Day 16, Thursday 6th May, Siem Reap / Angkor

After the success of the first bike ride around Angkor the day before, I decided to do it again and finish off the major sights, which are fairly close together, by bike once more. My sunburn still looked dramatic, but having been treated with cream several times and now recoated with sunburn cream (BEFORE leaving the bike rental place) , I thought I could risk it. I had also bought a Cambodian sun hat at the market.

On the long straight road out to Angkor I took photos of a local phenomenon, the trade with small shellfish. These small creatures are transported around town on flat trays and sold in small plastic bags as snacks. You eat the tiny morsel of flesh and spit away the shell, which then lies around on the ground with all the other debris.

They come in different colours, or maybe the grey ones are just salted and the reddish ones pepped up with chili. I'm only guessing, I didn't feel even tempted to try.

Really popular.

 

Alongside the Angkor moat: 3 kids practising on a bike what they will do later on a moto.

 

 Crossing the moat towards the temple of Angkor Wat

 

 Angkor Wat: beyond the entrance gate, a long, hot causeway to the temple. Luckily I found a damaged umbrella, which protected me a bit from the blazing sun.

 

 Angkor Wat: wall relief

 

 Angkor Wat: smaller inner temple. I did not climb those stairs, too hot.

 

 Angkor Wat: some gods get clothes. They are mostly Hindu gods, which the medieval Khmer learned about from India. Buddhism came later. The temples are still use for praying, burning incense etc.

 

Angkor Wat: battle scene from long wall relief

  

Angkor Wat: this whole long wall, one of four surrounding the temple in arcades, is covered with a relief showing battles scenes.

Angkor Wat: battle scene, the victorious king on his elephant

Angkor Wat: walking back to the entrance along one side, to have some shade from trees, here is a modern temple with graves

Two cows outside Angkor Wat, enjoying the well-maintained grass area.

Angkor Wat: 3 boys playing at the stalls where I had my tyre pumped up

I may have made a mistake in refusing to buy anything from the young hawkers outside Angkor Wat, including a young girl who offered to look after my bike. Shortly after leaving them my tyre was flat, pumping up didn't help, it was a puncture. I walked back and luckily found a tuk-tuk driver free to take me and the bike back to town. So I missed out on Angkor Thom, Bayon etc.

Angkor Wat: going back to town prematurely with dead bike.

I decided to cut my losses, see the rest another day, and have a look at the National Museum, where some of the best-preserved sculptures and reliefs are kept. A decided advantage: air-conditioned. However, so overpriced at $12 that nobody goes there.

This is a demon, you can tell by the unfriendly expression.

National Museum: the building is beautiful, here a central pool has dining tables grouped around for an expensive banquet.

Evening in Siem Reap: after the daily special at Cafe Central (vegetable samosa, chicken Amok, fruits) with Denise from my hotel, I decided to give my feet the fish treatment. It tickled and nipped a bit, but I did not find any difference afterwards. All the hard bits were still there, the soft bits too.

Denise is an ex-beautician from Brisbane who trained to "Level 3" in teaching English but found herself underqualified for the promised jobs in Hanoi, and so was doing unpaid voluntary work as a teacher's aide to get some experience. There is any amount of unpaid voluntary work available in Cambodia, and more NGO's and humanitarian development projects, large and small, than  I ever dreamed could exist. A lot seem to target poor, uneducated, underpriviliged females, who need to be "empowered" to climb out of the poverty spiral. I would set them all to work eliminating the layer of rubbish which covers most of  Cambodia, but I don't know who would pay for that.
Denise had been spending some time with a friend, Valerie, who lives on a Greek island but comes over to Bangkok every year or so to have her medical and dental needs attended too, adding on a bit of travel at the same time.


On the way home, a group of spectators applaud a singer with band outside one of the pubs in Pub Street.