Banteay Srei Temple

This temple, whose name probably meant auspicious city, was built in honour of Shiva, with a lingum.

The walls are exquisitely carved. There are seven headed men waving their multiple arms around, Indra on a three headed elephant, leafy nagas with lion heads, monsters touching the breasts of women, men holding other men by their hair before killing them, beautiful scrolling leafy branches, dragons with leafy branches coming out of their mouths. The bas reliefs are clear, sharp, apparently untouched by the passage of time and weather. This may have been because they were so deeply carved, or it may have had something to do with the quality of the stone which, unlike the usual sandstone used for these temples, is pink.

We arrived at this temple in the middle of the day. Not one of those temples with trees in amongst the ruins, there was no shade. I could feel the sweat trickling down my back all the time that I stood admiring these beautiful carvings.

In the evening, I came upon a gay bar where a cabaret was in full swing. A group of Californian men welcomed me at their table and plied me with cocktails.

Next day I went in search of a place called Aqua. It took me a long time because I walked down the wrong road and ended up walking about five kilometres through a waterside village, where houses on tall stilts backed onto a little river, now reduced to a mere trickle. It might have been very pleasant, if they had not thrown so much rubbish out of the backs of their houses onto the river bank.

Eventually I found Aqua, a beautiful swimming pool owned by an English man called John. The pool is surrounded by lush tropical jungle, shady places, sunny places and a bar that juts right out into the pool. Someone has built bar stools in the pool and a ledge all round the bar, so you can sit with your legs in the water at the bar. A couple of Irish girls serve at the bar. "There's no point in my going back to Ireland" said one  "I have a degree in architecture but there's no work."

Aqua is frequented by a crowd of volunteers, all teaching English to village children around Siem Reap. They come here after work and stand around in the pool, with just their heads poking out of the water, like so many water buffaloes, chatting.