We started the day early and were soon on our way to the further away temples. Each had been built in a different era and had different architectural styles. By now we were used to the carvings of snakes, gods, dancing girls, lions, crocodiles and other mythical creatures. The religious symbols were a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist with a few variations thrown in. The temples were largely abandoned hundreds of years ago and when they were discovered - and in some cases plundered - by Europeans the work started to reclaim them from the jungle. During the recent wars they were the site of some of the fighting between the Vietnamese army and the army of Pol Pot. You can still see some of the bullet holes.
Our next visit was to the Land Mine museum set up by a Cambodian who had lost his parents during the war and become a child soldier. He had set hundreds of mines himself and taken part in much of the fighting. Eventually he took his chance and defected to the Vietnamese army. After the war he could see the effect of the mines and started to disarm mines himself. His ambition was to set up a mine museum and a school for the child victims of landmines, which he did with the help of various agencies. We watched a film, narrated by a Scot, which interspersed shots of mine disposal with pictures of the children at the school, taking part in activities such as football on crutches and jumping into the river. It was a very moving visit and it is only when you see the results that you realise that the mines are still maiming and killing people. Enough educational material has been collected to give a few talks on the subject.
Our lunch was organised by the tour and was at a hospitality school organised by a French NGO. Students have to be suitable candidates, well motivated and have a reasonable education. They are given experience in hotel management, cooking, cleaning and serving at tables. All of the school's students have so far got jobs in hotels and restaurants. Our experience in restaurants here is that all staff are very well trained to please and try very hard to speak English.
As an addition to our tour we had asked to see the floating islands in Tonle Sap, Cambodia's own inland lake. We knew about Angkor Wat before we went but these were a complete revelation and a fantastic photo opportunity. The lake is extensive but the water is quite low at this time of year. We set off in a boat and on the way saw people swimming, mending nets, fishing, building houses and delivering groceries. However when we saw the first village on the lake we were astounded by the scene. It was not as colourful as Lake Titicaca but equally busy and on a much bigger scale - over 80,000 people live on these floating islands. There were children playing a ball game in a floating school, a temple on stilts, a crocodile farm and many small fish farms. Children here must learn to literally sink or swim at an early age. Health and safety did not come into it. The pots mentioned in the title were large aluminium pots just big enough to hold a small child with a python and a stick to paddle with. I think the idea was to offer visitors the chance to be photographed holding a python but we easily resisted the temptation. We thought of our four grandchildren in a similar scenario then thought "Oh no!".
Quite a day and not finished yet. We watched the sunset from yet another temple on a hill top (climbing again) then rushed back to shower and change for an excellent buffet meal and a show of classical Hindu dancing. Only Bangkok left now before our final flight back to UK.
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