Day Five: Last Day in Cambodia

I know you may be templed out, but we have one last temple-focused post from Cambodia.  We started Day 5 with sunrise at Angkor Wat, and visited a few more temples before catching a mid-afternoon flight to Danang, Vietnam.  Although we definitely had our fill of temples (and tourists!) by the end of our two and a half days in Siem Reap, we were glad to have had our last morning--which included a visit to the temple where Angelina Jolie filmed Tomb Raider (they love her here!)

First up, Banteay Srei--built as a Hindu temple in the 10th century.  As you can see from the pictures, this temple, unlike the others, is orangish-red because it was constructed from red sandstone.  It's remarkably well preserved and still very, very pretty!

It was common at many of the temples to see bands of landmine victims playing for donations:  

Although I did not get any particularly good pictures, water buffalo are also ubiquitous in Cambodia!  They were everywhere--working in the rice fields, pulling wagons, and just hanging out on the side of the road!
We only stopped at the next temple for a couple of minutes as we wanted to get in one more temple before we had to leave town.  Although we were only there for a little while, I was sore for a couple of days from climbing its steep steps! 

Our last stop was Ta Prohm, where some of Tomb Raider was filmed.  The trees growing through this temple were amazing.  Though it may not look like much from the front...

It is pretty impressive from the other side! 

The temple was mobbed with tourists.  After nearly three days of climbing over hundreds of people to view these amazing temples, we were ready to move on.  But to anyone even considering a trip to this part of the world, we highly recommend stopping in Siem Reap.  The people are so friendly, and the temples are fascinating and beautiful!