Siem Reap Ta Prohm

We started day 2 of temple touring at Prasat Kravan, built in 921. This is a tiny temple made of brick, but the inside of the different rooms were filled with gorgeous carvings, something I've never seen done with brick before. 

This carving is of the God Vishnu riding his mount Garuda who is half bird half man. 

More rice harvesting! 

The temple was the highlight of the day, Ta Prohm. Most people recognize this temple, as it was filmed in the movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie. The temple is unique as most of the larger trees found here were left untouched, so it looks like nature is taking over the temple. It's interesting to think that all of the temples looked like this when discovered by the French; they just removed all of the trees from the other temples to make them look more authentic. But the trees add a unique dimension to the temple. 

The two most common trees found here are the silk cotton tree and the strangler fig tree. 

Does that giant tree root look like a leg, or is it just me?

Next came Banteay Kdei, built in the 1200's. This temple was nice because it was far less crowded than Ta Prohm. It was quite large and restored very well. 

The front walkways of most of the temples was decorated by a naga, or a many headed snake. There is a fable about Garuda, the half bird half man, and the Naga, but I'll let you look it up!

These are the lovely Apsaras, or celestial nymphs, which the Cambodian dancers imitate. Pretty spot on!

This was a crazy spider that had actually built a tunnel within his web. He was hiding in there, holding his egg sack. I've never seen a tunnel building spider before, but Drew said he saw lots in MI. Perhaps a wolf spider? 

Clearly Drew was the one taking all of the photos today, as all of the pictures are of me, and there are few of him. 

Next was Ta Keo, a large mountain like temple with many tiers, built in the 1000's. 

We wrapped up the day at Thommanon and Chao Say Tevoda, two smaller temples that face each other just outside of the Victory Gate heading into Angkor Thom. These two temples were small but beautiful. 

On this drive back home, we again passed by the children's hospital, and this time there was a line, literally circling the block of mothers with babies waiting to go inside. They were apparently waiting for a free vaccine. But, the wait must have been hours upon hours long. 

We again took a break at a coffee shop to rest and regroup. 

That night we had dinner at a restaurant called Haven, which trains local students for a career in the service industry. Any profits from dinner go towards the school they run. The food was the best we had in Siem Reap! First, a green mango salad. 

Followed by beef lok lak for me. 

And chicken amouk for Drew. 

Since it was our last night in Siem Reap, we went to the circus! It was more of a comedic skit filled with crazy balancing and strength routines. Very fun!