62. Banteay Srei - 1

Banteay Srei - Lady Temple

After leaving Ta Prohm, I think my driver thought we were going back to town, but I wanted to see Banteay Srei - this was one temple I really, really wanted to see. We set off and after a number of turns the road became quite bumpy. Mistakenly I thought it was only 12 or 13 kms from town, little did I realise it was actually around 36 kms! After some time, I badly needed to find a loo, but the tuk tuk kept going bumpety bumpety bump - let me tell you, riding along a very bumpy road full of potholes with a full bladder is not the most enjoyable of things to do. As I said, I thought the distance was much shorter than it was. Had I known, I'd have told the driver to stop long beforehand. I did actually say towards the end, could we stop for the lades toilet but he said no, no, there's toilet at the temple.

I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was not a laughing matter.☺

Above: Shops at Banteay Srei
Arriving at Banteay Srei, my driver said he'd meet me at the restaurant. I bolted for the ladies - you had to pay to use them but there wasn't anyone on duty. After sitting and drinking the inevitable bottle of water, I set off. There are two long rows of shops and stalls.

Above: Crossing the bridge
The white building with the red roof is the public toilet block - quite a few people sat on the verandah in the shade. Several ladies came up to me selling scarves but having learnt my lesson the day before, I just smiled, shook my head and politely said, "No thank you". You can see the first row of shops to the left.

You cross over the bridge and turn right. Then it's a fair walk down a long red earth dusty path which seemed to shimmer in the heat of the middle of the day.

 

Above: Pathway and temple
At the end of the first path you turn left as the road winds its way down - a canopy of trees here and there to break the sun. As I neared the temple, there were four or five locals on the left hand side. I spoke with one chap, and he said when I came back to tell him what I felt.

In the above collage, the lower left photo is of the inner courtyard, the photo on the right is the entrance.