Our original plan was to take today off because we were exhausted from the past 2 days and Phyl's knees were killing her. Hell, my knees were sore. It is not so simple to explore the temples as they are large and the pathways uneven. Each doorway, and there are hundreds, contains a sill about 12” thick which cannot be stepped over but must be climbed up and over. However, we had befriended 2 women from Hamberg, Germany ( Mizzi & Katha) and agreed to share a tuk-tuk for the hour long ride out to Banteay Srei and Kbal Spean. We ate breakfast together, then set out to procure a tuk-tuk
G- Whatever we do, we can't let Set see us in another tuk-tuk.
G- But his tuk-tuk does not have seating for 4 people.
P- I know, but I doubt he'll get that. Hopefully he won't see us.
The road to Banteay Srei (aka Lady Temple) afforded us a taste of rural Cambodia. The street was lined, intermittently, with houses and we saw people going about their daily lives without the tourist trade. Some people washed at their well, their laundry drying on a fence or line, chickens ran about the yards, and large pots cooked on open fires in the yards. As we passed we enjyed waving at the little children who seemed excitd to see us.
P- It is so funny to me that the little children are wearing only shirts; no diapers or pants.
G- Well, the yard is dirt and diapers are expensive.
G- What is the place coming up on the left?
Katha – I think it is a place where they make bricks.
Mizzi- Yes, look at the smoke stacks.
P- Can you imagine how hot it is to work in there in the summer?
G- Have y'all notice that you never see Asians reading?
Mizzi – We have commented about that also. A man told me that tourists are always reading; on the bus, at the cafe, everywhere.
G- So many of them are studying English that I can't imagine why they don't read or study it while they're sitting around.
Mizzi- It is a different culture. They sit and look and nap. I think they do not sleep much at night so they nap during the day.
P- Yes, all of the tuk-tuk driver nap while they wait for us in the temples.
Katha – Have you seen the drivers who hang the hammock on the tuk-tuk and sleep?
G- We have and it cracks me up. I'd be bored out of my mind if I just sat around waiting for the better part of every day and I didn't read.
We spent an hour exploring Banteay Srei, a remarkably intact, exquisitely carved pink sandstone temple, built in 967. It is very beautiful, on a miniature scale compared to the other temples, and with almost every surface decorated with carvings. We explored this temple for almost an hour, then returned to the tuk-tuk for the short drive to Kbal Spean, carvings in the riverbed of the Stung Kbal Spean, a tributary of the Siem Reap River. Little is known about the actual origins or purpose of the river carvings, but they have been dated to the 11th or 12th Century. The climb, 1500 meters up the Kulen Mountains, afforded beautiful views, but was not easy. Often we had to literally climb up and over huge boulders and Phyl struggled mightily. Finally reaching the top, we walked along the riverbed, viewing the carvings, until we reached a mossy waterfall in an idyllic, cool setting. We rested for a while before making the trek back down the mountain. This excursion was definitely not easy one, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.
When the tuk-tuk driver dropped us off at Kbal Spean, we were swarmed with people wanting to sell us things. This is not unusual, but one particular woman, Lisa, was relentless.
Lisa- You buy something.
G- No, thank you.
P- We are about to climb a mountain, we can't carry things up the mountain.
Lisa- When you come back you buy from me.
G- Ok, we'll need water when we come back.
Lisa- Ok, you buy from me. You promise? Lisa. Stall 6.
G- Ok, Lisa, I promise.
Lisa - (When we returned, Lisa spotted us and yelled from across the parking log.) You buy from me. You promise.
P- OMG! Please go buy some water from Lisa!
We walked to Lisa's stall and ordered a large water. It was late in the afternoon and no one else was around. Mizzi & Katha walked down to another stall and purchased a coconut each. Phyl & I were swarmmed by what appeared to be, every other women with a stall. We wanted to order something to eat because we had not eaten anything since breakfast, but the chatter of all the shrill voices trying to sell us something was enough to make our brains explode!
P- OMG! I cannot take this. It's killing my head.
P- Let's just get out of here.
G- But I'm starving!
P- Me too, but you'll have to wait until we get back. I can't take this anymore.
G- Alright, let's get out of here.
P- I swear I cannot take that!
Mizzie- Yes, it is stressful.
Katha – They all come to you.
P- It's Gina. They always surround her. We can be walking together coming out of the temples, and for some reason they surround her.
G- I don't know what it is. I must put off a smell or something.
G- I do? Since when?
P- Since we arrive in Asia.
G- It makes me crazy.
Mizzi & Katha – We don't like it either.
