Kambodscha/Siem Reap / Days 84-86

Hey dear ones, I've been in Siem Reap for three days now and I really like the city. I'm staying in a small but nice hotel, which is very central and also close to attractions like Angkor Wat. On my first day, I mainly spent time at the pool to recover from the last project and the journey here.

Yesterday, I went on a big sightseeing tour. The hotel even organized a German-speaking guide who picked me up directly from the hotel. He is also from Cambodia but lived in Germany for 3 years and completed his school education there. He improved his German further by giving tours, and I have to say, his German was really good.

Our first stop on our tour was Angkor Thom, which means "Great City" in English. It was built in the 11th century and was the capital of the Khmer Empire for several centuries. We entered the city through the South Gate, which is flanked on the left side by gods and on the right side by demons. Unfortunately, nothing remains of the city itself, as all the houses were made of wood. However, there are still some temples there.

The largest temple in Angkor Thom is the Bayon Temple. What's special about this temple are the 200 huge faces on the central towers. Each central tower has 4 faces, which are oriented towards the main compass points. Since it is both a Buddhist and Hindu temple, it is believed that the faces symbolize the connection between these religions.

We then went to the temple Ta Prohm, which is also known as the Jungle Temple or Tomb Raider Temple because the Tomb Raider movie with Angelina Jolie was filmed here. Personally, I found this temple to be the most beautiful because you can see how nature is reclaiming everything here. Trees have grown meters high on the stones, each more impressive than the other. Outside the complex is the jungle, and I felt like I was in a different, long-forgotten world.

After lunch, we visited the largest temple in the world. It is really impressive and the landmark of Cambodia. It consists of three levels in total, and you can also go all the way up to the third level. However, only 100 people are allowed to go up at a time, so there are always waiting times for this level. But since we finished our lunch a little earlier than the Chinese tourists (of which there are many in Southeast Asia), we managed to beat the rush and only had to wait for 15 minutes. If we had arrived half an hour later, we would have had to wait an hour. But the waiting time was definitely worth it because the view from the top is wonderful.

I intentionally don't write much about the temples because I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Of course, I also talked to my tour guide about the topic of plastic. He told me that one day, his 11-year-old daughter came home from school and said that she wants to save the world from plastic. I think that's just incredibly cute and courageous at her age. They started at home, of course, by not buying plastic bottles anymore and mainly drinking tap water, for which they bought a filter system. They also always go shopping with a reusable container. Then they told their relatives and acquaintances about it. My tour guide also works for a travel agency that offers its visitors two bottles of water every day on their trips. He suggested to the organization that they should instead distribute reusable aluminum bottles that each guest can refill in the bus. This is a great idea and the agency wants to implement it from next year, which I think is great. I hope they continue with it, and I hope that the little girl can really make a change here.

Today, I had another relaxed day at the pool before I will be picked up at 8 am tomorrow and taken to the project with the elephants.

I will be in touch again.

Your Alex.