Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater body in Southeast Asia. Over the course of a year its size varies from 1000 square miles to 6000 square miles.  It is fed by the Tonle Sap River for half the year which then reverses to drain it for the other half.  Villages are either built to float on the water or upon very tall stilts to accommodate the huge variation in water depth.

This morning Jeanine and I visited the lake and a small village adjacent to it.  We had lunch on a floating restaurant which featured a collection of live alligators,  presumably there to be harvested for the alligator based dishes on the menu. We arrived by long tail boat which are well suited to navigating the narrow and shallow rivers and lake provided the propellor does not get fouled.

Depending on the season, inhabitants of the lakeside village either dock their boats at their front door or need to travel several miles to reach the edge of the lake.  I enjoyed photographing the people of this community whether they be resting, playing, or at work.

Shrimp are spread out on tarps and dried in the 100 degree air.

With the rainy season still months away, boats can be found everywhere, temporarily abandoned along the once full rivers that feed the lake.

On the return trip to our hotel we drove past the scene of an accident. It is a wonder that we did not encounter more of these given the extremely free-for-all approach to driving that is common to this part of the world.  After collecting our luggage we made our way to the airport for our flight to Vietnam.

Today Jeanine and I spent most of the day apart. She signed up for a Cambodian cooking class and had a massage.  I hired a tuk-tuk and returned to the Angkor complex.  I started at the Sras Srang reservoir for sunrise and then over to Pre Rup for early morning light. King Rajendravarman constructed Pre Rup sometime in the 10th Century and it remains one of the most architecturally and stylistically noteworthy structures in Angkor. The name Pre Rup means “turning the body”, referring to Khmer cremation traditions. Although cremation may’ve taken place at Pre Rup, this modern name seems to negate the enormous historical significance of Pre Rup as one of the capitals of the Khmer Empire.

Preah Khan, which means “Sacred Sword”, was built towards the end of the 12th century as a part of King Jayavarman VII’s massive building campaign. Unlike many of Angkor’s larger monuments, which served primarily as worship centers or military headquarters, Preah Khan was also a Buddhist University. At its zenith, Preah Khan supported more than 1000 teachers and countless students.

After revisiting my favorite temples, I spent the remainder of the day  focused on people and wildlife.

 

Banteay  Srei ( “citadel of the women” or “citadel of beauty”), is an exquisite 10th-century Hindu temple consisting of low walls surrounding peaked structures of deep red sandstone.  It is said that the reliefs on this temple are so delicate that they could only have been carved by the hand of a woman. Completed in 967, Banteay Srei was the only major temple at Angkor not built for the king; instead it was constructed by one of king Rajendravarman’s counsellors, Yajnyavahara. The temple was primarily dedicated to Shiva.

Adjacent to the temple I noticed a new born water buffalo and her mother.

Banteay Kdei, meaning “A Citadel of Chambers”, also known as “Citadel of Monks’ cells”, is a Buddhist temple built in the mid 12th to early 13th centuries AD during the reign of Jayavarman VII, it is in the Bayon architectural style, similar in plan to Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, but less complex and smaller.

 After returning to Siem Reap late in the afternoon, I went out for a long walk to photograph some of the local people, a nice break from shooting ancient monuments.

After dinner we attended an acrobatic circus performance put on by the Phare Performing Social Enterprise which seeks to provide gainful employment to Cambodian youth from difficult social and economic backgrounds and financially sustain a school dedicated to the rebirth of Cambodian modern art.  I was selected to perform on stage as the base of a human pyramid. Let’s just say I was the source of great amusement for the rest of the audience.