Beng Melea

after a bit of wandering we decided to go to Beng Melea which is a 12th century wat (temple( that has seen better days. Our hotel arranged the driver and we went about an hour east. Lots of traffic and dust but I am amused to see whole pigs -large porkers- strapped to the back of "motos" they were deceased and on their way to market. No cello wrappings on the meats here. we also saw young boys fishing in the ponds and lots of water flowers, lilies and such. Cows, water buffalo, goats , pigs and lots of dogs are plentiful as you get farther from the city. They do not eat dogs here but everything else is for sustenance.
The temple is amazing as it is in ruins in the jungle with trees growing through everything. YOu wander through the debris, climbing over the rocks and fallen arches, carved stones etc. It is a real Indiana Jones experience. A nice young man showed us around and we saw more than we would have on our own. about 25 times more than we would have done as he helped us scale everything and gave us perspective on where the entrances were and pointed out the carvings. It was worth the dollars we gave him.
The country is very poor and carries 3-4 people on a scooter, often small children and even infants in their mothers arms. No booster seats for kids under 60 lbs here!
tomorrow we are going to Ton Le Sap to see the floating villages. Monday we start at the hospital so we are getting in the sightseeing pieces while we can.