ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

We came to Cambodia for one reason: to see the temples of Angkor Wat, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and one of its most celebrated sacred sites. After a short flight from Saigon, we arrived in Siem Reap, which has burgeoned in recent years, to accommodate the flood of tourists who pour into town with the same purpose as we. The temples themselves are, in a word, magnificent. They were "discovered", they say, in the 19th century, having been buried by the ever-encroaching jungle for 800 years.

Each day we hire Mr. Lam, one among a throng of tuk-tuk drivers, to drive us to and around the chosen sites.He has a scooter which hauls a covered three-wheeled contraption with two facing benches There are many temples spread over a huge area, each one different, according to the dictates of its god-king creator/designer.. I have to agree with the Lonely Planet guide which describes the temples' "extravagent beauty and spine-tingling grandeur." Angkor Wat is the largest religious structure in the world -- and photos follow of some of what we saw there. But we were perhaps most drawn to Ta Prohn, where nature has had its way, trifling with the best efforts of man to produce artful works which would stand forever. Merciless time, though, has taken over; nature has invaded the grand walls, lifting slabs of unbelieveable weight and beauty, tumbling great structures into a hodge-podge of finely-carved stone. It is clear that in time, the jungle will once again hold sway.

Enough talk. Gaze. More on the town of Siem Reap later.

SAIGON A CITY OF CONTRASTS

     Incense Spirals

MORE FROM THE MEKONG

Our day began early, with a trip to a floating village. We were greeted by a flotilla of long, slender wooden boats, each with a slim, strong woman who was the designated "rower." Wielding two long oars, she stood behind us and navigated her craft through narrow channels where we could glimpse the lives of the river people on their floating homes. We arrived at a fish farm, then to lunch at a riverside restaurant where the omnipresent (and delicious) spring rolls were accompanied by a complete fish -- erect on a plate, reproachful eyes fixed on us, ready to be dismembered for our eating pleasure. 

Onward  the bus, past rice fields, which often had a grave of a former worker, and then to visit a pagoda crowded with the faithful -- and thence to another which exemplified the ecumenic nature of religion here. In one gorgeously decorated pagoda, for example, there was a lovely "lady Buddha", a fierce warrior from the Taoist/Confucius Chinese tradition, a shrine to the "God of the Heavens" , part of a sort of animist belief system, and a series of faintly Hindu sculptures. Refreshing!


Our rest stops let us admire sculpted trees, lush flora,  a crocodile farm, another fragile bamboo bridge, smiling faces everywhere.

Homeward, to Saigon -- the landscape criss-crossed with canals, rivers, waterways along which are narrow, tall buildings in various pastel colours. A doughnut seller greeted us with a large smile and an amazing display of his wares. "Hallo! Very  cheap. You like!" Ah, yes. We DO like -- Vietnam!