Local restaurant

On the previous day our guide had taken us to a ‘normal’ tourist restaurant but today we wanted to eat where the locals might eat. I suspect the guides get a kick back when they take their passengers to the tourist restaurants since those restaurants seemed to be doing a brisk trade while the others were rather quiet.

Settlements

These pictures were typical of many lake settlements.

Houses and ‘businesses’ built on tall piles to stave off the floods. In the season, the floods eventually win and the people move inland until they pass, at which time they return to re-open shops. Many houses are built on floats and they rise and fall with the floods.

A TukTuk driver!

I don’t know that I’d make much of a living at it but I had to get a feel for being a tuktuk driver!

Another sob story our ‘guide’ told us concerns how lads such as this make their living by allowing their photo to be taken for $USD1. This shot was taken some 500 meters from the shore. The boy was certainly skilful at skimming across the surface of the lake in his aluminium basin – bailer going flat out at the same time – not for me thanks!

School furniture

I don’t think New Zealand children in 2011 would last long on these benches!

Happy enough!

The children at the crowded the two room floating school seemed happy enough.

A ruse or highly developed sales skills?

This boat trip was a bit of a ruse! Our ‘guide’ took us out into the lake and told us the story behind a lot of the orphanages, including consequences of the war of the sixties and seventies and the atrocities committed during that period.

A little surprise probably every boat load of tourists gets from their ‘guide’ is the speech about orphans and how poor the schools are and that if you want to help, you can buy books, noodles or some other items they list. Of course this is all optional -‘it’s up to you’ they say but I noticed the boat’s motor didn’t start again until we said we would like to contribute towards their education!!

Pig Sty!

The floating pig sty!

A Family

A family house moored on the river.

The river

The waterway leading to Tanle Sap Lake carries all manner of goods from sand to building materials.

Floating Village

We took a tuktuk from Siem Reap to visit the floating village on Tanle Sap Lake. What ever people do on land, these people can do on water! Everything is built to float – houses, gardens, pig sties, chicken coops, churches, schools and even a basketball stadium!

Flesh eating fish!

Siem Reap was littered with places offering you a chance to have your feet nibbled and the old skin removed by small fish. A bit of a novelty but cheap at $US1 for 20 minutes!

Beauty in Cambodia

This shot was taken between the front gate and main entrance to Angkor Wat. The water and brilliant colours of the plants seemed to take away the intensity of the heat and humidity!

Ta Prohm

The jungle is trying hard to reclaim the ruins of Ta Prohm temple. In some places the tendrils have found their way under a line of stone and as they have grown they have lifted a long line of stone slabs and destroyed walls.

Bayon

One of the many beautiful stone faces that are part of Bayon temple.

A head for heights!

In this shot Lynne is carefully descending from what we deduced (perhaps wrongly) was a library.

Angkor Wat

This is just one of the many photo opportunities provided by the ruins within the temple grounds.

Angkor Wat bas reliefs

Angkor watt is famous for the bas reliefs throughout. This example represents a very small part of a huge ‘mural’ depicting various historical and cultural events. From what I could see, the relief has been constructed in several parts and then put into place on the wall.



I don’t know how they made this type but whoever made it must have had a lot of help or was very patient because there were several throughout the temple.

Cambodia

Paul with Angkor Wat in the background. To arrive at this point we walked through the ‘man gates’ and approached the temple via a long ’bridge’ across a very wide moat. The second picture shows Lynne against the backdrop formed by the entrance to the main part of the temple.

Home again

... and I have the T-Shirt to prove it!