southern temples



Back to Boddy Lines Index Kuala Lumpur Phnom Penh National Museum & Khmer silk weaving Fried tarantulas & centuries-old temples Tonle Sap Lake, stilt houses, and a scam in Siem Reap Big Three of Angkor- Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm Male genitalia and land mines Chaotic border crossing Train ride to Bangkok At a resort recovering from the 2004 tsunami Early food reviews Relics of a tsunami Thai cooking class James Bond island A lazy last day at Khao Lak Nai Yang Beach & back to KL Staying in a kampung house Lunching @ Menara KL Last day		Phnom Penh, 2 May There's no government public transport system in Phnom Penh, and it doesn't really need one. This city of a few million people relies heavily on motorbikes and tuk tuks. Thousands of tuk tuks. They appear almost miraculously when you step out onto a footpath and look around. So far, we've never had to wait more than 30 seconds. And they're cheap too, even at the inflated prices they charge tourists. Today, we didn't need a moto or tuk tuk. We had a car and driver to take us 100km or so south to ruins, which in a couple of instances, pre-date the temples of Angkor. We headed down National Highway 2 in comfort, despite the day's temperatures heading up towards the 40 mark. At one point, we passed a police check point, but weren't stopped, We were told that cars carrying tourists were generally left alone. I've heard that sometimes the police stop cars to supplement their wages - they are very friendly to the drivers, and want to shake their hand (a euphemism for a bit of bribery)!!! A bit of Khmer history....The capital shifted a few times a thousand years ago, and at one time, it was in our destination, the Takeo area. In the reign of Jayavarman VII, around 1200AD, the King moved his capital away from the South to build the marvel that is Angkor. Before he headed north, he added more than a few temples to the southern landscape and today, we visited a a couple of those. They have survived, in a very worn-out fashion, for more than a thousand years, but their decline was helped along last century by the depredations of the Khmer Rouge, and bombs from the USAF during the Vietnam War. One of the temples was very close to today's border with Vietnam which we could see from the vantage point of the temple. To reach it we had to climb 150 metres via some very rough stairs.. Now, I don't normally do hills, but I made an exception for this . But I pulled out before we climbed a steeper hill for another archeological example of the wonders of the Khmer kingdom, DB did this second hill on his own. Lunch was at a modest establishment owned by the family of our guide - basic, but OK. It was definitely preferable to the "spicy frogs" on offer at a roadside stall we stopped at so the guide could have a snack. The main ingredient was caught at the adjacent rice paddies before being marinated and barbecued on the spot. I'm a food coward, so I politely declined.. I might have a similar problem tomorrow - I'm told fried tarantulas and spicy crickets are the specialty of the region we'll be staying in... Next: