Temples and Talent

We started this morning with Prasat Kravan. It is a brick temple with some very unique bas reliefs in stone. It is from the early 10th century. Hard to believe we were walking around such ancient civilizations.
The restoration work is really quite amazing. Where much of the brick had crumbled away they have replaced it and fashioned it so perfectly that if it wasn't for the special symbols on the brick, you wouldn't realize which ones were old and which ones new.

We spent the morning visiting various temples. Water seemed to play an important role in some of them. In one temple there was one main pool that would overflow into four smaller pools. Each pool had a special meaning - Earth, fire, wind, and water. The Cambodian people believed that the water in those pools had special healing qualities.

Of course there were many more dancing girl bas reliefs. We saw one example in the dance hall of one of the temples. Nadim and the girls tried to make some of the dance poses from the carvings. Do they look like the ones on the beam above their heads?

In the afternoon we took a break from the temples. We visited Artisans d'Angkor, a school that was set up especially for village people. It teaches how to carve stone and wood, do silk painting, and other art work. I thought it interesting that they claim that this has helped stop the flood of villagers to the cities. They are now able to use their skills and remain in the countryside. Below we were all quite interested to see how they carve the stone, add bronze leaf, and create an antique look.

After the tour of the art school we headed into the market. There were so many things to buy! Of course we could not escape empty handed. The bargaining was so much fun that it was really worth it. Nadim and I managed to come away with Cambodian pants that we really didn't need, but they are very comfortable! We also bought a few other little things, but were tempted by so much more. We'll see what tomorrow brings....

CM