The Floating Village Outside Siem Reap and Tonle Sap

I had a lot of mixed emotions regarding Cambodia.  It was a very poor country to say the least, and just like everywhere else, there were some great people we met and some who were not very good.  In the end, I would go back again.  The history of Cambodia, if you ever get a chance to read it, is extremely sad.  After going to Angkor Wat we went to a floating village and a few other temples a bit outside the city.  The temples were included in our pass but we had to pay $20 extra I believe to see the floating village.  It was a peaceful day and not nearly as many people as there were at Angkor Wat.  So, here are the photos...

(Our tuk tuk driver for the day.  Ask around at restaurants, either a brother or family member drives a tuk tuk and you can usually get a decent deal.  I think we paid $7 and the hostel we were at wanted $15 for the exact same trip.  Plus, this guy was super friendly!)

(A house, where someone actually lives)

 (A man in a field working)

 (This family was doing quite well considering the cows they had in their yard)

 (Floating temple)

(School house - most of the year, students can walk, however, during the rainy season, the kids have to take a boat.  If you look in the lower left you can see kids getting off the boat to go to school.)

(A few houses, like many in the village, on stilts and made with straw or hay)

(Tin was another popular option for roofing and siding)

(A few boys hanging out for the day)

(The village temple)

(Row homes in a floating village.  All the people we saw seemed to be pretty happy here.)

 (Another option for living - on a boat.  This was something I was not accustomed to and saw it far more often than I even have in my life.)

(A girl rowing somewhere)

(Some more kids hanging out)

 (I actually liked the temples in this grouping a bit better than Angkor Wat because it wasn't so crowded and they just seemed to have a different vibe.)

 (A statue built into the side of one of the buildings)

(These ones weren't in great shape either which is why you can see work being done in the first picture of the group.  I think they have a long way to go.)

(Some rice fields on our way to the next temple.  Cambodia was a beautiful country.)

(This was a quick stop but I met my favorite girls of the trip here)

(Cows must have been really important because they made quite a few statues of them)

 (These two girls were shy but continued to follow us around and giggle.  Throughout the whole trip, I only ever gave money to these two.  They were so cute and adorable.)

 (Boom, that's me in front of one of the buildings)

(The girls playing.  They kept saying something but we couldn't understand them.  I am guessing they were asking for money.)

(This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip and just reminds me of how lucky and thankful I should be)

(This is at a different temple and more kids were playing.  Parents believe it's better for the family to have children beg for money instead of going to school.  Plus, after the Khmer Rouge, there's not a high emphasis placed on education.  So, this is what some kids do most of the day.  I did also see other kids walking to school along the road.)

 (It breaks your heart...)

 (I believe this temple had elephants on the corners)

(To the left here you can see 'minefield victims,' another result of the Khmer Rogue/Vietnam War/US intervention in Cambodia.  They play music as you walk past.)

(That's me at the top of the temple pictured above)

 (This is the shot from the top back towards the musicians)

Angkor Wat (Short Circuit)

Angkor Wat is considered one of the largest Hindu/Buddhist temples in the world and it was the center of the Khmer Empire.  I'm sure you've seen a lot of pictures or at least heard about it.  However, pictures, even mine, do it no justice.  It is a marvel and feat, especially considering the time in which it was built (12th century).  It was one of the most expensive attractions we went to see, paying $40 for a 3 day pass.  However, you can't travel that far and not so see it.  So, here are a few of my photos from Angkor Wat and some of the surrounding temples in the area.  

(If you blow up this picture, you can see a bridge crossing the water/moat)

(Here is a picture from the same bridge in the picture above, with the outside wall of the Angkor Wat complex.)

 (A fresco/art in the walls of the temple)

(Here you can see the main temple in the background.  This is after passing through the outside gate.)

(Unfortunately, since we were there during the slow season, there was quite a bit of construction going on.  Not only at this temple, but at a lot of them.)

 (The inner sanctum, with each hallway pointing in a cardinal direction and each direction having some representation)

(Again, to give you a perspective on size, here were the steep steps we had to climb to get up to the inner sanctuary/area of worship.)

(Again, notice the detail, for a temple built in the 1100s, this is pretty amazing, at least in my opinion)

(Here you are looking back out towards the outer gate.  This is to give you an idea of the height and the advantage point of those inside the temple.)

(This was at the end of one of the hallways emanating from the center sanctum.  I can't quite remember what this specific statue stood for.)

  

 (A few more Buddhist statues)

(An entirely different area of the complex.  This one was special for the stone heads that lined both sides of the street.) 

(A few elephants going for a walk)

(Not quite lined up but close enough.  Notice again how small the people are in these pictures...)

(Faces in the rock)

(A few more structures)

(I'm not 100% but I believe this is where Tomb Raider, or at least a few scenes from it were shot)

 (A few elephants with their trunks hanging down at the Tomb of the Elephant King)

 (Here is a picture of a wall and I know it's hard to make out what is on the wall)

 (Here's a better close up of the same wall.  Just to give you an idea of the detail, time, and resources that went in to making that wall.)

(Since the complex was abandoned for hundreds of years, vegetation started to take over at a few of the structures.)

(This whole thing is in the middle of nowhere and it took us half a day to get through the short circuit.  You can also ride a bicycle, but after walking and riding, it would have been a very long day.  So, we paid $15 for a tuk tuk for the day.)

(Then again, this might have been the Tomb Raider place, I'm not quite sure...)

(A few protectors)

(Me and some of the vegetation)

 (The area is still used for worship by some and by others it is exploited to make money.  I guess that's the same anywhere you go in the world.)

(They must have had some big feet back in the day)

 (Gate/Entrance to one of the temples)

 (Somebody's house or living shelter on the grounds)

(A few kids hanging out)