Concluding my Sunday moto-ride

Bringing to a close my handful of snapshots from this morning's moto-ride along the western bank of the Mekong River through Prek Leap and Bakkheng communes, are another Neak Ta figure, almost Romanesque in looks, that I found at Wat Potipreak, where I stopped to eat my chicken and rice lunch on a wooden bench designed for the task. It was a foot away from the river itself and it was very pleasant to watch the larger boats chug along the river and fishing boats stop in mid-stream to haul in their catch. I had missed the annual Mekong Swim that had taken place a bit earlier that same morning, approximately 500 metres from my perch on the riverbank, at the Agricultural College.
This wooden pagoda at Wat Chambork Meas was the end of my journey, around twenty kilometres from the city. It no longer functions as a pagoda although it still has its Buddhist shrine and figures in place, as you can see below. Now the vihara is used as a classroom and a school in Prime Minister Hun Sen's name sits alongside it. Across the main highway is a brand new pagoda, which obviously replaced this wooden version, that is now slowly falling into disrepair. A sad end for one of the country's few remaining wooden pagodas.