Templed out

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We hope that you are all doing super!!

We pick up from our stay in Siem Reap.

In the spirit of our "romantic" private island getaway: We had heard about floating villages on the Tonle Sap Lake and thought--how AWESOME! We could rent a boat/driver to take us around and see them! cool little boat...cute chairs, nice driver...and a number of house like canoes that we had never seen before. However, instead of the sunset that we heard was really beautiful to see on the lake, we had the exceptional view of the one ominous cloud that covered the sky...as well as some TORRENTIAL downpour!! 😊 we beat back to shore with our tails between our legs. ah...

We experienced the first of our 3 day visit to the Angkor Wat temples on bikes. Saying that they were really amazing do not do justice to the intricate detail on the walls, not to mention the enormous statues. It was an extremely hot day, so the cool air that the temples provided were such a refuge for us. We went to one temple where not much restorative work had been done...which meant that it looked like one big jigsaw puzzle! Others had trees growing on top of the large structures--letting nature take its course.

After a good 30+ km of riding, we went to a really neat restaurant called the "Dead Fish Tower." We had a choice of sitting up various lofts, and we sat indian style atop cushions on the floor.

The second and third days were spent on the back of motorbikes to visit a river with carvings and inscriptions in the stone streambed, as well as other temples we didn't see on the first day. Just like with the taxis in Boston -- I felt completely safe behind my driver. I had no idea how fast we were going (because the speedometer didn't work), and the missing mirrors on the bikes were, well...missing. Also, passing on the road occurs on both the left and right side: as long as you have a horn (which is heard about every two seconds), you're set.

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Photos

angkor
This is a real "getting back to nature" type picture.

Angkor bound
Patsy on her way there....watch out for that pothole.

thirsty anyone?
These were some carving that were WAY off the beaten path. No temples - just stuff carved into the river bed near a waterfall.

No idea what animal this is...
This little girl found a novel way to cash in on temple visitors. Just find a strange creature and perch it on your shoulder. Someone is bound to take a picture!!!

a rest from the heat
This temple had several large pools that washed away the sins of those who appraoched it...