Tomb Raiders

So we did some of the eastern ruins today, made famous of course by Lara Croft and the Tomb Raiders.  There is some significant restoration work going on here, funded by India.  Some of the work that has already been completed is impressive, based on the before and after photos. 

Example of the restoration efforts

On-going restoration

 

The roots of these trees that have overgrown the walls and foundations of these temples are amazing.  They are able to occupy the slightest crack and then just explode, sometimes looking like big serpents crawling along the walls.  The tree roots and the quality of the original build of this group of temples is responsible for their poor condition now.  The king that built these was cheap, and used a lot of recycled rock for his building.  Good in principle but not so much for us now. 

 

A tomb raider moment

 

Huge tree roots

We really enjoyed looking at all the detailed carving in the walls

We finished up our ruins touring by noon, had another nice lunch at a local eatery, and then got dropped off at the hotel.  Said our good byes to the guide and confirmed our pickup tomorrow with the driver.  We chilled out for awhile, then I went walking while Eileen pulled out her kindle and a pillow on the deck.  I ended up downtown (a couple of kms), strolled around a few markets, spent $1 on some soup ingredients, and $2 for a ride home.  Found Eileen lazing by the pool with a baby kitty sleeping in her lap when I got back. 

Cambodian gas station

We had made contact with Lynda, asking her about getting together tomorrow, but they are doing the temples, so we headed downtown for early happy hour today to hook up.  We only spent an hour with them but it was a lot of fun re-living each others journey through Vietnam. We had a short but good visit. 

After our happy hour drink, we took a quick tuk tuk to this buffet dinner that was followed by one hour of traditional Cambodian dance/ceremony, called  Apsana dancing.  There were an incredible number of people there, at least 1,500 I'd guess.  However, nothing much to say about the food or the show, which was slow and sleep inducing.  

Tomorrow we just intend to take it easy, probably go downtown for lunch and another wander.  Check out at 6:00, airport pickup at 9:00 for the flight to Seoul.