Day 25: Siem Reap (Monday, July 21)

Only two temple stops on the itinerary today - Banteay Srei and Ta Prohm. We hastily considered adding Beng Melea, as well, but it was going to be a long drive and added expense (from the driver) so we decided not to do it and have some time to spend in town before weleave this evening to fly back to Saigon. If we ever make it back, though, then Beng Melea will probably be on the list. As of now, it is still pretty much uncovered (i.e., overrun by jungle) much the way all of the temples were when the French stumbled upon them. With the exception of Angkor Wat, they were all abandoned. The jungle has been mostly or entirely cut back at this point... so Beng Melea might give you that true taste of discovery. Of course, maybe there are a lot of snakes out there?! Matt K and Ashish wouldn't stop talking about all of the venomous snakes. Good times.

So we drove out to Banteay Srei - excellent temple selection. It's really different from the other Ankorian temples, so it's well worth the 40 minute drive. The sandstone here is different, and much more colorful. Also, it is harder, so the incredibly intricate relief carvings are in really good condition. Today was a beautiful day (read clear skies and insanely hot), so check out the blue sky in the photo. In yet another random Kellogg encounter, we ran into Brian and Kate Thome walking around the temple. And on the way out, Matt K demonstrated his amazing negotiating abilities by actually paying more than the agreed price for a souvenir. Solid.

On our way back through the main Angkor area, we stopped at Ta Prohm - the "Tombraider" temple... so named since it was made famous in the original Tombraider movie. Of the main temples, this has the most jungle growth remaining, with several giant trees growing through the buildings. This was another really fun temple to explore. There are a number of examples of trees that started on the roof of the temple (thanks to birds) and then thrust their roots down through the building in search of the ground. We didn't see Angeline Jolie, but it was still a blast.

That's it for our temple days... we set off to lunch (a pretty awful khmer food place, read tourist trap, that our guide took us to), and then walked around the old market in town. We ended up buying a few tshirts and some Cambodian pepper before returning to the hotel for one last swim in the pool before it was off to the airport and back to Vietnam. Thanks to Matt K, Amanda and Ashish for hanging out with us in Siem Reap!