2 Engineers Retired

Cambodia and Siem Reap are justly famous for the Angkor Wat area.   This is the main reason tourists come, and is the driving economic force for the area.  There is also some nightlife (of course) Aptly named Pub Street At some point however it is nice to see some other aspect of the Cambodian scene.   Enter the circus. Phare Circus is a total treat of a circus with an amazing back story.    It started many years ago (1994) as a small group coming home from a refugee camp for children after the Kymer Rouge regime.   They had been helped to heal by art classes, specifically drawing.   They in turn set up a program in Battambang with an art school.   Recognizing that while drawing helps, physical activity is also needed, they set up a circus school.   A public school was added and now the school teaches some 1200 students and 150 leave the school as professional circus performers.   They perform all over the world. ...

This morning we decided to get on road very early (but not as early as we would have needed to be to see the sun rising over some temple).   The goal was Banteay Srei which was quite far, a bit more than 20 km north of Angkor.   We were in the tuk tuk of course which does not go as fast as a car or bus on country roads.   As well, these roads were a tad dustier so eyeglasses were useful to keep the dust from our eyes as we went. Once there though this small, pretty, rosy coloured temple was worth the long route.   In my opinion this temple is the prettiest, like a tiny pink jewel box.    The detail is extraordinary The detail is exquisite, and the fact that it remains so detailed to this day is a mystery (to me).   Banteay Srei is very old, having been built in the second half of the 10 th century (somehow they know that it was consecrated on April 22, 967).   It was built to honour the Hindu God Shiva.  ...

Vietnam is close to Cambodia.    Cambodia is home to one of the world’s wonders – Angkor Wat.   No big decision here….. We made the decision to head to Siem Reap in Cambodia for a few days of temples and sunshine (it was still raining in Hoi An).   It would be crazy to be so close and not see this.   And – it turns out – there are direct flights between Da Nang (our nearest airport) and Siem Reap.   The stars aligned and we were off. Once here there are many ways to see the temples, organized group tours, organized private tours, on your own using some sort of transport or use your own transport but hire a guide at the sites.   Like we usually do we opted to go it alone.   This suits us best and we have fairly successfully followed this non-model model in various parts of the world.    Of course  we did not totally wing it.   We decided that beyond internet research ahead of time we would visit the ...