Indochina Express - Day 15 (Siem Riep)

March 17

Today we are off to the Banteay Srei temple from the late 10th century, about an hour drive north of Siem Riep. This is a Hindu temple built in a much smaller scale than any of the other temples and is the only one in the Angkor area that was not constructed by a King. This one was built by two courtiers of King Rajendravarman II. It is also unusual in that it was constructed with a pink sandstone that has not been found in any other temple. Geologists have not been able to find a quarry so one of the leading theories is that the builders used all of the available sandstone at the site. Besides the unusual color, what makes it special is that the grain size is very small so very fine details could be made in the carvings and can still be seen today. We also see evidence from yesterday's storm. There are a lot of branches down and one tree has fallen that damaged part of an outer wall of the temple. Here are some pictures:

Back in the van and on our way to our second stop, Sarnak points out typical Cambodian houses:

They are almost all on stilts. We first thought that this was to keep the family safely above any floods. While that is part of the reason, the main reasons are 1) to act as a sort of air conditioner in this hot climate and 2) in rural areas having your dogs and chickens living under your home provides protection from cobras and disease carrying insects.

Our second stop is to a wildlife conservation area. The cages were pretty primitive, but these folks are doing their best to protect endangered species (turtles, several large birds, gibbons, and langur monkeys) and, more importantly, to educate young people that there are no health benefits to the traditional Chinese medicines that have resulted in the disappearance of pangolins and some kinds of turtles. Captive breeding program seems to be going pretty well. There are hundreds of juvenile turtles in pens. They keep them until they are about 5 years old and then release them into the wild. One group of gibbons (black male, white female) is in a natural enclosure with clearcutting around the enclosure so that they can't swing onto trees outside the enclosure. These were taken for the illegal pet trade when they were young so that they never learned how to jump like the wild gibbons do. Our guide says that a wild male did jump into the enclosure to mate with one of the captive females and they have a one-year-old baby, but the wild one jumped back out into the forest. Here are some pictures:

Next, we've got a hike up into the mountains for lunch. Sarnak tells us that there are very few mountains in Cambodia so every time early settlers found one, they climbed up it and built a shrine. This one is called Kbal Spean and dates from the early 11th century. The path up the mountain is along what looks like it would be either a stream or a waterfall in the rainy season. It was a pretty tough climb, especially for Beth, but we all made it to the top without any injuries and it was an experience walking through the jungle and hearing all of the birds. At the top, we find a small stream which we are told contains holy water because of the carvings in the rock. We also found that our driver has schlepped a big cooler full of food (spring roll, salad, cold chicken and a coconut cake) and four camp chairs up the mountain and got there ahead of us so that he can greet us with iced towels (really felt great) and cold drinks. We are a little puzzled how he did not pass us on the way up and how he was able to carry all this stuff. Sarnak tells us later that two of the local villagers help the tour drivers to carry the stuff up a different path and set up lunch for groups. The way down is much easier. We stop at a waterfall and see more carvings along the way. Here are some pictures: