Saturday, November 25, 2006

Banteay Srei

Another beautiful temple we went to see during our stay in Siem Reap was Banteay Srei. It was quite different than the others because of its pink sandstone.

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Gemma and a friend she met during our tour.

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It also seemed to be the best preserved of all of the temples.

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Gemma and Angus striking a pose.

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Angus and Gemma listening to the band.



This was one of the landmine bands that were at the different temples in Siem Reap. There are thousands of landmine victims in Cambodia. There is an estimated 3 million active landmines still in Cambodia and an average of 2-3 people killed every day by landmines. These people in the band are landmine victims wanting to make an honest living, so the play their instruments and sell their cd to tourist to raise money.

During our trip to Siem Reap seeing the victims of landmines was probably the hardest thing that we have ever seen during our travels. I do have to say that our visit to Cambodia was one of our favorite trips. I think mostly because of the human spirit of the Cambodian people. I found a great website about landmines in Cambodia if you would like further information. Please check it out: http://www.gapyear.com/cambodia/landmines_in_cambodia.html .

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