Deep in the Jungle

Today was a different day - we hired a private car to take us 130kms or so northeast of Siem Reap to Koh Ker and then to Beng Mealea, both temple ruins sites. The road was paved part of the way, then we were on dirt road that was muddy and full of potholes. The driver did well, but we definitely were glad we had working seatbelts...Before long we were driving along very rural roads surrounded by tiny villages and rice paddies. We passed a funeral procession at one point, very solemn. About 2 hours and a bit later, we arrived at Koh Ker and started exploring. The ruins were definitely ruins - no reconstruction, just the clearing of land mines...great to hear of course. There were even signs posted about this. The main temple was very much like a Mayan temple, pyramid like. One has to wonder where the inspiration came from for it back in 921 AD...

     We crossed the road and saw another smaller temple ruin, and then we were off again. Seemed quite a big build-up for not a hell of a lot at the end of the road. There were a few other temples but they were all closed along the way save for one small one. We had bought a ticket for Beng Mealea as well, just in case there was time to go there, and turned out we had heaps of time, so headed over the road again to another temple site. This one was much better with such a great little tour. The guide led us through the ruins, up and over the stones, through doorways, over the rubble, down amongst the rubble, along the edges of the temple walls, and so on - fabulous! Once we were finished and I had nearly melted in the heat, it was back into the car to head home - fulfilled. We had some lunch at the hotel and a few cocktails before heading back to the hotel room to relax for a bit. Now we're off to search for supper - another great day in Cambodia.