Demons & Monkeys

First order of today is getting the pedal fixed by finding a welder, this turns out to be a really fun exercise in exchanging information between the Thai people and me. The translator apps are of limited use but we get it done with pictures.

20km ride to a significant historical monument called Phnom Rung, a temple built on a volcano extinct for some 900,000 years. The name of the temple means vast mountain.. It is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Siva. Construction started in the 900s and continued into the 1200s., during the Khmer period.

One lintel shows demons and monkeys. It is a humoristic view of us humans and the forces we face through our lives.

What amazes me is the amount of detail that is preserved in the stone work. In Europe the stone work of the churches just 400 years old is deteriorating significantly and needs to be restored all the time. The chemistry of air, rainwater and the stone must make the difference. They used a mix of on-site volcanic rock and limestone, probably from the valley floor.

Dinner in Thailand in the 7/11 parking lot where local vendors create fantastic dinners.Leggi altro