Beng Mealea and Koh Ker

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Today was our last day of sightseeing on our own before the huge medical mission group finished arriving. Then we'd be working every day until the last day when we had a "cultural experience day" with the big group. We had a long two hour drive today out to Beng Mealea Jungle Temple and then Koh Ker. It should be noted, if you're going to Cambodia, there is distinct difference between hiring a guide and hiring a driver. Not knowing this ahead of time, and thinking why in the world would I pay so much extra, I booked a driver for today. It was a private tour so it was just me and Chris. What confused me further was when we found out that the driver IS a guide but he was just out of uniform. So at first I'm thinking, well I saved myself some money there because in the car on our drive he was still acting like a guide. Chris was first to notice that whenever we got out in a public location where there were other guides in uniform, our driver was silent. He explained nothing and stood to the side while we explored. This threw me off because then I felt bad, like maybe I shouldn't have been pestering him with questions. He was straight with us later, though, when I finally just asked him what the difference was. In Cambodia, official guides go through extensive schooling and testing, including an oral board exam. Anyone who is not certified and wearing the hard earned uniform does not have the legal right to guide tourists and give out information on Cambodian history. I found this fascinating because this is so different than our own culture in the States- anyone can claim to be an expert on anything. So when we were in public, he had to stay silent so the other guides didn't give him hell or report him. When we were in the car or at a small temple with no one around, any question and topic was fair game to discuss. And we had many hours in the car with him that day- this guy was AMAZING. By far my favorite guide, we discussed everything from family, child rearing (he has two children), architecture, building homes, land ownership, womens' rights, marriage ceremonies, burial ceremonies, what a shaved head means on a woman (often it's mourning but it can also be religious), why some streets have Cambodian flags (generally a government official had been by recently), and THEN HEbrought up politics! Politics are a touchy subject anywhere in the world you go and given our current U.S. President I really wasn't going to go there on my own. But he brought it up and it was wonderful to listen to a Cambodian local be so open and genuine on his thoughts regarding his country. This was the only time we would experience that, and for good reasons.

Since we were at a large public temple at Beng Mealea, our driver couldn't accompany us. He dropped us off outside the temple and said he'd be there when we were done. We really had no idea how to approach this big temple but every other temple we'd been to it didn't particularly matter. Except this one, of course. We worked our way around the outside of the temple first like our guides had done with us at prior temples. There were large stones and crumbling architecture everywhere. So beautiful. Once we were on the far side of the temple, we made our way into the middle. Another guide saw us wandering around, walked up to Chris, took his camera and started pointing at different spots. We took his gestures to mean "stand here, I'll take your picture." I had a feeling this meant he wanted to be paid for the service, and I nervously glanced at Chris as the Cambodian took us to spot after spot, clicking pictures of us, but with zero care as to whether or not we were actually in said pictures. I had plenty of spare cash so that wasn't an issue. I was more worried he might actually break the camera by accident. At one point, he had us up posing on a ledge, and I thought it'd be the perfect moment for him to bolt with the camera. He didn't of course. And would he have? He was in uniform! Not that I'd ever be able to identify him. Eventually, he ended our photo shoot, and put his palm out for payment as I suspected. So we did. Super odd experience. We wandered against the stream into the temple in the wrong direction. Apparently, there was a particular way to walk through, and we hadn't known it ahead of time. But rather than walk all the way back around to the front, we just patiently took our time moving against the current of tourists.

After Beng Mealea, we drove over to nearby Koh Ker. This is a rather large complex compared to other temples we'd been to. Our driver asked if we were hungry but I was actually still okay from eating all that sticky rice so we explored first. Unlike before, our driver followed us this time, I think so we wouldn't get lost. He occasionally delved out details and information when there weren't any other guides in earshot. After meandering through several smaller structures (and seeing an adorable cow statue that looked like something out of a Japanese anime), we came upon the massive seven tiered pyramid, called Prang, I believe. We walked around it, and then our driver waited at the bottom while we scaled the top. It was quite the steep stair climb but we came this far so we had to do it. We could see for miles and miles at the top. The surrounding area was flat with trees and we could only see one distant mountain. Apparently, the region hadn't been completely cleared of mines so there's only a couple dozen temples tourists are allowed to see in the area.

We ate lunch at one of the little local cafes onsite. The food was delicious, and I had myself another iced coffee. These were the highlight of my afternoons when I could find them (again, not the smartest because of the ice). After lunch, our guide drove us by a half dozen other smaller temples I can't remember the names to. They were all part of a ring of temples surrounding a central moat. On our drive back to Siem Reap, we passed a funeral procession and a few tuk tuks packed with nuns.

For dinner we met up with our medical mission team on our first official get together. We went out to a very nice local restaurant. I can't remember what I ordered but it was like a crepe stuffed with noodles. And it was absolutely ginormous. I couldn't finish it! We were very tired by the time we made it back to the hotel but there was work to be done. We got a head start on organizing meds and assembling water purifying buckets since the majority of the team was literally just getting in from the airport.

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