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Published: March 13th 2006
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We got a later start on day 2, because we decided to sleep in a bit and do sunset instead of sunrise. Our first stop was Prasat Kravan, which is a beautiful older Hindu temple that was in great shape because it was restored in the 1960s. The carvings were really amazing.
Banteay Sdei is a huge monastery with these really cool garudas at the entrance that was built during J-VII's reign. We kept going and farther back, thinking we had reached the end, but the place just wouldn't stop. Thousands of monks lived and studied at this place back in the day. Sra Srang (Pool of Ablutions) is just across the street. The surrounding ruins and huge trees look beautiful reflected in the water.
Like most sites at Angkor, at Sra Srang, we had to walk through the gauntlet of vendors to get there. Some people get very intimidated by the crowds of hawkers trying to get you to buy tacky trinkets, t-shirts, postcards, photocopied fake Lonely Planet guidebooks, water, beer, you name it, but I find it rather entertaining to interact with the locals. Most speak pretty good English and seek to enjoy getting into conversations with
the foreigners, even if you don't buy something. The "hey lady, you remember me when you done, I wear this white hat and I wait for you outside to buy cold drink" is all part of the experience. You can easily distract them by starting a conversation and asking how they are doing, but even the kids usually get right back to the business at hand.
We find the number of children working in Cambodia instead of getting to be regular kids to be disturbing. Unlike Thailand, many kids are vending, fishing, and farming, and we see them on the streets or in the fields in the middle of the day on school days. They may or not go to school, though sometimes they do go for part of the day. The parents can often afford to send only one child to school, and the others have to work to help support the family. It's really sad that these kids are not geting an education, because many of them are smart kids and the vendors usually speak good English from talking to foreign tourists all the time.
There are also unfortunately some really sick foreign tourists who specifically
come to Cambodia for child prostitutes, many of whom are Vietnamese girls sold by their impoverished parents to criminal gangs. The UN, embassies, and other organizations are helping the Cambodian authorities clamp down on this, and so far almost 1,000 sickos (including the infamous Gary Glitter) have been prosecuted. You frequently see billboards and ads that say, "Have sex with a child in this country, do prison time in your country." There is still a long way to go, especially since many of the police are so corrupt and can be easily bribed due to their low salaries, but it is a step in the right direction.
Anyway, off my soapbox and back to Angkor. Pre Rup is a pyramid that has a great view over the surrounding area, though it's a long hot very steep climb to the top. Built by Rajendravarman II, it seemed to be one of the few structures not built by J-VII. It was one of the few temples facing west instead of east, so it likely was used for royal cremations or other funeral rites. There were some cute kids up at the top selling postcards. They would come up to you: "postcards:
$1." We turned down one little girl and talked to her about her favorite subjects in school and listened to her and her friends sing a Khmer song that was very funny to them. Right after she finished laughing with her friends, she suddenly turned right back around and said: "postcards: $1," as though she didn't remember that we had just turned down her offer 2 minutes before.
Eastern Mebon used to be an island, but is now on dry land. It is similar to Pre Rup. The coolest thing about it is these carved life-size elephants on the corners. They are in great condition and look very life-like.
Ta Som was definitely one of our favorite places. It is a smaller temple built by none other than J-VII, but it is in fantastic shape because it was recently renovated by the World Monuments Fund. This was such a beautiful place, and there were less than 10 other people there. We really enjoyed exploring Ta Som because it felt like we had it all to ourselves. Just resting on the steps, snacking on some awesome muffins from the Blue Pumpkin bakery, and listening to the quiet sounds of
the surrounding forest was great.
Preah Neak Pean was built by guess who. It is not a temple or palace. but ceremonial pools with these really unique water spouts. Each was of a different figure: elephant, horse, lion and human.
While Ta Prohm is devoted to J-VII's mother, Preah Khan is dedicated to his father. This place was a maze. Columns and boulders were lying everywhere, so we kept having to backtrack and find new passageways to get around. It was full of gorgeous apsara carvings. Preah Khan was almost swallowed up by the jungle and many statues and carvings were looted during Cambodia's civil war, but the WMF has dedicated considerable resources to renovating and preserving this palace and the surrounding ecosystem. They have even funded a study of the birdlife in the area-around 120 species of birds have been identified so far.
We finished our busy day by watching sunset at Phnom Bakheng. This temple is 7 levels, which represent the 7 Hindu heavens. The view is great, but Phnom Bakheng was a bit of a zoo because it is a popular place for sunset. Most people climb up a steep slope to get up
there, but don't realize there is an easier trail winding around the side because they follow the herd instead of bothering to read the sign at the bottom. That steep climb down is really dangerous after dark, especially since if someone fell, they would take out a few more other people.
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