Angkor Wat - Day Three - The trip to Banteay Srey

Yoshimi left Siem Reap on the afternoon of the 1st leaving me with two full days to traipse around Siem Reap. I had one day left on my 3-day Angkor Wat pass so decided to head off with Mr. Hun to Banteay Srey temple.

The road, if you can call it that, out to Banteay Srey was an adventure. It reminded me of the long dirt driveway to my parents house that in the spring and autumn become more a series of pot holes than a road, this was the condition of nearly the entire 38 km ride to Banteay Srey. Poor Mr. Hun driving on his motor bike, his arms and backside must have been exhausted by the end of the day.

The great thing about the ride was that it gave me a better glimpse of what life outside of Siem Reap looks like. However, here as well the paradox of wealth and poverty were evident. Most of the housing was very basic like this...










...but every now and then there was some georgeous house like this that seem to have been transported by Star Trek technology to rural Cambodia from a US suburb.
















At many places along the way there were small and medium-sized road-side stalls selling baskets, cloth bags, raw sugar cane, snacks, and other trinkets for tourists. As I wasn't in need of buying more things (my pack was already over-stuffed) we didn't stop but I was glad to see some people did.
















Here is Mr. Hun buying some raw sugar cane. By the time we were heading back to the main temple area from Banteay Srey many people were making there lunch. You can see in this picture on the left the outdoor stove that people use for cooking.