Cambodia Day 2, Part 4: Eastern Mebon and back to Siem Reap

Even in winter the days are long in tropical Cambodia, so I had time to bike out to one more temple in my monument filled day. The day's last stop was Eastern Mebon, a temple in the style of Pre Rup that keeps its vigil over a now dry reservoir. 

I was struck by the numerous and varied animal statues. Well, they were mostly elephants and the lion/dragon/dog guardians, but they looked awesome. 

The edifice itself was fairly impressive as well.

 I had noticed lots of Korean tourists at the temples, so when I saw stacked stones that I associate with Korean Buddhism, I wondered if Korean tourists were responsible. I am unsure if other religions, regions, and cultures also use the meditative practice. 

The day's bike ride had been long but shady and broken up by landmarks, so it was far less intense than previous day's exposed ride that had left me with a Boxing Day sunburn. The ride back had fewer stops but still went past remarkable places, and the sunset over Angkor Wat's wide moat was incredible.

 That night I had an indulgent dinner at Angkor Palm. I feasted upon the sampler platter of amoc (seared fish), curry, pork ribs, spring rolls, Chinese style veggies and noodles, and two mango smoothies. On my walk back to my hotel room, I witnessed group calisthenics at Cambodian People's Party headquarters, which was a reminder of how very different political parties can be in different parts of the world.