Afternoon in the Cambodian Countryside

Our final afternoon with Phat included a two hour bus ride from Siem Reap. He wanted us to see rural Cambodia and to visit a temple that was re-discovered in the 1940s but hasn’t been restored.

Along the way, we saw the landscape transition from lush rice paddies to being desolate and dry.


We were in the middle of nowhere, but by the road there were many “convenience stores”:
And “gas stations” (the bottles you see are filled with fuel):



And people on “mass transit”:

Walking to the temple we saw a sign with good news – it notified us that the landmines had been cleared:

Then we got to see what a temple that has endured centuries of wars and nature looks like when it hasn’t been repaired or preserved.

In many cases, it appeared that tree roots were the cause of walls to buckle and stone to crumble. In other places, the trees were the only things holding the remains of the temple together:

The trip back to Siem Reap concluded our guided tours. We thought Phat did a fantastic job giving us a taste of Cambodia’s history and culture in just two days. And the cost was astonishingly cheap – just $30 per person, including Phat’s services, the driver, the bus rental, and boat ride!


Another happy day in a very intriguing place!