Let the Temple-fest Begin

The night's sleep at Sambor Village wasn't the best we'd ever had, but not even discovering a leaky roof the hard way at 2:30 in the morning could dampen our enthusiasm for the day.  We had already seen several impressive temples throughout Cambodia, but the best were coming up today and tomorrow.

View of the Stung Sen River leaving the hotel

After breakfast, we hopped back in the minibus headed for the temple complex Sambor Prei Kuk.  The buildings were constructed in the sixth and seventh centuries, and they have the possibility of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the future.  As soon as we pulled up, a small pack of local children were eager to sell us cotton scarves made by their parents.  Since we didn't show too much interest initially, they proceeded to follow us through our entire tour.

Nyp drawing a map in the sand of the Khmer empire at its height of power

The village children following Nyp's example

These child-parrots recited bits of information they had clearly learned over time following other tours and listening to the guides.  They would name upcoming temples, point out termite hills and give directions.  My favorite was their frequent warnings, "the roots, the rocks, mind your step."
 

Despite the kids' best efforts, Nyp really provided the information and pointed out the best photo ops.

At the end of our exploration, we did collectively buy one scarf per child before asking them to pose for pictures.  One of the boys was wearing a t-shirt featuring Psy, the Korean pop star.  I tried to get him to do the "Gangnam Style" dance for me, but he was too shy.  Instead Nyp sang for them and made them laugh.

Next we were off to Siem Reap and our fanciest hotel of the trip, Tara Angkor.  Unfortunately, arriving in Siem Reap meant leaving our beloved guide and driver.  Nyp explained that national regulations say only certified tour guides are allowed to show groups around Angkor Wat and the other temples.  Because he guides throughout the country, Nyp isn't allowed to work in Siem Reap.  Before being handed off to our next driver and guide, we had one last funny moment.  We found out we had been mispronouncing our drivers name the whole week.  The way we said it meant guerrilla in Khmer instead. Oops!  Don't worry, Mr. Guerrilla thought it was funny.