And yet more temples

My balloon foot had shrunk enough to fit into actual shoes, which was lucky as today we were hiking up a 'mountain' (our guide liked to call all hills mountains) to Kbal Spean, a sacred waterfall with motifs carved into the rock it flows over. The hike was quite interesting, lots of clambering over rocks and twisted tree roots. We picked up some hot banana wrapped in sticky rice to keep us going on the way. The views of the forest canopy from the top were stunning. We saw locals chopping down trees to get hold of a beautiful dark wood that they use to make extremely expensive furniture and sculptures.

Kbal Spean

Expensive wood

Afterwards, we checked out Banteay Srei, the pink temple, which was really interesting - it wouldn't have looked out of place in India, and it's actually covered in ridiculously intricate carvings of Hindu Gods. The grounds were also really pretty,even the bridge to the toilets passed over a gorgeous lily pond (I guess that makes it a sight witnessed only by people with weak bladders!) although two children running around blowing whistles and shooting toy guns ruined the atmosphere a little...

For some reason, we were then taken to an orphanage where we were given a slightly too-warm welcome - the kids put on a music performance for us, taught us how to dance like Cambodians and then put flowers in our hair and took us on a tour of the orphanage. The whole thing seemed a bit too well rehearsed, but we understood this is how they get the sponsors they need to keep the place running - pretty much every building had a plaque revealing which business had sponsored it. Although this was all a bit strange, the kids' personalities came through later on when we joined in with their games, and I was asked to help carry firewood into the kitchens and heard some of the kids' stories. It was pretty funny when we had to leave, and all the kids tried to get hold of our email addresses so that they could add us on facebook.

My guides at the orphanage

Games at the orphanage

written by

lucy3119 on August 16, 2011 from Siem Reap, Cambodia

from the travel blog: Cambodia 2011

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