Baphuon and Ta Prohm

After finishing at Bayon, Theng drove us over to the Baphuon, Phimeanakas, and the Royal Palace. The Baphuon has a causeway raised about five feet off the ground, and we saw what appeared to be a wedding ceremony taking place. It was starting to get cloudy, which made us a little worried for her dress.

The temple at Baphuon was originally built to honor the Hindu god Shiva, but it was converted to a Buddhist temple in the 15th century. As part of the rededication, a statue of the reclining Buddha was built onto the temple. It was being restored, so we had to walk around wooden decking. As we looked at it, it started pouring down rain. We cowered under a roof with a few workers and enjoyed an apple and some Oreos.

After the storm, we found Theng and headed west of Angkor Thom. He took us to the Terrace of the Elephants. We walked around some more before stopping at a group of restaurants for lunch. They had a nice menu, featuring all kinds of rice and noodle dishes, but we went for fried rice for about $2 each.

Finishing lunch, we met back up with Theng. He drove us to Ta Prohm next. This was easily our favorite of the day. The temple ruins have been left mostly untouched, with many trees growing atop eight-foot walls and piles of rubble. We did a little impromptu exploring, taking a few somewhat-hidden passages through walls. Feeling particularly adventuresome, I started scrambling up a wall, only to be called back by a nearby guide. A bit later, I saw the NO CLIMBING sign.

After Ta Prohm, we went to Banteay Kdei, a temple to the southeast. By this point, we'd just about had our fill of awesome temples for the day. That's why I don't remember the name of the small temple we stopped at after Banteay Kdei. I didn't even take pictures of the lake we stopped at. The children who swarmed us at that stop (as they did at every stop; I've stopped mentioning them because they sort of fade into the background) were among the most creative of the day, carrying on whole conversations with each of us. One of the boys decided to try a new approach and called me a ladyboy.

We'd planned to stop at Angkor Wat itself on our way out and wait for sunset. It'd been overcast since the thunderstorm, though, so we decided to head back to Siem Reap.

We took a quick break at the hotel, then headed to a Mexican restaurant. It was probably a lot more of a treat for Lada and me than it was for Augie, since neither of us get to eat Mexican often. Augie and I got into a fairly long conversation about free market economics. I've been reading Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, and it was stimulating to discuss it with someone so strongly in favor of the idea.

After finishing dinner, we headed to the night market again. I bought an alarm clock for $4, then joined Augie and Lada at the Lunar Bar. None of us want to deal with sketchy long-fingernailed bikers and obnoxious border patrol officials, so we did some brainstorming about our trip back to Bangkok. We got back to the hotel and to bed by 11ish.