Day 2 : Temple Hopping

We didn't know how great the weather was yesterday until the sun came out today. It gets hot when the sun comes out. Lisa and I wanted to hit a few of the temples that we didn't make it to yesterday. It's a good thing there weren't that many. We were done about 2 hours in.

But we did get to see some impressive stonework. First we went to Preah Khan, which is one of the larger temple complexes. The Lonely Planet Encounter guide sums it up best:" "Preah Khan is a genuine fusion temple."Many - if not all - of the temples have a mix of Buddhist symbolism and Hindu sympolism that went back and forth over time, but this building had the most interesting combination. In each area, you see combinations of the religions. The picture I have posted shows the most interesting example. At the base of the picture is a "linga stand,"which originally housed a linga, which is a phallic symbol associated with Hindu worship of Shiva. You can see a slight protrusion at the left of the picture (most of the lingas themselves have actually been stolen). Sitting on top of the linga stand is a Buddha statue, which is - obviously - associated with Buddhism. But as you will notice, the Buddha head has been cut off, a casualty to the Hindu worshipers at some point over the centuries.

Finally everyone seems to be living in harmony. At least in stone form.

We are going to get some Mexican food for lunch (they have good margaritas, and I have to admit I haven't been too impressed by Khmer cuisine - even if the temples are awesome and the people are really nice!), and then heading to the airport, bound for Saigon. Then I will be happy to not be on a plane again for a while. :-)

Siem Reap and Ankor, Cambodia

I was going to say something cheesy involving Laura Croft or Angelina Jolie, but I thought I'd spare everyone the obscure movie/video game reference, although it was seeing that movie years ago that introduced me to Angkor Wat as a place anyway. So Lisa and I arrived in Siem Reap yesterday afternoon and spent all day today temple-hopping with our guide, "Tim." I don't have time to go into a lot of details about this amazing complex, but it is worth mentioning the fact that it has seen a lot of history since construction began in the 10th century, and seems to have experienced back-and-forth identity crises (Is it Hindu? Is it Buddhist? Is it both?) ever since. We hit several temple complexes, including Angkor Thom and the Bayon, Ta Keo, Ta Prohm (where parts of Laura Croft: Tomb Raider"" was filmed), and Angkor Wat.

What is also clear is that the Cambodian people have a huge amount of pride in this complex, which is important, because after the intense and horrifying history they saw under Pol Pot, these people deserve to have something to have pride in. They have built up a heck of a tourist industry around this town and these historic structures. Normally I would be averse to over-touristy areas, but I'm glad I didn't avoid this one.

Tomorrow we will check out some smaller temples in the morning, and then in the afternoon we will fly to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City to check out the Mekong Delta for a day or two. It's nice to have some warm weather. :-)