Siem Reap, Cambodia - February 3, 2018

Another long, exhausting day . . . but we don't want to miss a thing!

First on the agenda was a drive out to Ta Prohm. Again, as I mentioned earlier, this magic and wondrous place is on-site location for the movie, Tomb Raiders. One look at this mysterious place and it is easy to see why this exotic location was selected. Centuries ago, birds ate the seeds of nearby fig trees, an utterly worthless tree - no good for building or burning. Some of seeds of the weed-type trees landed on the site in bird droppings, sprouted and took root between the massive stones of the temple. Left unbothered for centuries, these trees and their snake-like massive roots wound in and out of the stones and merged themselves within the walls. The sight is unbelievable. We arrived at this place in the mid-morning when the light was perfect for creating beautiful photographs. It was my favorite temple!

We climbed and clamored over a couple of additional temples - by this time we were about "templed-out."

We were treated to lunch at the Kroya restaurant. We sat outside in the perfectly, perfect air in a beautifyl tropical setting on a big cushioned platform swing. The gentle breeze put the swing in easy motion. We were served lemon-grass tea with honey with our fresh spring rolls, beef rolls and soup. We took our time and for the first time in days relaxed. But then, our guide, Vuthy, and driver showed back up and ruined the scene.

We drove through the city and out into the countryside. Many more farms and rice fields can be seen from the rode here. We arrived at the stilt-house village. It sits on the edge of the great Tonle Sap Lake. This lake with low flat banks is the largest natural lake in all Asia). We boarded quaint (rustic) wooden boats powered by car engines and steered with a rope contraption and car steering wheel pulling a prop and rudder back and forth. The old stilt village as a good number of people living in it who primarily are fishermen. There are many houses on stilts, some are nice and others little more than hovels. Some of the homes have solar panels for electricity while others use batteries to operate televisions if they have them. Stilts protect their homes during the rainy season when the lake floods from the rain and melting snows in the Himalaya's. Now is dry season so the river we boated down and the lake are very low. The river is muddy from silt from nearby farms and from the many boats that motor up and down it all day. The town has a hospital, school, police, vibrant rustic market and a Buddhist temple. We saw small children happily running around with no clothes . . . why worry? The weather is warm! The kids all called "hellooo!" We saw people washing themselves pouring pots of water on their head and shoulders. We saw many, many fishermen, busy throwing their nets or checking their traps. I will say it again: For these people, there is little escape from weather and dirt. From my perspective and probably yours too, theirs is a difficult, pathetic kind of life, but as our guide pointed out it's merely another way of life.

The magic point of the day came quite unanticipated. Yes, we visited another temple. This one, Wat Bo Temple, is situated in the center of the city and is home to over 80 monks who live, study, work chant, pray and meditate here. On the grounds of the monastery is a public elementary school. The monks donated the land for the school so now in addition to hearing monks chant twice daily, you can see the happy faces and hear the sounds of carefree children. We learned a bit about the temple and then went inside the temple and met two young monks. We were asked to sit on a rug in front of the monks and were taught greeting courtesy, hands in prayer position and bowing three times. They gave us a little talk telling us about their lives, their culture and basic teachings of Buddha. Then we had a chance to ask questions and learn a bit more about their personal lives, their daily lives and the difficulty we personally encounter in relaxing enough to truly meditate. They engaged with us ad seemed to enjoy our interest and questions and we each caused one another to smile. Finally we were blessed. The blessing is to meant bestow good luck, a good, strong, clean and confident life. With incense burning, the monks chanted and sprinkled us with holy water from a dry reed fan. A red string was tied around our wrist to remind us of the blessing. <3

We drove back to the city, picked up a big load of laundry that we had dropped off this morning and returned to the hotel to prepare for dinner at Mie Café where the chef prepared a Khmer gourmet dinner of freshwater langoustine salad, vegetables, rice and fish steamed in coconut leaves. I really do enjoy the food here. Here we are eating gourmet dishes and being served like royalty, and the folk out on the river sit in their stilt houses preparing for the next day.