Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Cambodia - 2

Hi, Finally the last post, part 2 of our stay in Cambodia. Our afternoon visit was Ta Prohm Temple. It is known for the faces on its structures. The obelisks have one one each side. Lining the approach to the main gate are faces on pedestals.
Here is one of the faces.

This temple also had beautiful carvings that appeared to be of from a Hindu period.



Some monks were present and again were glad to sit for photos.

I think these are novitiates.

We went back to Angkor Wat for sunset.

This very young girl was wandering back and forth with what we assume was her baby sisiter. She was NOT begging. In fact we encountered very little begging in Viet Nam and none in Cambodia.

The next day, our last full day in Cambodia, we went for a boat ride on Tonle Sap Lake. On the way we stopped a few times for photo ops. Two of them involved teams of oxen being used to plow fields.


We passed a store on the drive. The bottles on the right contain gasoline. Since motor scooters and bikes use very little gas this is a convenient way to sell it. The bottles are recycled. This and the next photo were taken from the bus.

A little boy playing in a sewer pipe.

Because the lake is very shallow, particularly during the dry season, the propeller is on a boom which can be raised and lowered.

The propeller on our boat is partly out of the water.

A crank, being operated by this young boy in the back of our boat, is used to raise and lower the boom.

During the dry season when the lake is low and the fish are concentrated the local population concentrates on fishing. We went down a canal for a few miles and people were out fishing along the banks.


When fishing season begins many locals move homes built on ramps from the canal and lake banks out into the lake. They then form floating communities with stores, restaurants, and even schools. Needless to say all transportation is via boat and they are used for fishing, getting around, and moving goods.

Here is the school.

There is no walkway between the buildings.




This is a typical store.

Some of the homes kept pigs.


There was a Pagoda along the canal.

After our morning activity Ruthe and I visited a market in Siem Reap.


Finally, a photo I took out the window of a Cambodian family's home after lunch there on the first day.


As I said before, it was truly a great trip. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

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