Friday 2 August : - Part 1
Again we hired Ley Hak and his tuk tuk to go to the temple Banteay Srey which is 25km north-east of Siem Reap. His tuk tuk is one of the smaller ones, pulled by a Honda 125cc motor scooter which is probably just a little underpowered for a trip like this. Of course it meant that we didn’t travel too quickly which gave us time to enjoy the countryside, but not too slow to prevent windburn.
The temple was built in the 10th century and dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. The temple is mostly in ruins, and not as large as many others, but its main feature is that it is built almost entirely from volcanic rock rather than sandstone.
The conditions were hot, humid and challenging.
In the afternoon, Frances and Carey explored a little more of Siem Reap on foot while I went by tuk tuk to the ODA school we had visited a few days earlier. I had discussed with Shirley the volunteer manager the possibility of teaching there for a month and wanted to see the school in operation. It survives entirely by donation and provides both a home and education for its predominantly orphaned children. I observed an informal class (no classes officially on Fridays) and discussed with Shirley about what was the most useful contribution that I could make to the school. This will be determined jointly in the future.
On the way back, I asked the tuk tuk driver to take me to a tuk tuk factory, which I had seen earlier just to have a look at the manufacturing process. I found the engineering of the tuk tuk carriages and the connection system to the predominantly small motor scooters really interesting. The factory manager was really friendly and helpful, and I had a good tour of the very small factory. The carriage section takes about a month to build and costs between US$2,000 and US$2,500 which is around the average annual income in Cambodia.
The driver also wanted to take me to a craft store, but I said I wasn’t interested. However, he said that if I went in and spent about 10 minutes, he would get a ticket in a lottery for some prizes. Because he had been so helpful, I complied, and dutifully entered and some showed interest in the goods. There are some extremely nice fabrics, statues and other items one could buy here, but they would need a place to live when they got home. On the way back we passed som huge metal sculptures of “Transformers” standing in an empty field!!
I returned in the stifling heat to find Frances and Carey relaxing by the hotel pool after having had a swim and free massage from the student masseurs. I was in the water seconds later! We returned to the excellent Tevy's Place for our farewell dinner together as we all depart for Australia tomorrow.
I'll also include some random photos from Siem Reap and its surrounds.
