We kicked off our travels in the Siem Reap area with a trip to BCCB, an animal rescue and breeding centre, reached via an hour or so of oddly self-regulating traffic from Siem Reap. There was no petting, and none of our Grail Critters were present which might be an encouraging sign that they're doing OK. These would have included a pangolin and the slow loris (Google this if you don't know what this is, cutest critter ever). We did get to see some Indochinese Silver Langurs, one of which was very very young indeed.
After that though, time to hit the Temples. First up, Banteay Srei: the oldest, and smallest, in the district. Lovely coloured stone. Shame it was so beltingly hot. This is supposed to be the wet season, the only thing wet is us, as the sweat pours off us.
After a stop for lunch (we were all amoked-out, so went for simpler stuff) it was on to Bayon, the Temple of the Four Smiling Buddhas. As any fule kno, it's actually just the one Buddha with four aspects. Utterly impressive, and that's what we imagine the Korean and Chinese tourist hordes were also saying.
Something we've discovered this trip is the Krama, a cotton scarf that you keep wet to cool you down, which you need visiting the temples as you have to cover your shoulders and upper legs as a show of respect, very modest but also very hot.
....proportions may be misleading, but this isn't a smiling Buddha:
The crew: Anne, Grant, Tracey, Andrew, Hannah, Rebecca, Ann-Marie, Colin, Val, Noel.
Below: not part of the crew, but we would have welcomed ellies any day 😃. Sadly they have been hunted to almost extinction in this region so we had to settle for stone.
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