Our second day at the temples would be a very full one indeed. We were scheduled to visit Banteay Srei, Banteay Kdei and Ta Prohm...all before lunch, hence it was going to be a VERY busy one! After a good night's sleep, we set off a bit early that day better prepared (yes, I remembered to bring snacks and water).
Banteay Srei is a VERY small temple; however, it's on the 'must see' list as the carvings at this VERY small temple are unusually well-preserved and also demonstrate some of the most beautiful Khmer artwork to be found among the temples. All I can say is that while, yes, the carvings were by far the most intricate we had seen, the place was VERY small and crawling with tourists...it was difficult at times to listen to our tour guides what with all of the other languages being spoken around us! We didn't spend too long at the temple as it was already warming up, and it was only 9:45am...so we quickly headed to our next destination, Banteay Kdei.
To be honest, I don't really remember Banteay Kdei other than we climbed an awful lot and Brianna bought a few trinkets; however, Terry had quite a few pictures that were quite nice! One thing I did remember about this temple was all the people trying to sell things to us.
Most people in Cambodia live on less than one dollar a day, and poverty is evident throughout the country. At EVERY temple, many Khmer people will try to sell a number of trinkets and souvenirs in hopes of making a few extra dollars for their families. The trinkets range from guide books to post cards to slide flutes and T-shirts. What is amazing to me is that the majority of the people selling these trinkets are children under the age of 12. This made more sense when I discovered that school for Khmer children is only 1/2 of the day, either from 7am-11am or from 1pm-5pm, leaving LOTS of free-time (when one isn't expected to be helping on the farm or in other family matters). Tourists (me included) feel more sympathy to children than to adults, hence children are far more effective at selling their trinkets than adults. Even more amazing is that these children were selling me these items IN ENGLISH. They approached me, asked me my name and where I was from...then proceeded to quote random facts about the USA....'USA President is Barrack Obama. His wife is Michelle and his children are Sasha and Malia.' They then asked me to buy '10 (postcards) for $1'. When I smiled very politely and said no, they followed me to the car...eventually getting more desperate 'please buy 20 (postcards) for $1'. When I say 'they', I mean about 4-6 children following us to the car....right up to the door. They weren't aggressive, but just persistent. They literally would not accept 'no' for an answer. The girls and I did buy a few things (Brianna found some hand-made trinkets she liked for her cell phone, etc., and I found postcards); however, on the whole, we kept a smile on our faces and stuck to a simple 'no thank you'. As an testament to how tenacious and smart these kids can be....they would then turn around and approach a different tourist and ask, in JAPANESE, 'please buy 2 for $1'. AMAZING!
As Banteay Srei is quite a ways away from the B&B, we had a lovely drive back. The scenery was pretty spectacular as it captured a glimpse of what daily life is like in Siem Reap. The one thing we consistently noticed were how many children there were...no adults around, but mostly children. They were mostly barefoot and sometimes in uniform, other times not (note the school times above). They were riding bikes that were far larger than they were, playing in mud pits on the side of the road, other times escaping the unforgiving intensity of the Cambodian sun with their families under their houses (which are mostly built on stilts...more on that in another post).
Along the way, we stopped on the side of the road by a row of small road-side stands. At these particular stands, they were making a local staple...palm sugar (which I now am to understand is highly coveted as an alternative to high fructose corn syrup and is quite expensive in the USA). To make it, the men climb a rickety hand-made ladder and cut a small slice in the fruit of the male palm tree. A blue cup is then placed underneath the flower, collecting the palm sap. The next day, the liquid is brought to the women, who sit above a fire pit with a GIANT wok, cooking down the liquid for hours until it turns into a caramel-kind of sugar. The sugar at these particular places is then poured into molds and wrapped in palm leaves...making a super cool gift (we bought lots...largely because Terry went to purchase them at one stand and was then approached by the other 2 stand owners, persistently asking him to buy from them as well!). We also purchased a few silk scarves as they are plentiful in Cambodia.
Our last stop before lunch was Ta Prohm, better known as the 'Tomb Raider' temple. This was one I was REALLY looking forward to as it has been somewhat unrestored. The jungle has been beaten back and kept at bay; however, some of the trees have grown throughout the temple, making it near impossible to cut back. I was not disappointed; although it was teeming with tourists. The temple is everything it is quoted to be. The sheer massive size of the trees is quite awesome. There is one famous area within the temple where one tree overtook a smaller tree, and both are swallowing the temple, crushing it with their weight (although I am to understand that the type of trees growing throughout Ta Prohm aren't very dense, which is why the temple hasn't been completely demolished by the jungle). We got some great pics; however, by the time we were done, we were HOT, starving and ready for a break. Our guide, Mr. Santhou, chose a lunch place which was yummy (but took FOREVER) and then bid us adieu, as this was our last day with him. With full tummies, we headed back to the B&B where we had yet another activity that day....volunteering!
The B&B that we stayed at has a community center which has been built on the grounds...a gate connects the B&B facilities to the center. This community center, JWOC (http://www.journeyswithinourcommunity.org/) offers a variety of free classes to the community, trying to improve the lives of the Khmer in Siem Reap. They offer free classes to small school-aged children, as well as conversational English classes to young adults. For those who are trying to improve their job skills, the center offers vocational courses (e.g. sewing). As JWOC is connected with the B&B, where mostly foreigners are staying, they courses are extremely popular, as most guests at this particular B&B volunteer about 1-3 hours of their time by just talking with the students. While it seems very simple, for those who have studied a foreign language, there is NOTHING like trying to speak the language with a native speaker. The cadence of the speech, the accent, the rate of speech is a very different experience when trying to converse with a native speaker. The experience is invaluable, hence the classes are typically full.
We had the pleasure of helping out in a class with young adults aged 16-22. While we were all exhausted, and the girls felt a bit out-of-place, I did find the experience to be fun. Terry found it rather strange, and I agree that the topic we used could have been better. Rather than trying to converse on a simple subject, we were tasked to identify items that are 'recyclable' and to explain how we can 'recycle' these items. Terry made the comment, and I agreed, that perhaps it would have been more meaningful to discuss something a bit more relevant and simplistic. When I had the chance to dig a bit deeper with one student, her comment to me was 'we are not rich like Americans, we cannot recycle'. I found it a rather odd statement to make as I was unaware that recycling is something that is a 'luxury'? I would think that everyone has access to recycling at one level or another. At any rate, it provided a deeper glimpse into what life must be like for the many people living in Siem Reap. Overall, the students were very friendly and happy, albeit a bit shy. From the size of this posting, you can see what a full-day it was...yet again, we found ourselves with a mediocre dinner and VERY tired girls (although Elaine and I managed to get a quick fish foot massage). Knowing that we had a long drive ahead of us the next day, we headed off to bed.
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