We headed to the see the rest of the temples which are part of the big circuit. They are not on the must do list of Angkor area so are much quieter, at some spots we were the only ones around.
It was a very hot day and the kids struggled in Preah Khan (our first temple stop) with the walking and maybe were temple-d out too. They got better at Neak Pean as it’s on a water reservoir so got to see something different and spot some fish along the way.
I was surprised that the children were allowed to climb the stairs at Pre Rup as they were without any railings and steeper compared to the ones in the small circuit which are manned by lots of staff and do not allow children under 12.
Our last temple of the day was a little gem, Banteay Srei. It’s small but intricately carved on red stone. As it’s far from everything else it is much calmer. We met an Indian tourist there who comes 4-5 times a year to visit it, as it’s his favourite temple, definitely a highlight of Siem Reap .
On the way back we stopped at the Landmine museum which was quite an eye opener for me and the children. Jeevan knew quite a bit of the history while for me growing up in a boarding school in India I was quite oblivious to the news. Learning about the genocide in the name of ethnic cleansing as well as how the landmines still affect the people . The museum is based around the story of Aki Ra a man whose childhood was spent as a soldier fighting in different armies. He then went on to becoming a landmine remover and bringing up orphans affected by the war. He has many awards and still works daily removing landmines. We got to meet him and ask him questions. Rats, dogs and metal detectors are used to find the land mines, many are still left to be discovered. The number of people affected have decreased from around 2000 a year to around 50 now.
Savik found it very confronting, so we had a long chat on privilege and how we can use it. They had a poster with the UN treaty regarding the abolishment of landmines and which country were for and against it ,so discussed the importance of voting and the changes governments can make.
On our drive back we had great timing and watched the sunset over the lake.
I think the pizza and ice cream helped relieve any distress that might have been lingering.
One of the biggest highlights of Siem Reap have been the people. We have encountered such helpful and easy going people. From our tuk tuk driver, Mr Varna (who drove us everywhere), the ice cream seller who we went back to, he remembered us and provided us with seating and mosquito repellent as we ate pizza from the new pizza truck (owned by a Texan couple) to the people at the hotel, restaurants and temples we visited .
This is the end of our South East Asia trip, it’s been such an amazing trip , much much better than I had anticipated. Looking forward to India but also sad to have finished all the new exploration.
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