Tomb Raiders

We had so much fun today!

We got an early start and drove up to Kbal Spean, an old expansive rock carving in a river. To get there we had to make a 40 minute hike up a small mountain, but it was well worth it.

It's known as the River of 1000 Lingas. I'll let you guess what that means. But I'm sure there were 1000 of them. After wondering around looking lost, a nice old (OLD!) park ranger showed us around. He was running around all the slippery rocks with flip flops and we could barely keep up in our sneakers.

Next it was on to Banteay Srei, the "Citadel of Women." It's called that because it was built out of pink sandstone and the carvings are so intricate, they believe only a woman's hands could have created them. It's a small, but gorgeous temple. Even in it's current state it welcomes serenity and contemplation.

Our final stop of the day really let us live out our Lara Croft/Indiana Jones fantasies. Beng Melea is a temple that is falling into the jungle. Nature has taken over and the temple is giving way, brick by brick. This is one site that the officials have decided not to restore. They have left it in the state it was found. It's an incredible site.

There is no way to just walk through the temple. Instead, one of the park rangers has to guide you up and over the fallen stones to see the remains still standing within the walls.

A lot of the carvings have been weathered away, but there are some great pieces left. Here is the one place you can touch everything and climb anywhere. Just be careful of the slippery moss, spiders and centipedes which we saw a lot of.

Very Indiana Jones indeed.