Final Day at Siem Reap

Andrew and I decided that we wanted to see a couple of the more remote temples, as well as the landmine museum on our last day. It also gave us a chance to see a little more of Cambodia than the tourist portion.

Landmine Museum

This has nothing to do with Angkor, but since we had seen Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh, we thought we should see this museum focusing on an ongoing problem in the country. It is actually a joint venture with a Canadian organization, but created by a man who had laid thousands of mines in his own country for the Khmer Rouge. It was amazing, and terrifying how many ordinances were at the museum - all of which come from the ground in Cambodia. There have been millions of landmines placed in Cambodia over the past 40 years between the U.S. (along the Vietnamese border), the Vietnamese when they invaded Cambodia inte 1970s, and mostly by the Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge who used them to cause unrest both before and after their terrible rule over the country to uner mine the efforts of the existing government, as well as during thir reign to prevent movement withing the country. What caught me the most out of everything was the fact that over 200 landmines were excavated from the site where the museum (which was very new) stood. There was sections of the grounds that were roped off because they still hadn't checked that area for any mines.

Try to count the number of ordinances you see in these tow pictures (they are different angles of the same place).

Correct answer: more than 200

Banteay Srei - the Citadel of Women

We had heard such great things and seen such amazing photographs of this temple from Sean and Erin, we just had to check it out. When they went, they were the only two people at the temple. When WE went, we were the only people beside the 3 busloads of Japanese (possibly Korean) tourists. Unfortunately, with the remote location of the temple (15 or so km out of town), there was no chance of seeing another one and coming back, so few good pictures were possible this day.

Kbal Spean - The Riverbed

This turned out to be one of the best decisions of the entire trip. It's a good 60 km out of town (about 1.5 hr tuktuk ride). At first you arrive to some vendors and parking.

You spot the rickety old wooden bridge that leads you to the path.


The path is a pretty steady, well beaten path (be sure you don't leave the path, as there are landmines in the area), providing a few nice places to rest.



You plod along for about 10-15 min.


At this point you realize you are not at the end, just at the point where the path becomes somewhat more.... vertical.



You continue along your path (thanking God that there are enough tree roots to provide rudimentary stairs) for another 15 min. or so. You have to admit that the jungle is exactly what you hoped (although not exactly the rain forest type of jungle). You also note that it's odd that the roots of a tree that can't support it's own weight, can support yours.



There is a fork, and you aren't sure which one to take, so you randomly (and correctly) select the one on the left that heads downhill.


You pass some caves and come around a corner to find....







The upper portion of the river bed.
I am also very aware that I call it Kbal Spree in the video, even though it is actually Kbal Spean.

Who needs pickup trucks?

Or a front seat?

We sat through the very dusty hour and a half tuktuk ride back to our guest house, and spent our last night in Siem Reap out with some new friends we met the previous day, who come from California, and like us are teaching overseas (they are in Japan). Oddly, on their travels they met someone from the International School of UB in Vietnam.