Say Wat?

By contrast, our second morning in Siem Reap got off to a late start due, in part, to the work part of “workcation”. We headed much further afield to a place called Kbal Spean, or “river of a thousand lingas”. Rather than build a Wat (temple), here they opted to carve directly into the stone riverbed, which made for a great hike. At the trailhead I saw a sign for a Conservation Center. Since this was a workcation after all, I wandered over afterwards for a tour and was rewarded with seeing all the animals I’ve wondered about, including that gibbon the zipline company was named after. These animals are all rescued from poachers or bred in captivity, and returned to the wild where possible. They also use the Center to educate both locals and tourists on the weird and wonderful critters in Cambodia. One was a primate that is able to excrete a toxin from glands on its arms after biting its victim to create an opening. I also figured out that those long skinny pieces of meat I’d seen for sale along the road were water snakes (no, I did not try one). In almost every case, the biggest threats were habitat loss and hunting for “medicinal purposes”. Apparently there’s a lot of superstition that if you stick certain animals into rice wine, it can do everything from clear your complexion to cure syphilis. As a result, you’ll commonly find bottles for sale in the market place (probably as a tourist novelty) containing entire snakes in rice wine.

On that appetizing note, our next stop was a proper temple called Banteay Srei. After the sheer scale of Angkor Wat, the small scale of Bantey Srei took me by surprise, but what they lacked in quantity they made up for in quality. They used a different type of sandstone here so the carvings have stood the test of time better, their beauty and intricacy matched by the depth of the carving into the dark red stone. Our final stop was far more sober—a landmine museum. The curator had been a child soldier with the Khmer Rouge, only to later become a landmine clearer. The small museum showed how it’s done, and gave a sobering reminder of how many areas in Cambodia still aren’t cleared of landmines. We ended the day on a much happier note by eating at a buffet that included more Khmer dancing—this time at reasonable prices.

We tried to fit a little of everything in on our last day, beginning with another sunrise at Angkor Wat—this time inside the temple proper to take a few more photos of early morning light on the stone. We continued on to Ta Keo, and unfinished temple but a steep one they let you clamber all over—a great workout! By this time we didn’t know what to do next, so we had Dara take us to the Wat of his choice. He drove us to another one which was quiet and relatively isolated, crumbling with mature trees growing from its first platform 10 feet off the ground. It was most impressive for the carved naga, a 5-headed snake that is a common feature on these temples.

Next, we fit in a quick cruise on the Tonle Sap. Again, it’s the largest freshwater lake in SE Asia and swells from the monsoonal overflow of the Mekong. This means that while it’s only 2 meters deep in the dry season at its deepest, by the end of the rainy season (now) it is 10 meters deep. It annually floods the forests surrounding it up to the treetops, allowing fish to nibble on leaves that are normally overhead. It also means that the villages on the edge are somewhat migratory, and many opt to simple live on boats their whole lives, creating “floating villages”. They have churches, schools, shops, etc. all on boats which can move with the seasons. Being out there made me realize that water is their whole life and they use it for everything, and all from the same source. We cruised through the flooded forest for a while to the edge of the lake proper, and it finally sunk in when I looked at the horizon and couldn’t see the other side that this was a lake to be reckoned with!

Our final stop for the day was sunset at Angkor Wat, and we’re glad we did. The afternoon light gave the stone a totally different color and glow, and gave us a moment to reflect on incredible past few days. I dashed out a few minutes ahead of Cori, and as I hopped through a dark corridor I glimpsed bright orange to my right. In disbelief, there was a monk in his saffron robes, sitting in a doorway being photographed by another tourist. The shot I wanted was all set up for me! I asked permission, shot a few pictures, chatted for a moment, and continued the sprint to the tuk tuk so we could dash to the airport. (I’ll try to post this shot in a few days)

And with that, we bid farewell to Cambodia. By the way, did I mention how elusive the smells are on this trip? One moment you smell the most incredible street food, only to smell garbage the next. Exotic flowers, diesel fumes, etc…every smell is strong and balanced by something equally repulsive or enticing.