4 November Siem Reap

These are two of the lakes around the resort were staying at

 This afternoon we had a selection of activities to choose from.  Di went for a massage, these ever she says, while I chose quad biking.  It was lots of fun riding down must road through ride pairs and herds of water buffalo.

3 November Phare Circus

 In the evening we went to a performance of the Phare Circus, featuring Cambodian acrobatics.  It was an amazing spectacle of music and acrobatics. 

3 November Siem Reap

 We left Hanchey at 7.30 for a five and a half hour bus ride to Siem Reap. We drove through rich tropical farmland with two stops en route to stretch our legs. 

We noticed a great discrepancy between new fancy houses and old worn buildings, possibly 100 years old. 

 

Lots of banana and coconut trees as well as broad fields of rice and corn

One of our rest stops had a pretend zoo

A small lake as we were approaching Siem Reap 

Welcome performance as we arrived at our hotel. 

2 November Hanchey

 This morning we got off the boat up a very steep path on the waters edge then went up to the Hanchey Buddhist Monastery on top of the hill above the river.  This was originally a 7th century Hindu Monastery but was taken over by the Buddhists in more modern times. There are still 7th and 8th century buildings here but the modern ones were built in the last century. Many of those in the photos are accommodation or dining houses. 

  

 

 

 

The dining hall

Just 350 steps down to the river. 

Fortunately there was also a bus.

The Mekong River from the top of the hill. 

In the afternoon we took a tuk tuk ride around a local island that produces fruit and vegetables that are sent off to the rest of the country. We again called into a private home to see their back garden with a wide variety of tropical fruit trees. 

The living area is under the house except when the floods come. There are racks high up on the side of the building for storing furniture etc. during the flood season. 

If you look closely you'll see a 1m insert in the post where they've raised the building because of increased flood heights in recent years. 

Fields being prepared for planting corn - done mostly by hand

1 November Angkor Ban

Further up the Mekong we stopped at Angkor Thom, the site of a largish Buddhist Temple and famous for being one of the few villages that escaped destruction during the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s because the regime used its buildings for housing and storage. We walked around the town, past the Temple complex into the village where we visited a typical two storey local house. The woman who lived there was very happy to show us inside. The floor was made of slats that allow the breeze to blow up through the floor. These are covered with nets at night to keep the mosquitoes out. The buildings are also held up on round lists so the snakes can't climb them, or so our guide told us. 

Inside the Buddhist Temple complex

 

Typical houses on stilts

 

Grasshoppers being grown for food

 

Inside the house. Photos around the room show her family including her daughter's graduation photo.  She now works for the government. 

 

The owner coming out from her back room 

Elephant statues looking down at the Mekong from the Temple area. 

31 October Koh Chen

Just out of Phnom Penh is an island in the river with a small village,  Oknha Tei, where the locals weave silk. 

Royal Palace Phnom Penh 

Riverside Oknha Tei

30 0ctober Phnom Penh - afternoon

In the afternoon we went on a rickshaw ride around Phnom Penh, visiting the railway station and the Independence Monument followed by the Central Market,  restored by the French Government in 2011.

 

Inside the railway station

The railway system was restored with help from an Australian Government Development Grant

The Central Market

Independence Memorial

  

                       King Norodom Sihanouk