Cambodia

Floating City.....


Isn't she lovely.....

Those are some serious tree roots. They actually hold the temple up in places.

An afternoon at home on the "houseboat."

Isn't he just the cutest!

Loved Cambodia it was warm, the hotel was nice and we were able to relax a bit. We saw temple after ancient temple and they all sort of run together. We visited the ancient capital of Angkor Thorn with the South Gate and huge statutes depicting the churning of ocean milk. Next was the Bayon Temple, unique for its 54 towers decorated with over 200 smiling faces, the Elephant Terrace and the list goes on. In the afternoon, we visited the most famous of all temples on the Angkor plain: Angkor Wat. The temple complex covers 81 hectares and is comparable in size to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. Its distinctive five towers are emblazoned on the Cambodian flag. We took a serious hike to see the sunset from Phnom Bakent which has a spectacular view of the Western Baray and Angkor Wat.

The temple visits continued the next day to Prasat Kravan with its unique brick sculptures, Srah Srang once used for ritual bathing, Banteay Kdei surrounded by four concentric walls, Eastern Mebon guarded by stone figures of harnessed elephants and then Ta Prohm one of the most beautiful temples of the area. It has remained relatively untouched and remains a mystery.

Finally we visited the floating village of the Chong Khneas. We took a traditional wooden boat ride on the Great Lake of Cambodia and the largest lake in Asia. The floating village was a village of homes, repair shops, stores, school, church and even a basketball court/gym all on the water. We stopped at one point to see the alligators. The incredible things was the people lived in the poorest of circumstances and would try to beautify their "homes" with potted flowers or whatever they could find. As my mom would say, "there's a lesson in that!"