Cambodia - Part I - Siem Reap
Where is more evocative or mysterious than an ancient temple complex hidden in the jungles at the edge of the world? Nowhere I've yet seen. Angkor Wat in Cambodia has been on my bucket list since I had first seen pictures. The fact that it was only an hour plane ride away from Bangkok tied in to our trip perfectly.
June 4th, 2022
We got dropped off at the airport and made a bee-line to the VAT refund counter. We had spent 10,000THB on my tripod and that entitled us to 500THB back. The lady looked at our paperwork and stamped it with approval -- but we'd have to proceed through security first and then pick up the money on the other side.
We made it through security (who didn't even look at our power bank this time -- every time previously it had been closely inspected and nearly confiscated because the capacity is etched on the back and the etching is almost completely faded) and found the second VAT counter who reviewed our paperwork again and then handed us our refund. Yay! We tucked it away for when we'd be back, and headed for the lounge.
This one was little more than a walled off area with a bunch of couches, buffet, and unsupervised liquor bottles. Vitali filled up on more tasty food.
The flight over to Siem Reap was only an hour, and it was quite bumpy. We landed in the early afternoon and proceeded to go through a several step process for immigration and customs. It took maybe an hour. We made it out and then met our tuk tuk driver who we had arranged with our hotel.
It was about a 20 minute ride from the airport to our place, a cool $29/night hotel with a swim-up room. We'd stay here for a whole week so we picked someplace we could be comfortable. We took a look outside and found that the other 4 rooms facing this pool seemed to be empty. Nice.
Our hotel gave us a sheet with all the tours available and prices. It was about $30/day for a tuk tuk driver to take you around for 4-6 hours, and an additional $10 for any sunrise excursions.
We relaxed for a bit and then headed out to find a market. On the way out our tuk tuk driver approached us -- and introduced himself as Chun. And he very theatrically motioned for us to come over here -- covertly away from the front door -- and told us he needed work -- and that we could go with him on tours for cheaper than the hotel rate -- if we arranged it directly with him. We talked and agreed, and planned to go visit a set series of temples in the morning. He'd meet us at 8:30 -- around the corner.
We found a market and a fruit store and began to compare Thailand to where we were now. Groceries cost about the same. Transport here appeared to be mostly by scooter, and the overall vibe was pretty different. Hardly anyone was wearing masks outside, and it seemed, if you can believe it, substantially hotter.
We headed back to the hotel, filled our fridge, tested the pool (very nice), and then walked to a restaurant for dinner called Haven that I found on findmeglutenfee.
It comprised of a beautiful outdoor area tucked in between jungle foliage. It reminded us somewhat of Tulum, although I've never seen giant millipedes of nightmarish proportions lurking in the leaf litter there.
Haven, founded by a Swiss couple, hires and teaches disadvantaged youths skills that enable them to have careers in the tourism industry. The restaurant had a big display on the challenges Cambodia has faced in recent history, which was illuminating. It shed light on the exploitation of children through touristic orphanages, the every day dilemmas of poverty, and most horrifically, the Cambodian genocide by the Khmer Rouge, which murdered 1.5 - 2 million people, 25% of the entire population.
Which has obviously left a huge scar on the collective psyche of the country. We saw a political ad on the side of the road for the Cambodia National Rescue Party -- which had a slogan: "Wipe your tears, continue your journey". Despite the horrors people -- still living -- had endured, everyone was still so friendly and warm and welcoming. It is a testament to the high quality of the Cambodian people.
Our food appeared. Vitali ordered a burger and soba noodles with shrimps, and I ordered Khmer Lok Lak and a green smoothie.
I accidentally bit into a green kampot pepper stalk not knowing what it was but quickly learned. Besides that, it was INCREDIBLE. My dish had this garlic sauce that was to die for. The rice was red, which we'd never had before, and it was quite good. For a restaurant catering to tourists it was quite affordable -- each dish was about 6.50USD.
We devoured our meals and walked back to the hotel, incredibly satisfied and impressed by our first taste of Cambodian food.
June 5th, 2022
We headed to breakfast at 7 the next morning which inexplicably took a really long time to come out -- and made us late to meet Chun! The breakfasts were a choice of eggs that came with a fruit plate which always had amazing dragonfruit. The tiny bananas had such a strong flavor.
