LAT report
Well I can report that the weather has not changed ..it is still hot and muggy..but I'd did not rain..so we did not get that ten minutes of relief. Our tours today took us to two more wats. First was one that was built by woman. It had a lot of very ornate carvings but the Wat itself was in major need of reconstruction. There were some stairs and the floors or walkways were very large cobble stones that were totally uneven and one had to be very careful not to trip! That one would be me! Linda always went first and counted the stairs up and down and that helped...I even was going down a slight incline and a very nice Japanese lady turned around and ga e me her hand! That was as I said nice and helpful. We did a little shopping at the souvenir shop (only a scarf) and then we got back on the bus ..this all took about an hour and all of us were soaked to the bones with sweat. Off we then went to the next Wat. We drove several miles then had to get off the bus and get onto a smaller bus so we could more easily or even at all travel on the "road" that got us to the jungle Wat. It had a huge wall around it that went for miles and miles, and apparently back in its day the "compound" held 79,000 people. The Wat was in major ruin with the tree roots growing over the walls it was an amazing and somewhat beautiful site. This is where they filmed "Raiders of the Lost Arc". They were doing some construction to secure some of the huge stones in the buildings that had started to fall over because of the tree routes. Really an amazing site and my favorite Wat so far...there was even a patch of shade to stand under..it wasn't cooler it was just shade! So the we got back on the small bus, traveled to the larger bus and back to the motel. We then took our second shower of the day and headed down stairs for lunch. In the afternoon we went to a local crafts school where the artisans made really nice lovely things all the way from wood carvings, silk scarfs and clothes, items out of silver ..you ended up in the store at the end and I bought several nice items and still only spent $80.00. Then we went to the town market for about 45 minutes then back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. After dinner they had a group of traditional Cambodian dancers that performed several dances ..that was fun to see..dinner was buffet ..and just ok. Tomorrow we leave for the boat...I am really looking forward to that!
LMR Report:
Just a quick report on dinner from last night...we had Kashmer dinner and it was ok. Had chicken skewers, rice, local veggies and fruit. They served water that they said was boiled first. I am not convinced and will not drink table water again...you can now read between the lines!
Out again today at 8:00am for two more temple ..one Buddhist and one where Angeline Jolie filmed Tomb Raiders, our local guide assured us he met here but he has some wild tales..so maybe not?
Cambodian people meet our buses every where selling bracelets, shirts, art and toys. They even stood outside our bus window and asked us to buy. Of course many of us bout items from them!
Back to the hotel for afternoon shower and then back out at 3:00 pm.
We were told that king Schanouk passed away this morning in china. So it is possible that his body will come to Penom Penh for a state funeral while we are there so all business will be closed. In addition it is New Year so they have a three day holiday to celebrate that.
At 3:00pm we went to an artists workshop and saw their silk paintings, stone carving, and lacquer work being done. At the conclusion of the tour we we went to the gift shop where items from the artists are sold. Linda and I must tohave been among the best customers as we got a ration bag for our purchases and others in our group did not!
From there we went to an oudoor market in downtown Siem Reap. We had an opportunity to practice our bartering skills.
Did not get the afternoon rain today like yesterday's downpour. We were all looking forward to it for some momentary cooling.
linda and I decided our next trip will be somewhere where coats are required all he time, along with sweaters and heavy blankets.
pics 10-15-2012
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