Day 8: Cascading roots on Ruins

Started the day early again by going to a couple of temples called the Chau Say and the Tevoda. They were temples devoted to Vishnu and Shiva. 

 

Also between walking from one temple to another; I found a massive moth! It was the same size as my hand; so crazy. Thankfully this was the only insect I found this size.

I bought a hat while at one of the temples so that I completed my look of being a tourist.

We then headed to one of Cambodia’s most famous Temples and on the way we passed a couple elephants and some holy pigs. They’re holy because they were born with an extra toe. People would release them on the temple grounds and they would live out their lives is peace and being worshiped.

Ta prom is the temple with all the trees growing out of it whose roots and vines cascade down the ruins. It is also the reason that I came on this trip!

They have had to cut down and remove most of the trees because they were destroying the ruins. They looked amazing though!

There were so many people though! We had to wait in line for a good picture. While waiting, a Chinese couple jumped ahead and then the group just behind us yelled at them. Nice to know we aren’t the only ones fed up with that part of Chinese culture.

We finished up at Ta Prom; and then went back to the Elephant Terrace. Yeah, the one where we jumped out of the bus and got soaked to get a picture of. Apparently, our guide just wanted to see us get soaked for no reason. We got some more background about the terrace; it was called the throne of the leopard king. This is where the king would watch festivals and events.

Our next temple was called Bakong Temple; I liked this one because they had so many statues of animals; namely elephants, lions, and a holy bull.

We had lunch then went to an artisan school; we did some shopping then headed back to the hotel so some of our group could pack and head to the airport. We had another day but others had to catch an earlier flight.

We had a relaxing afternoon, where we swam and waited for our pickup for a cultural show that we had later this day.

The cultural show was fun. They provided dinner, which was a mango salad, pumpkin soup, chicken and fried rice and pancetta for dessert. Again, the best part of the meal was the salad. The show was really cool, the costumes were very elaborate, and the routines were unique. The female dancers had to bend their fingers back the other direction. It looked painful but they seemed like it was normal. At the end they had a photo opportunity where the dancers would just stand there and the audience could come up and take a pic with them.  It was super awkward, they dancers seemed like they were not happy to be there and the people getting their pictures taken with them seemed so smug. So awkward!

Still an awesome day!