Some of the carvings at Banteay Srei temple walls
Rice growing by the roadside .... I had never seen an actual rice grain "in the wild" so I had to take a picture!!! :)
Rural home near Angkor
Thom
Loved my motor bike tuk tuk driver, Lok .... he was one of the happiest people I have ever met .... greeted me with a big grin his first day, and came by every day thereafter for my excursions to the temples and old quarter of Siem Reap ..... Here are various scenes from the rural roads going to Angkor Thom, Banteay Srei, Preah I Ko, Bayon,, and Prohm Temples
My time here in Cambodia was short and often overshadowed by the news of the bridge collapse in Phnom Penh
where over 400 people lost their lives, most of them young people, celebrating at the Water Festival and dragon boat races. It was all such innocent fun and sad to end in such tragedy .... basically human panic caused the problem ..... too many celebrating on the bridge ..... the cables gave away, and people panicked. When my guide Leda and driver Vanna picked me up at the airport, I sensed a great sadness in them ..... the dear couple had just heard of the tragedy and wanted to spare me the pain of hearing about it ..... they wanted me only to have a pleasant time in Siem Reap and hence, kept the news from me. They, like the Vietnamese, are so gentle and kind. Of course, they do not know my penchant for locating English translated newspapers every morning ..... I like to keep abreast of local news always ..... ever since Brian and I were stranded in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia almost forty years ago, on the day of a palace coup .... we had no idea what was going on, and had a hard time getting out of the country at the time, given the huge military presence everywhere and all foreigners and diplomats trying to leave at the same time .... yes, it is a good idea to know what is going on locally, wherever you are in the world!!
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