Highlights of Vietnam and Cambodia
Day Thirteen- 29 January 2015
Weather – hottest day of the tour at about 33 with 38 humidex.
Bed early, wake early. I’m not having much luck getting a full eight hours. I’m averaging six and a half. I’m down for another great breakfast and I’m back aboard the bus for more temples. On tourmate who was on the other bus yesterday didn’t come along. He was on the plague bus and seems to have gotten the bug.
Our first stop is Ta Prohm. This temple is famous for a fairly modern reason – it’s where Tomb Raider was filmed and the locals are quite proud of that.
It’s a very impressive temple with that mix of man and nature as the trees are slowly taking over the temple. It’s under restoration by India (each temple that is being restored has a sponsor country doing the work like the Japanese who are restoring The Bayon).
The trees are not being touched and won’t be removed unless they die. The roots are all over the side of the temple and in some cases, making their way through the walls.
After Ta Prohm, we head to one of the best preserved sites in Siem Reap, Banteay Srei temple – Citadel of Women or Beauty.
The temple was built just before 1000 CE and is the only temple not built by a king. It’s dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva but later rededicated to Siva.
It is believed to have been abandoned in the 14th Century and was rediscoverd in 1914. This led to a case of looting though some of the relics were returned. The site has been restored with the aid of the Swiss.
And I got a photo that I think I’ll add to a new collection I will call “Tourists Behaving Badly.”
And yes, we pointed to the sign and made him get down. He gave us that “oh I didn’t see it excuse,” but he had to be blind to miss it.
We get back to the hotel by 1 pm and have the afternoon free, but Tran has offered to take us to the site of one of the Killing fields at 2 pm. Everyone shows up for that and it’s a 2 minute bus ride to the site which is a Buddhist monastery called Wat Thmey.
The Khmer Rouge had used a lot of monasteries not only to drive out the monks but because they had walls and made it easy to contain people.
Tran said thousands were killed in the area but that not all their remains were found. Some have been buried but one monument here is dedicated to the victims and it is full of skulls and bones. There are boards with information on the Killing Fields and stories from individual families.
One tourmate asked if we could see where the people had died and he pointed at our feet. Well worth the visit and we’re grateful that he included it. (And it should be on the itinerary in the future for sure).
We go back to the hotel and tonight is the optional sunset cruise on Tonle Sap. I was divided on this because the Trip Advisor reviews were pretty negative, though Tran said we’d have a boat to ourselves. Some others opted to do the hotel’s version of the tour since it was $9 cheaper. It was a good chance to see how it compared to the Trip Advisor reviews.
Tran picked up nine of us and we drove for about 30 minutes. Since the itinerary said dinner was included, we got a discount on the tour and got it for $30 instead of $45. He even stopped at a store en route and picked up some pop and beer.
We drove by some houses on stilts and Tran said that in we season the lake can grow to five times its size. The stilted houses stay well above the high point of the water.
He said the floating village has to relocate about five times a year due to the rising water. Permanent structures like the cell tower are built high.
We get off at a building and walk down to the water where there is a mass of boats picking up people.
Tran shows us to our boat which comfortably seats the ten of us.
It’s like rush hour on the water with boats running at different speeds up a canal to the lake. There’s no organization. They just go.
We get out on to the lake to see the floating village along the edge.
The boat moves slowly through the village giving us a chance to take pics.
Tran points out the police station, the school, the church, the school boat and more.
It really is a complete village that moves five times a year. The buildings are towed by the boats as necessary.
Once we get by the village, we tie up at a piece of wood sticking out of the water and watch the sun set. We don’t stay until it gets dark as they wouldn’t want to attempt that canal in the dark. We get pics including one with the fisherman going out for the night to fish.
A gorgeous way to spend the evening.
We get back to the hotel by 7 and later meet up with the hotel crowd. They didn’t go to the crowded dinner boat we saw (which is likely where the complaints come from) but to the boat belonged to the hotel. Nine of them had a boat meant for 250 all to themselves.
Since it’s our official last evening together, a bunch of us get together for dinner at the hotel. 
By 10, most of us are ready to lapse into a coma. My flight to Singapore isn’t until 1 pm, so I leave my luggage where it is and am out cold.
Go to Day Fourteen
Go to Table of Contents