For the first full day in Siem Reap I obviously wanted to take the girls to see the temples in the jungle as that was why I had brought them.
The energy from the trees in the jungle is powerful, and I can feel the energy that pulsates from those ancient temples. I love it so much. It fills me up and restores me.
Early in the morning we did yoga in the garden.
After breakfast we went to where you buy the temple pass. It is an individual pass that requires a photo.
I thought the girls were right behind me when I got to the counter but no, they were shopping. We hadn't even got to a market yet!
It is stressful being a tour guide, watching out for everyone and keeping them together as a group. I had to synchronize timing for food and toilet stops. I hope the girls had lovely relaxing holiday, but for me it was exhausting. I was always working and organizing and checking. And with so much on my mind it made it difficult to sleep so I survived on only a few hours a night, without the opportunity for an afternoon nap which is vital for me.
Anyway I went back and got them and they had beautiful smiling photos taken for the 3 day pass for the temples. Wherever we went, the guards always said we are so smiling and happy. It made them smile and feel happy.
That was one of my intentions in coming here - to make the people happy. I felt that last time they were sad and didn't understand what a beautiful place they live in. They have suffered so much under the reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge and the bombing of the Vietnam war. It felt like they were much happier this time.
Our first temple was Preah Kahn with a double tier temple that is most likely where the dancers danced. I explained that a linga is a phallic symbol and the square it is in is a yoni. Water flows around it and out a spout for fertility. There are 1000's in the rivers for fertility for the rice crops.
The police guards like to nab the tourists and take photos for a tip. It's good, because they know the best spots for you stand for a good photo.
The next stop was the island temple across the long bridge. Last time I walked across, it was so hot and I was so tired and I got all the way across to see a dirty pond that was once a beautiful fountain and an offering cave and mosquitos.
I told them it was one thousand miles across the bridge & as I had already been I wasn't going again. When they asked how long it took to walk the 1000 miles and I said 5 minutes, they rolled their eyes at me. I told them that it was not very spectacular but in the big scheme of Ankor Wat it held great significance. They enjoyed the walk across the moat I think.
I stayed behind and read about it in the book. When it was made, it was encrusted in gold a jewels. It was the sacred island of healing where they grew magic herbs and people came to be cured and absolved of their sins.
I swapped around tuktuks as we went around so I could share what knowledge I have about the Ancient Angkor Kingdom and King Javaraman VII who built many of the temples.
We had an average lunch then went to visit one of my favorite temples, Pre Rup. I made them close their eyes and took them through the old front entrance, as the main entrance now is the back. There is a huge fig tree growing on top of the huge carved head of the gate keeper - the roots look like dread locks growing around the benevolent face of Ankoloshvara.
I told them it was a nice place to do some shopping in the little village. They got some nice tops and skirts.
I bought some postcards from the young girl, I remember her, then the other lady was upset because I didn't buy hers but I bought a keyring from her with nail clippers with Angkor Wat.
It was so fun there. There was a little naked baby playing with a mud puddle. He was so happy, he just couldn't stop smiling. He made a special friend with our lady from Norway.
We asked the children if they had been to school. It was funny, the whole conversation went around in a circle about morning school and afternoon school and tomorrow there would be no school because it's Sunday except that tomorrow would be Saturday.
When we were leaving, the little girl wanted me to buy more things, I said she should be happy as I brought these people there to buy lots of things. I said she will never be happy while she wants more. I told her the way to be happy is to be content with what she has. She said "thank you." I had thought about that little girl a lot in the past year and how I might be able to help her. I will be interested to see her again.
Our last temple of the day was The Tomb raider temple. It was disappointing for me, last year I only had to share it with a few other people and I could climb high walls and sit up with the trees and meditate. This time I had to share it with hordes of Chinese bus tourists and workmen who were doing massive reconstruction of the temple. We had to follow a wooden walkway.
That was enough temples for the day, we went back to Sonalong Hotel and swam and relaxed.
We had cocktails and dinner at the hotel. The cocktails were very nice there. But I had explained that if they chose to have a drink it would not be possible to meditate in the evenings. Cocktail hour wasnt what I had envisaged as it was planned as a spiritual tour, but it was fun.
