After Ta Prohem, Theara checked with me to find out if I needed to “spend a penny” (Anne’s grandfather’s code for utilizing the facilities) because on Day One, Theara and my friend often had wait while I checked out the facilities. For the record, the facilities were unexpectedly wonderful: clean, western toilets with tp, running water & soap. On day two, we women had to wait for him more than me and by day three, we all had our timing perfected. Anyway, after the hoards of tourists, we went for a country-side drive. As the “natural air con” (the breeze) cooled my friend and me, we drove past rice fields and fishing lakes and countless houses on stilts, past a myriad of roadside stands, past dogs, past cows. (“Don’t look those cows in the eye, the vicious things” we joked). It was a truly beautiful drive and we had almost reached some unusually tall hills when we pulled up to a familiar-looking row of cloth tents filled with souvenirs along with a few restaurants with smooth, hard wood furniture. Everyone ate: my friend had curry, Theara had chicken, I had spring rolls. During our meal, a calico cat who resembled my parents’ HRH in beauty and attitude sat beside me and demanded food at the top of her lungs. I tried to talk her into the interior of my spring roll but she was unimpressed – luckily, Theara offered her a bone which she scarfed down before plopping down next to us. We ate at leisure and then walked down the short causeway to the most amazing of temples: Banteay Srei.

The temple bears the consecration date of April 22, 967 and at 20 kilometers north of Angkor, is the rather modernly named the “Citadel of the Women” or the “Citadel of Beauty.” Besides its location, this temple is remarkable in several ways including its color (reddish, pinkish sandstone), its size (tiny), that it was not a royal temple (it was built by a king’s counselor), but is mostly notable for its carvings. Adjectives that come to mind: detailed, awesome, extraordinary, striking, beautiful. Obviously, these are completely inadequate and do not begin to illustrate why this temple is remarkable amongst so many – keep in mind that we spent 3 days visiting temples with remarkable carvings and this one is still singular. We loved every minute of our time there. Every corner turned revealed carvings more remarkable than the last. I cannot further describe it and shan’t sport with your intelligence by attempting. We departed with great reluctance and it was definitely a measure of my friend’s enthusiasm for the countryside to hear that she loved the drive as much as she loved the temple. I greatly enjoyed the drive; I loved Banteay Srei.

Another rain storm but in the drier evening, my friend and I went to a rather cheesy performance of traditional Khmer dancing that I cannot say that I enjoyed a lot. Not in the least because at that point it was apparent that I was indelicately and unpleasantly burdened with “the runs.” That night I consumed a lot of Pepto Bismal, which really does turn your mouth black and read my book on Asian illnesses. I went to sleep that night on my hard as a rock bed, remembering the misery of a friend in Bangkok who spent his first week with a similar affliction while sleeping on a harder than hard bed – and wondering if I had been sympathetic enough or if this was cosmic revenge. After my “educating” reading, I had also diagnosed myself with at least 20 illnesses beyond the likely food poisoning from the spring rolls and it is truly a miracle that I slept that night. I awoke the next morning feeling a bit… cautious… but ate both breakfast and preventative Pepto. By lunch time I was ok. I guess the cosmos didn’t truly have its heart into revenge on me. --L