the water. The people are mostly Vietnamese who settled here when the Vietnamese drove Pol Pot from power and sent their people over to Cambodia. Everything is on the water--houses, churches, schools, stores, etc. Here is someone out mending his net.
This was one of the better decorated houses.
Here is the basketball court for the school. It is on the water and is surrounded by wire mesh to keep the ball inside.
We visited an alligator farm in the water village. They are grown for their skin as well as for food.
A fisherman and his net. I'm not sure I'd want to eat something from this water, but it is a good way to feed a family and maybe sell a few fish on the side. Now on to South Viet Nam.
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