Tue, 5/1.  What. A. Day.  Siem Reap, nearly in its entirety, is a UNESCO World Heritage Centre, with reason.  First stop was a buddhist temple partially made over into a memorial for the Cambodian holocaust.  Years ago a builder across the street, while digging a foundation, discovered bones from one of the estimated 20,000 mass graves.  The bones were transported to the Temple, where a new mini-pagoda was built to house a small sampling.  Billboards tell the story.  I asked Rath if the government was making any effort to downplay the history.  His reply was that with the whole world watching, they couldn’t try.  A lesson on the importance of international influence.  A sobering hour.  No pictures out of respect.

Next was the Siem Reap Museum of History.  Exhibit halls had AC, connecting corridors did not.  Very well done and exhaustive.  It combined a narrative of Cambodia’s extensive history with an examination of the evolution of its art and religion.  I learned a lot more detail about hindu (and Brahmanism).  Cambodia had an interesting (and peaceful!) progression from Hindu to Buddhism.  The artistic side was a lot more detailed than I was ready to study.  But two+ hours went be quickly.

Lunch was standard salad, greenish soup, a stew of lightly curried veggies and chicken, ending with fruit cocktail.  At a brewpub!  Very western.

After a siesta we departed on a bumpy ride to Banteay Srei, a thousand year-old temple with incredibly well preserved carvings.  Made of sandstone, one of the harder forms of stone.  The complex is not large, but the details are awesome.  Pictures don’t come close to the impression one has while there.  I could not accept that it was so old.

One the way back we stopped at some of the food stands.  Bought some palm tree sugar.  Tasted just like maple sugar.  Ate the fresh fruit from the same source.  Looked like floppy scallops.  Then I had some stuffed frogs.  The stuffing was frog, pork, veggies and spices.  Except for the tiny bones, it was fine.

After a fairly normal dinner, we drove through the happenin’ part of town.  Lights, bars, etc.  I’ll get there tomorrow I think.  (I learned today that $100 US is equal to 400,000 Cambodian Riel.)