Textile Trip 2014: Siem Reap

This will be the last post on my Textile Trip 2014. I was away for a couple of weeks during Easter break. It had been quite a hectic couple of of months for me with the textile trip in March and again in April to Tasmania. Unfortunately, I caught a cold from somewhere at the end of my textile trip and had been unwell for a few weeks. I'm glad that I am finally free of it just before we left for Tasmania. I will tell you about that in the next post. Today I will share with you some photos from Siem Reap.

Siem Reap is in Cambodia. It's the city where Angkor Park is located. Angkor Wat was on my list of places to visit. I'm glad I finally went there. Cambodia is a Buddhist country, so many of the images here are relating to Buddhism. Hope you enjoy them. 

Incense is a big part of Buddhism.
These colourful ones were at the altar in
our hotel 

Buddha statues are everywhere in
Siem Reap. They are made of various
materials

Buddha poses and postures, you can read
about them here

You can find Buddha altars in strange places

You find Buddhas in a garden

Buddhas are used as decorative items too 

This was the hallway in our hotel in Siem Reap

As part of our Siem Reap visit we got to do pottery at the Siem Reap Ceramic Center. We got to make two pieces, but could only choose to fire one to bring home. We visited Old Siem Reap Market many times too.

 Janine on the wheel with a local helper

This is my piece before it was fired.
It turned out okay and I brought it home.

Typical scene outside the Old Market in
Siem Reap 

Siem Reap has the best market for antiques
and collectibles

Lots of collectibles are related to Buddhism

Gorgeous hand woven silk 

A miniature betel-nut tray I was in-love with
and finally found one in Bangkok to bring back

 Phare Youth Cirque Du Cambodia recommended
to us. It was a brilliant show!

Images below are from temples in Angkor Park. There were many old temples in the park, but I only chose my favourite photos to share with you here.

The temple of Ta Prohm

A scene used in the Tomb Raider the movie

Angkor Wat early in the morning
(only a few tourists!)

Many doors and hallway images I took photos of

Just to give you a perspective of how the roots
have taken over the temple

I love taking photos of empty corridors 

A long and empty corridor

A well preserved façade of the tree-of-life 

Another façade of the tree-of-life

Below are my favourite Apsara dancing ladies, with different hair-dos. They are over 1500 of them around Angkor Wat. 

 

Another highlight of my visit to Siem Reap is the floating village in Tonle Sap Lake. It was about one hour's drive outside Siem Reap. Houses along the way are built on stilts high enough for when the rainy season comes. After the bus ride we got into a boat that took us out along the river leading to the lake. The scenery was interesting and photogenic. 

Floating homes

Faces of Siem Reap

Houses on stilts

This blog is turning to be a travel blog lately. Thanks for coming along and sharing it with me. A big part of my life is living a life of the expatriate and travelling to see the world. Even though our permanent address is in Australia now, we still enjoy travelling and seeing part of the world that we haven't seen before or we loved and want to go back. 

We have seen a lot of Australia as well, but there is a lot more to discover here too. You read that when we are still strong and able you go to faraway places and when you are less able to travel you see what is near to you. That's what I'm doing, I think!

I haven't got any more travel planned for this year. In order to get inspired I've signed up for Alchemy 2014 online class with Karen Ruane. Karen does beautiful work and is a very inspiring teacher. I want to make another journal cover and I thought taking this workshop would get me started on a journal for my next trip whenever that may be! 

Until next time

Nat