Banteay Srei

Friday, Dec. 4 - Banteay Srei (citadel of women or citadel of beauty) is a 10th century (967 AD) temple in Cambodia that is built mainly out of red sandstone. It has elaborate carvings and decorations and is considered a tribute to female beauty. The temple compound is smaller that the others built during the Angkor period and has been praised as the "jewel of Khmer art".

This post is mainly pictures so you can enjoy the beautiful structures and intricate carvings. 

Man sitting on the three headed elephant.

Man and woman (head is missing) sitting on a bull.

Tablets with ancient inscriptions are on the door facings.

Moats are a common structural aspect of the Angkor temples. They were used to help keep the water table steady under the structures to stabilize the ground during the rainy and dry seasons.

The pediments (triangular shaped areas above doors) were carved to tell stories of historic events.

Mythical creatures standing guard.

There is still a Buddha statue within the temple and people come here to pray.

This depicts the story of good and evil based on Hindu teachings.

It was so exciting to climb through the ancient temple and served as a primer for the big visit the next day to Angkor Wat.

On our way back to town we stopped at a roadside area to learn how they make palm sugar products. They climb the trees (no I didn't do any climbing this time), squeeze the bloom stems and place them in a bamboo tube to collect the syrup over night. Then they cook it down to make the sugar.

Wrapping small candy bites in palm leaves for sale.

We then stopped at a rice noodle making home to learn that process. Rice flour is mixed with water and it sits over night fermenting. Then after kneading it is placed in a sieves to pressed through the small holes into boiling water to make the noodles.

After boiling they were rinsed in cool water.

They were really good!

We also stopped and talked with a basket weaver. She said she can do 1 - 2 baskets a day and sells them through a contract for $4 each (sorry Katie, they were too big to fit in my suitcase).

At the Angkor Pyungyu entrance they have a nightly carnival/fair where thousands congregate for a meal and family fun. We stopped and walked around. Even tried our hand at throwing darts to pop balloons for a chance to win a beer. I won one!

There were tables set up you could rent to have your meal.

Tomorrow is the big day as we visit Angkor Wat.