Cambodia: Outside Siem Reap

Today I was up early to take the long drive outside of town to visit one of the least visited temples in Cambodia. It took about 3.5 hours to get there, 2 hours or so on a paved road and then about an hour and a half on a bumpy dirt road. But it was definitely worth it.

The Banteay Chhmar Temple complex only gets (on average) 3 visitors a day. When I was there, my guide and I were the only ones there. Well, there were three kids hunting bats that I saw for a minute or two, but other than that...

I felt like Indiana Jones or something. This temple was in great shape until during the civil war in the 90s, many of the walls were blown up to see if there was gold or other precious metals/stones underneath. Interestingly enough, it was the trees in several places that saved the walls.

After visiting the complex, I had a local lunch and then the long drive back to the hotel. We had dinner at a restaurant that had Apsara dancers and a show afterwards. It was a great cultural experience. Tomorrow I have to pack up, as I am flying to Vietnam for the next leg of this journey around the world!!!