Temples Day 1

You can't beat a breakfast buffet, which is what we woke up to today. We then sorted out our tuk-tuk driver, explained our ideal itinerary, got water ready, and then we were off. 

Now this is the most temple rich area in the world as successive Khmer dynasties sought to outbuild their devotion to their Buddhist/Hindu reverence (and national security) of the previous god-king. My guidebook suggested starting with the earlier temples to see the progression of Khmer architecture and art. So our first day started with the Grand Tour. Our driver (whom I heard him say his name was Juan, but I'm sure it was more like Won) took us out to first buy our tickets. 

We call these our 'thug shots.' They didn't tell us at all when the picture was being taken, so we just stood there smugly until they told us to move. Great pictoral evidence of zero directions. 

Finally, we were off to our first stop, Preah Khan. This temple had amazing symmetry in a plus shape facing the four cardinal directions. Three were equal (representing Hinduism) and the western entrance was unequal (representing Buddhism). 

(Notice how the passageway perfectly leads out.)

This was our first site at the consistent framing design around widows and doors. 

And also meeting our first aspara, the celestial dancers awaiting Khmerian heroes on the afterlife.  

Meredith found a headless Hindu diety and kindly substituted what was missing. 

This being an older temple of the Khmer Empire, nature too took back its claim on the territory. 

After one of our pictures, we were stopped by a guard to point out a better shot. In fact, he posed us and took the picture for us. He's good!

He then followed the professional shot with a hands together short bow saying, "Thank you, lady, sir. Good luck to you. Please, sir, tip for picture. Safe travels to you. Thank you. Please, sir, just small tip. Enjoy your travel. Please, sir." 

It was a good shot, so I followed with whatever riel I had. 

"Please, sir. This is 2,000 riel. Only 50¢. Please, sir. (Hands still together.) Have good travels. Thank you."

This guy was a pro. 

So I dug out a $1 bill and he was more content. 

We wandered around a bit more of the ruins. 

Then we made our way out to our tuk tuk and onto the next temple. 

Next up was Preah Neak Poan. This was a royal bathing area. 

Some of it had (obviously) dried up which Mer took a little too seriously. 

It was a fast stop, so we were quickly onto Ta Som. It was here we got caught in another round of Cambodian rain. Someone in this group is quite averse to being wet. 

But we would not be deterred. Ta Som had our first bas-relief of a face to greet current visitors and scare ancient Khmerians into submission. 

This temple, too, faced forest reclamation   

Luckily, the rain subsided for our next stop, East Mebon. This site had a steady climb up three levels. Most of the roofs had fallen, but it was spectacularly level at each rise. 

You can also see the spectacular towers behind us (and the newly blue sky). There were some good doorway photos here too. 

It was also about this time our selfie stick started to malfunction. First, it wouldn't work when pressing the button. Then it would take 17 successive shots of the ground, or catch me making an angry, annoyed face as I pulled it in to fix it. 

Arg!

We made it to our next temple that we didn't quite catch the name of. We tried to take a picture of the name to remember, but this one was unmarked and I could understand the name from Won (maybe Ish Won Preadeau). This one had quite the climb of stairs. 

The rain also started once again. We took some more pictures and then headed for the tuk tuk. 

At this point, we were hungry around midday and thought a downpour would be a great time to feed ourselves. So our driver, Won, took us to a restaurant. Unfortunately, restaurants in the temple area has a rather captive audience and their prices reflected it. Regardless, we enjoyed the chicken fried rice and beef and noodles. 

I did take note of a funny menu quirk at this restaurant. All dishes were listed in Khmer, English, and Mandarin, but why was dish #67 lacking an English name? 

Our rain luck did not continue after lunch. So, we got our ponchos on and continued to Banteay Kdei. 

Mer enjoyed the framed doorways. 

I tried shaking my fist at the rain. 

Sometimes the temples responded in kind. 

Our last stop was just across the way, Sras Sarang. This was another royal pool for doing what royalty do in pools. 

At this point, our Grand Circuit ended just as we were running out of steam. Won took us back in the tuk-tuk to Siem Reap and our Boutique Hotel. 

We showered. I napped. And then we got ready for our show. We had earlier noticed a dinner and Aspara dance show advertised in our hotel lobby, so we signed up and got another tuk-tuk there. 

Dinner was a buffet of many Khmer dishes (appetizers, salad, mains, and desserts) with some Western plates available too. 

Mer got her dragonfruit. 

We sat next to a Welsh girl and her grandmother who kindly took our photo. 

Mer tried to convince them to try the Asian desserts. You put shaved ice at the bottom of a bowl and then put this on top. 

Maybe it was sweet. Maybe it was coconut milk. Maybe the floaters were small animals' former eyes. Who could say?

Then the show started. We were quite far back, but we got the idea. They danced much like depicted in the temples bas-reliefs. 

And then a dance with many aspara concluded the hour long show. 

The conclusion featured a chance to go on stage for a photo with them, but we were too busy talking to our Welsh table neighbors. 

We made our way back to the street and hailed another tuk-tuk. They brought us back to our hotel and we promptly headed to bed. We wanted an early start to the Small Circuit, but heavy hitters. Although we eventually decided against the 4:30 am sunrise start, we wanted to beat the crowds in the early morning to Angkor Wat.