South East Asia 2019: 24th May - More temples and Monks at school

We've chosen the optional tour for today, so off early to see .......... yes more temples.

Our first stop is Preah Khan, another part of the Angkor Thom complex from the 12th century. Extensive renovations have occurred but it is a large complex with many rooms, towers and open areas to conserve. The carving is delicate and intricate.

Next we are off to Neak Pean or the Snake Temple. Not sure why the snakes, but the temple was an early form of a hospital as it was based on the ancient Hindu belief of balance with four connected pools representing Water, Earth, Fire and Wind. Unfortunately it hasn't rained enough yet so the pools are empty, but the design was there.

The next stop is Banteay Srei, constructed in the 10th century and loosely translated to be the Citadel of the Women. It again has many intricate carvings.

We stop to see Palm Sugar being made into a caramel type substance and then cooled to become sugar sweets. Actually yummy.

After lunch we visit a monastery and school and talk to some monks learning English. These guys have come from predominantly poor backgrounds to partake in the free education provided by the monastery. They are keen to try their English. They also learn Malay, Mandarin, and French, plus mathematics and sciences. It's hard work becoming a monk!!

Our evening activity is to take a Tuk Tuk to the main temple in Siem Reap, and be blessed by the monks for our happiness, prosperity and safety. I can understand the safety bit riding in a Tuk Tuk!!!! After the ceremony we are taken to the "killing fields" of Siem Reap memorial, a place dedicated to the lives taken by the Khmer Rouge during the late 1970s. The story boards tell of people taken and never seen again, plus the finding of mass graves. It is a place of solemnity at the horrors that must have occurred during the civil war.

Our dinner was our own choice and scrumptious.