Cambodia 2015

Wednesday11November

And so begins a 4-day marathon to visit the immense site of Angkor.

We start gently by moving away from the center of Angkor with the sanctuary of Prasat Beng Malea located about sixty kilometers away. So we reach the site by car (and its driver).

At the entrance, we face a Naga. "The nāga (or serpent in Sanskrit) is a mythical being in Hinduism, but the word also basically means: snake. Nagas in religion guard the treasures of nature, are attached to water, and bring prosperity."
© Wikipedia

Detail of the nāga

Angkor is also a paradise for ficus and other tetrameles, where the slightest stone, the slightest wall, the slightest temple is the ideal support for their embellishing roots...

The window bars are also sculpted.

The complex dates from the 12th century.

That's it, you're starting to get used to it too, here's our giant arachnid again, the female Nephila pilipes...

And yet another one...

The paw of what was probably a lion.

The flexible branches of giant ficus trees are not just there to look pretty... They have many other well-utilized functions...

Apsaras.

Well, when you love, you don't count... Had I told you I was arachnophobic??? It's crazy how a lens disinhibits everything...

This one is no longer the classic Nephila but a tiny but nonetheless magnificent argiope (Argiope aetherea). On its web, a zigzag-shaped pattern. This is called a stabilimentum, woven by the spider for the purpose of stabilizing the web or attracting prey.  

dorsal view of the Argiope aetherea

Ventral view of the Argiope aetherea

That's it, the visit is over. We take the car, not the bicycle like this young schoolgirl, to reach a small fishing village on the shores of the immense Tonlé Sap lake.