Making me smile again

The author with the children of Prasat Ta Prohm at Banteay Chhmar

So to cheer myself up, here's some photos of the gorgeous children I met on a recent trip to Banteay Chhmar in northwest Cambodia. This is a great temple site, which is currently undergoing renovation. Outside of the magnificent main temple, there are at least nine satellite temples and it was at one of these that I encountered these kids. Prasat Ta Prohm is effectively in the middle of Banteay Chhmar village and its water-filled moat is used by the locals. The four-faced temple is on an island and on all previous visits was almost completely shrouded in tree cover and undergrowth. However on my latest visit a couple of months ago, most of the trees had disappeared and the temple is now exposed. A shame in my view but once we arrived, we were quickly surrounded by this group of young children, eager to joke around with the big-nosed barangs - I was with my brother Tim - and the oldest girl Srey Mak spoke pretty good English. They weren't in the least bit shy and we eventually had to tear ourselves away from them as we had to get back to Phnom Penh the same day. Children everywhere in Cambodia make me smile and those at Ta Prohm were no exception to that rule.

Srey Mak, gorgeous smile and a thirst for English

Two more of the children we encountered at Prasat Ta Prohm

These girls were pretty shy compared to the younger kids in the temple itselfOne final face from Prasat Ta Prohm at Banteay Chhmar