A leap over the Japanese Bridge

An attractive building built in 1933 in Prek Leap

The backroad that lies parallel to Route 6 as you enter Prek Leap commune just after the Japanese Bridge is quiet and shut off from the suicidal taxi-drivers and horn-blaring mini-van madmen of the national highway. It's thankfully free of much traffic at all and earlier this morning was a pleasant and relaxing way to see more of the Mekong River that runs alongside it for much of the way. Prek Leap is famous for its brightly-lit restaurants at night along Route 6, but there are also a large number of restaurants along this quieter road too, overlooking the river though many of them have fallen into disrepair since their heyday in the '90s. The pace of life is slower, the people very friendly and the sugar cane tastes lovely. I stopped at a few wats in Preak Leap and Bakkheng communes and also spotted this French colonial-style building, dating from 1933, though the inhabitants were out so I couldn't find out any more details or take a look inside.
I liked this ceiling painting in Wat Bakkheng as it included a representation of Angkor in the top right-hand corner and was just about to be re-painted, as were all the wall paintings in this pagoda. The main vihara was undergoing a complete re-fit. There was another well-attended ceremony taking place at this pagoda, as there are in many wats up and down the country at this time of year, as Khmer New Year approaches. This Neak Ta shrine at the same pagoda features two brightly coloured gentlemen, as they overlook the Mekong River.