On day four, we returned to Angkor. We began the morning near the south gate of Angkor Thom at the bottom of Phnom Bakheng. Built-in the 9th century under King Yasovarman I, this temple is positioned on top of a 65-meter-tall hill and was originally accessed via a laterite staircase on its eastern side. The stairway led right into the causeway which brought us to the base of the temple itself. With archaeologist Ea Darith leading the way, we continued west and up the temple’s staircase, and climbed up the seven layers of the temple, each representing one of the seven heavens in Hindu cosmology. Like the later Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng’s five central towers align with the cardinal directions creating a symbol of Mount Meru, the home of gods and the center of the universe. Unlike Angkor Wat, the five central towers are hardly standing today and there were only a handful of other visitors at the top.

After descending Phnom Bakheng we made a quick stop to rehydrate on a one-dollar coconut and then drove into Angkor Thom to the central temple, Bayon. Built under the rule of Jayavarman VII (1181-1218), Bayon contains 54 towers each featuring four faces (one in each cardinal direction). Together we discussed the three theories of whose face is depicted: Brahma, Lokeshvara, or King Jayavarman VII. We walked around the outer gallery’s bas-reliefs of Khmer battles and daily life at the time. Here we could see animals such as ox pulling carts, elephants carrying the king, crocodiles, fish, birds, water buffalo, weapons, tools, house structures, fishing boats, women giving birth, men at war, markets, and countless other scenes from the time. This gave me a better sense of life back then, outside of the king. Though built originally as a Buddhist temple the inner gallery features mostly Hindu bas-reliefs, such as the churning of the sea of milk.

After learning the original Buddha statue was relocated from Bayon’s central tower, we drove a short distance to its current place of residence. Of all the offering sites we’ve visited so far, this felt the most abundant with dozens of lotus flowers and incense sticks burning. It was very calm there, away from the crowds and I got to see two parents teach their child how to place and offer a lotus flower.

Afterward, we returned to Siem Reap for lunch at HaiVen restaurant where I had lime fish soup. Then we went to the SPOONS Cambodia Organization, a not-for-profit hotel school, restaurant, and café that offers a free one-year program to low-income Cambodians (18-24 years old) on hospitality training. Originally founded by a Cornell alum in 2009 as EGBOK, after the pandemic the organization restructured and is now named SPOONS. Everyone working there was incredibly kind, and we were taught how to weave bracelets out of dried water hyacinth, an aquatic plant from South America that is growing rampantly in the Tonle Sap Lake and disrupting waterways. I also got to try ripe monkeypod beans and a star apple for the first time. We also learned how to make a few Cambodian dishes such as spring rolls, duck balut, and Num Krok before finishing the day with a delicious meal at their restaurant.