Cambodia - Siem Reap the first two days

The next two days we spent with the same driver who took us to a number of beautiful temples in the Angkor Archaeological Park including Angkor Wat, Angkor Tohm (we saw Bayon temple and some of the beautiful gates in that complex), The Elephant Terrace, The Terrace of the Leper King, Phnom Bakheng, Ta Prohm, Banteay Srei and a number of other temples. I have to sort through my pictures to figure out where all we went. Our driver was hard to understand at times.

The temples were beautiful though. The carving is amazing and everywhere you look there are holes in the stone from the human or elephant and pulley system they used to erect the buildings. Even with dozens of tourists and tours everywhere I could have day for days and just looked at things. But I think we were able to see everything suitably for the amount of time we had.

We also took a boat trip out to a floating market. The large tourist carrying boats all come equipped with a constant bailing process that the engine powers and the smaller boats can commonly be seen with a passenger or fisherman using a bailing bucket. We travelled down a long river to the huge Tonle Sap lake. There were a few floating markets and my guess is that all the boat operators have a particular association with one of them as we only visited the one. But they`ve got a small market, a restaurant where you can eat fresh lake food, and a small section of tanks showcasing live specimens of many of the lake`s denizens. The one we visited also has a crocodile farm, a small fish farm and a shrimp enclosure. We didn`t eat anything but we did spend some time looking around at things. And on the way in and out you pass part of the floating village of people from Cambodia and the surrounding countries who come to fish and live on the lake. On the way back we also saw many small, rather flat boats full of students in uniform (all getting wet) returning from the floating schools located near the docks. Some were getting a tow from the tourist boats to save the paddling.

And of course we visted a few markets. The night market was interesting but seemed to have the same things all the other markets had. One thing to beware of is that everywhere you go you will be implored to buy things and give tips. Ladies and men running market booths, people in the stands outside the major temples and along the streets, adults and children carring baskets of books or postcards or handmade whatevers in and out of the temples, beggers in the street with and without injury. And if you won`t buy something the kids will ask you for candy. So I handed out healthier granola snacks :D I thought it would give the poor things more nutrition than candy. One day we witnessed children returning from their morning school to go back to work selling tourist things outside a foreigner restaurant. But according to our Phrom Penh taxi driver around 60% of kids in the cities can go to school. That`s a lot higher than I imagined! Although the number is of course lower outside of the cities. But the schools focus on useful learning like English lessons and the like.

The level of poverty is really obvious everywhere you go. Most people who don`t have indoor jobs have scruffy or dirty clothing (it`s hard not to when it`s so dusty though) and there is not an overweight person to be seen. Many people live in ridiculously small houses or shacks, often with only woven palm leaves covering the walls and palm or thatch roofs. And the food markets, Wow. So many flies and food just out where anything can get on it. The smell is terrible if there is meat involved. They seem to cook everything but they must have guts of steel.