Land of Unscented Soaps and Curry

After two (or three) long years of business school, we are embarking on a 48 day journey to India, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. We'll be bathing with unscented soaps and shampoos to keep the mosquitoes away (and therefore malaria and other fun viruses), and eating all sorts of delicious and aromatic foods.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Wrapping Up the Trip

Using our 3 day Angkor pass (they create an official ID card for you), we headed out to some of the farther away temples. Because we were traveling farther distances, we used a car/driver instead of our tuk tuk. We first went to Banteay Srei, a temple that is built largely with sandstone, so the current colors of the temple make it a beautiful site to see.

We then stopped at Banteay Samre, before heading to East Mebon, Ta Som, Neak Pean, and Preah Khan. Unfortunately, after the number of temples we have seen, many of them start blurring together and many are not as magnificent as Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm. Preah Khan was somewhat different than many of the other temples; instead of simply a surrounding wall and the temple in the center, Preah Khan had 4 enclosed passages (although only the walls are currently remaining) coming from the east, west, north, and south to the temple in the center. Neak Pean was also unique in that it is a small temple built with a very wide moat completely surrounding on it, creating an island effect. Although today the moat is dry, during heavy rains it will actually flood.

Throughout our two days looking at temples, we were often approached by children (usually little girls) trying to sell us all sorts of trinkets and guide books. Their sales approach was often entertaining. It would start with "What's your name?" "Where you from?"- once you answer this question, they tell you the population of the capital. At one point I said I was from Djibouti, which produced just a smile. Unlike India, here, the kids would know to leave you alone after one or two "No thank you's." Our other favorite phrases were, "Ïf you buy, you buy from me, okay?" or "When you see temples, you buy when you come back?"

Surprisingly, we were able to get everything done before lunch. We headed to the Old Market area, which is considered the center of Siem Reap. We are bummed that we are not staying in this area, as it has the most options in terms of restaurants and activities. If the roads were better (most are dirt/mud roads that have large holes filled with rain water) we could probably walk to this area.

After a mid-afternoon nap, we headed back to the Old Market area for a good Khmer dinner - our last night on the trip. It has been an amazing 7 weeks, but as Jeremy said, we're looking forward to heading back to the States.

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