The Smile of Angkor (Part Five)

The best meal I feel in Siem Reap is breakfast, served buffet style, with soy milk + sugar + bread + jam + coffee. In short, a sweet breakfast is what I love. Stepping out, the green trees, blooming flowers, and colorful houses put you in a very pleasant mood. After a few days of wandering around, I've gotten a sense of direction in this small town. The guy who usually drives us around had to take someone to Banteay Srei today, and I met his son Nina for the first time, a simple and honest young man just like him. The first tip for riding a tuk-tuk is to prepare a magic scarf, as the dusty roads in the countryside will give you a mouthful of dust, which could save you from having lunch if you wish. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Pre Rup temple, surrounded by a red wall, with three tiers of platforms and brick towers on all sides. The towers are quite empty inside, with small holes on top, said to be used for royal cremation. The ground level has square stone pillars, which I guess were corridors in the past. Inside a secluded stupa, besides a tilted carved base, stands a Buddha statue with only two feet remaining in the darkness. The stone doors of the brick towers on the second tier are intricately carved, and the tower bodies are made of red bricks, with tall stone lions guarding the ground. In the center of the third tier is a tall brick tower, with many deity statues embedded in the walls. From the three-tiered platform, you can look around and see a vast forest in the distance. Days later, I was tempted once again by the beauty of the sunset. The stairs from the bottom to the third tier are made of red clay, long and rectangular, and such a steep angle is a real climb for young girls.