Banteay Chmmar

Roughly two weeks ago, Joanna and I took a lovely romantic trip together to Banteay Chmmar. Just kidding, it wasn't romantic. We have a womance. It's like a bromance but for girls. In Cambodia I guess you could say sreymance. Anyway, we got up early and caught the bus from her hostel to Sisophon, which is where one of our friends just moved so I guess we'll be visiting him soon. From there, we randomly on the street found someone to taxi us to Banteay Chmmar, which is a remote area with some cool temples. Very few tourists. He charged us about $20 for the ride, which is only a couple hours but the road is so absolutely horrendous that that seemed fair. After riding on that road I felt like I needed a chiropractor. It was bad to begin with, but when it floods here the roads just become horrible. That's how they are in town now that the water's receded. So we got to Banteay Chmmar and went straight to the community tourism office. They have a cooperative program that is run by the community, and it's run very well and in a sustainable way. Good model program. We met our guide and visited some of the temples that day, and had lunch and dinner in town/at the office.

Temples are often in ruins and many are in the process of being restored

Looks legit

That night we did a homestay with a local family. We got there late, after the town's power had been shut off for the night, so it was candle lit bucket baths for us. We slept under a mosquito net. There are few things as disturbing in the middle of the night as packs of dogs howling, they start at one end of town and then the howling spreads, getting closer and closer til you sit up and bed and realize that you really never want to do a homestay in the country again. Nice people though. We chatted with the young guy who lives there and he told us about how much he wants to go to the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, but he does not have the money. It's sad because comparatively, tuition/fees/cost of living for university in Cambodia is very cheap, but so many cannot afford it. And he was really talented.

The next morning we visited some more remote temples so Joanna could see the face towers (since that's what she's studying) and then we caught a taxi back to Siem Reap. Joanna left last weekend, but she'll be back for 5-6 months probably in June. Looking forward to it!