Oh boy, headed out today for our excursion on Tonle Sap lake to see the fishing villages. The streets in Siem Reap and surroundings are flooded today. our driver is an expert though and gets us through about 6-12 inches of water. The people here seem to take things in stride: going about their business pretty much as usual. Kids enjoying the change: using inner tubes to float down the street and jumping off bridges to enjoy the water. As we arrived at the boat dock, our pictures were taken by a local kid. The boat driver appeared to be all of about 15 years old, he headed off confidently onto the lake. We saw the local floating villages, including the homes, grocery store and even two schools. Mothers in small canoes came close, using their children to pose for pictures and receive money. This aspect was heart wrenching as we saw the hard lives and overwhelming poverty. Most of these Cambodians and Vietnamese spend their lives in these villages, never really managing to leave. As we exited the dock, a surprise awaited: our pictures on souvenir plates(of course for purchase). In light of the lack of resources and poverty, we were quite shocked by this creative and high tech end to our trip.
After negotiating the flooded streets again, we had a tour of the local Artisans school where local people are trained in the many arts include wood carving, stone carving and silk making. You can guess where the tour ends, and where we spent quite a bit of time picking out some beautiful items to accompany us on the trip home.
Lunch found us in a lovely spot by the river with orchids and plants all over. The local people are welcoming and friendly, the food was simple and hearty.
Off to 3 temples in the Roluos Group. These were built about 900 AD, and although much smaller and less elegant that Angor Wat & Angor Thom, still overwhelming to see. The brick work and carvings have been well preserved. Many steps lead us to the top of Bakong, the King's temple, affording a marvelous view of the surroundings.
Sweaty & hot, we returned to town, where Roberta convinced me to do one last market excursion. Terry & Phil headed for the pool! The old market in Siem Reap was filled with goods: some things we hadn't encoutnered before: silver and Buddhas galore. Roberta can really shop, her endurance is better than mine. After a wonderful and productive time, we headed back to the hotel, picked up "the boys" and had a lovely dinner at the Khmer Kitchen: curry, dumplings, soup, etc.
Off to bed now, hard to believe that our last day is tomorrow before we start the long trek home,
Barbara
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