I'll lead off with a picture of the one person and the one object that were essential to my trip -- Sambo, my driver (and sometimes guide) and his moped.
It was raining -- hard -- when I got to Angkor Wat. Actually, it was raining all the way to Angkor Wat, which I experienced fully, since I was riding on the back of a moped.
But since the little horse didn't mind the rain, I decided I wouldn't either.
And besides, I had had heard in advance that it was rainy season and had a proper rain jacket, so I didn't have to wear a colorful plastic bag like the other tourists.
Carvings in the lower level of Angkor Wat.
Two buddha statues at Angor Wat. I was told that a majority of the buddhas in Cambodia lost their heads at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.
The view down the stairs at the top of Angkor Wat. Note that the steps are so steep that you can't even see the others when standing at the top. Oh, and the steps are wet, too.
Me, safely back near the bottom. I am incredibly afraid of heights, so the going back up the wet, slippery, steep, scary steps to commemorate the moment was out of the question. I think the guy who took my picture was disappointed in me.
The shrine at the top of Angkor Wat. Each temple I went to had at least one (and in many cases more) shrines within them, usually to Buddha. Each was attended by at least one person, who gave each visitor a stick of incense and quick, pantomimed instructions on the way to pray, which invariably ended with putting a dollar on the altar.
The relief sculptures around the outside of Angkor Wat predate its history as a Buddhist temple, so instead depict Hindu mythology. I think this is a scene known as “the churning of the sea of milk,” or at least that's what my re-reading of my Lonely Planet suggests it might be.
Monkeys!
One of the official tourist shots of Angkor Wat, as this vantage point shows all five towers.
One of the few non-Buddhist shrines, to Shiva.
One of the seven-headed naga statues lining the causeway into Angkor Wat.
Bayon, part of the Angkor Thom complex, appears to be nothing more than ha gigantic ruin, but once inside, however, the faces carved into the towers become visible.
More of the enigmatic faces at Bayon.
A closeup of one of the faces.
Self-timer! Woo hoo! Here I am at Bayon.
The Terrace of Elephants is another part of the Angkor Thom complex.
Ta Prohm, which unlike most of the temples around Siem Reap, has not been restored. Instead, it is stabilized and maintained as was when first re-discovered by Europeans a century or so ago.
Even with moss and lichen everyehere, and trees literally growing through it, the beauty of the original structure is still visible.
A relief sculpture among the ruins.
Once these monks found out I was from the U.S. and traveling alone, they wanted their picture taken with me. I thought it was rather hilarious, and asked their friend to take a shot on my camera, too. This ended up being one of several times I was told how novel my traveling situation was. I guess there must be some sort of sterotype that American women are not adventurous enough to travel alone.
This man-made pool is called Sra Srang and once contained a temple on an island.
The floating city of Chong Neas, in Cambodia's largest lake, the Tonle Sap. According to Sambo, my driver/guide, it is all-Vietnamese. When I noticed that all of these houses had television, he was quick to point out that it was antenna-only, not satellite.
Chong Kneas even has its own Catholic Church.
Sambo, riding out on the front of the boat.
It clouded up too much to get a great sunset over the water, but it was pretty and dramatic nevertheless.
A floating restaurant/gift shop in the lake. It's blurry, but we were bobbing along, so that's actually kinda how it looked to me.
For the most part, I avoided taking pictured of the always-present children who were occaionally beggars but most often little merchandising geniuses. This pair, I had to capture, though, as they had rowed up to the boat in those washtubs just to ask me for some cash. They got some, too, as waterborne begging requires some initiative.
The entryway to Banteay Srei, known as the temple of women, because of the belief that only women's delicate touch could have created such beautiful, intricate carvings.
More of the carvings at Banteay Srei, which were absolutely remarkable. And a good thing, too, because it took more than an hour to get there -- and I was riding on the back of a moped!
Banteay Srei, from across the moat.
Close-up detail of a little devil-creature.
I honestly have no idea what temple this is, other than it was on the ride home from Banteay Srei, but I just like the photo.
Another cool shot of an unknown temple. What can I say, other than temple fatigue had set in and I stopped being able to remember the names of the smaller sites.
The bridge into Angkor Thom. On the side near Bayon, which gets a lot more traffic, they are all restored. On this less-traveled side (on the road back from Banteay Srei, which is why it is out of order) they have been left to the ravages of time.
I went back to Angkor Wat at the very end of my last day to get a couple of pictures without the rainclouds.
My postcard shot of Angkor Wat -- all five towers and a blue sky.
