10/14: More temples: Beng Melea and the Roulos Group.

Just two more weeks before we're back home in Colorado - can hardly believe our 3 month journey around the world is almost over. So glad we added on more time at Siem Reap so we can go visit the only other wats we hadn't yet toured out of town, Beng Melea and the Roulos Group of temples about 2 hours east of town.  They're only 55kms east but travelling in a tuk tuk takes a lot longer than if we had a car at our disposal!

Bamboo sticky rice for sale as we'd seen up north in Battambang.

En route to Beng Melea, the first stop of the day and furthest east of Siem Reap.

At Beng Melea:  A little nerve wracking knowing we were in an area where mines had been. 

Our Angkor Wat pass wasn't valid at any of the Roulos Group wats; well worth our paying only $5 each to see Beng Melea and the other temples.

Beng Melea's not quite like the other temples near Siem Reap; as you can from the photos above and below, we had to scramble up and over ancient stones, broken limbs, etc to tour the site.  Glad we had somewhat sturdy shoes as we had to plan our every step very carefully.

Sure glad I had lost weight before coming on the trip!

This young boy acted as our guide for an hour telling us which way to go as we would never have discovered everything ourselves as the place was a maze! He ended up leaving us high and dry though leaving us to find our way back to the parking lot - it took us a long time to find our way back as, after a while, everything looked much the same and there were NO signs!

En route to Lolei Temple, part of the Roulos Temples:  Always amazed at how much some of the trucks could carry. 

Lolei Temple

Rather than give the children at Lolei candy or money, we gave them toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, etc.

Scenes from Lolei. - I just loved the color of the stone.

Monks'robes drying in the sun at Lolei - a living monastery, not just a tourist attraction.

The gorgeous Lolei temple.

Onto our next Roulos Group temple:  Preak Ko.

Bakhong: the last of the Roulos Group.

Cambodia has beautifully carved furniture - on our way back from Beng Melea and the Roulos Group of temples, we passed many furniture shops displaying their wares.  Too bad it would have been prohibitively expensive to have anything shipped home.

On our way back to the hotel every afternoon, we'd stop at this fruit stand so buy the apples individually wrapped in the pink netting, i.e. those on the second row on the left side.