I was heading much further out today from the center of the main touristy types places. Sure there are lots of people still but these more remote sites are different, and in some ways more unique than you would think. My tuk tuk driver suggested we go early, at 6:00. There is something nice about seeing the city wake up and to explore some temples in much cooler air. The first stop was Banteay Samre. While itself not all that impressive, it has been well restored. What made this place special was that I was the first person there. Before th other tourists, before the women hawking water and scarves. Before the kids selling post cards, I was there. The quiet and serene feeling, makes you remember that these are temples to the gods. It was truly remarkable. A few minutes of quiet reflection...
On to our next stop and again we beat the fifty or so tour buses that pulled in about twenty minutes after we arrived. While Banteay Srei is a smaller temple, it is pinkinsh in color and has a much more detailed carvings. Again, amazing in the quiet, a little overwhelming with the crowds.
The ride to the next place was about 90 minutes. The ride on the back of the tuk tuk may not always be smooth but I was Alberto see much of the rural of cambodia. The rice fields. The houses on stilts. Selling gas out of soda and booze bottles. The poverty. The damage to people from landmines. It is amazing that the Cambodian people remain as positive and friendly as they do.
Beng Malea is a large temple far from where the others were built. This place has not been restored at all. It lies in rubble. You can see the majesty of it (modeled after Angkor Wat itself) but this is the real deal. It is as much in "the jungle" as a temple can be, with very little work done on it. It made me think of old actresses without plastic surgery, they were beautiful and there is a different kind of beauty now. The best part of this is that you can climb all over the fallen walls and towers and explore this temple by scrambling over rocks. It was fun. Not so safe, or not safe at all, really. But fun. I was standing on top of walls, climbing to the top of towers. Only sad I was able to get some cool pictures. I came to realize that preserving both the restored and unrestored ruins is important. And this way I could feel like Indiana Jones.
We finished the day off at some of the oldest smaller temples. What a great way to end my time at Angkor!
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