Sunset over the reservoir

I forgot to post about our visit to the huge earthen reservoir near Banteay Chmar.  This was a long raised bed with a road on top, made to dam the small river that flowed down from the nearby mountains that mark the border to Thailand.  This long earthen barrier was built by hand, by local villagers who were forced to work by the Khmer Rouge.  Many locals were literally worked to death.  Where we stayed in the village, the woman who ran the kitchen, tiny and bent, was a survivor.  Now the reservoir helps prevent flooding and allows for easier rice farming.  And the artificial lake is wild, covered in lotus blooms, and a home for birds and fish.  We saw several local families out to enjoy the sunset.  We sat along the banks and waited for the sunset out over the distant mountains.  It was beautiful. Like many things about Cambodia, this reservoir is beauty on top of tragedy.