We met with Chun and hit the road around 8:45. We stopped by the ticket center first -- which was huge! It had probably 100 ticket counters, but only a few were staffed right now. We bought a 3 day ticket (which gave you 5 days as a promotion), had our pictures taken and printed on our tickets, declined a tour guide, and then headed towards the park.
It was about a 20 minute ride to the first temple we were seeing today, through beautiful forest. We passed through a ticket checkpoint where they punched our tickets.
This part of the world has extensive ruins from the Angkor period of the Khmer Empire -- from the latter half of the 8th century CE to the first half of the 15th century CE. The architectural heritage here originates from Indian rock-cut temples but has become distinct as the location and neighboring traditions have informed it.
I studied Khmer Architecture a little bit in architectural history and was looking forward to seeing the enigmatic temples in real life.
We came to a gate, the outer wall of Angkor Thom, an urban complex and capital, and I asked Chun if we could stop. We walked over a bridge that featured a balustrade of figures holding a naga -- demigods using the snake to churn the Ocean of Milk in the quest of the elixir of immortality. Wow! This was the real deal.
We drove past temple after temple as we continued towards our first stop of the day. We'd visit the ones we passed on the next visit.
Our first stop was the Preah Khan Temple, dating to the late 12th century. Chun dropped us off at the west entrance and told us to meet him on the other side, at the east entrance. All of the temples are oriented perfectly with the cardinal directions, and (with one notable exception) the main entrance is always the east, so we were technically walking through it backwards.
We walked down a road approaching another gate, lined with carved sandstone figures. The atmosphere was incredible.
Near the gate was another demigod and naga balustrade and a large man-made channel.
We continued on a path towards the temple, passing a small gallery dedicated to the World Monuments Fund, who provides the resources in maintaining this temple. It was really nicely done.
We also saw a little dude enjoying his own private swimming pool.
Preah Khan was the center of a large organization -- with estimates of nearly 100,000 officials and servants living and working here.
We approached the temple, which emerged from the jungle as if it had always been here.
There are two styles of Khmer temple -- the temple-mount, which is an architectural representation of the cosmos: Mount Meru, the home of the Gods at the center, usually represented by a central prang; and an outer enclosure representing the mountain ranges surrounding Mount Meru. In between are the Oceans of Milk, which represents a narrative about the beginning of time and the creation of the universe, involving good and evil forces working together to release the elixir of immortality from the earth itself -- knowing once it's released there will be a battle to attain it.
The second style is the later galleried temple which features passageways along the axis of a temple, open on one or both sides. Preah Khan is of the second style.
Surprisingly, the entirety of the temple was pretty much open for exploration. We felt like archaeologists with a thirst for adventure! We walked down gallery after gallery in various states of decay.
We also came across beautiful trees perched on top of crumbling walls. How did they get there?
When these temples were all first re-discovered from the 1500s to present day, they were found overgrown with banyan, kapok, and strangler fig trees. Sometimes they would be removed to conserve the structure -- in other places, they are left to contrast with the painstaking restoration elsewhere. It lends a beautiful and ethereal aesthetic.
We continued our exploration, marveling at the sandstone structure.
The discoloration you see on the sandstone is a biomass film that is slowly disintegrating the stone! That is the one of the largest threats to conservation of these temples now.
This structure below is called a library, although it's actual use is uncertain.
We made it to the east entrance where Chun was waiting, and headed to Neak Pean, which required crossing a footbridge over a man-made lake.
Neak Pean is a designed "hospital" with four connected pools representing water, earth, fire, and wind. Bathing in these pools would balance the elements of the bather and cure them of disease. Originally there were four animals around the central prang here, but now only one remains.
Neat. We met back up with Chun, who offered us some ice cold water from his cooler. How nice! We were getting to know him a little better and he was so kind.
Next, we headed to Ta Som, also dating to the late 12th century. A lot of vendors were set up around this temple so we bought some bananas and a coconut for some electrolytes. We were sweating like pigs and didn't have any salty food.
Below, the outer gopura (entrance gate) has been overgrown by a strangler fig.
This site was smaller but very beautiful.
We met back with Chun and headed for the next temple, passing some beautiful rice paddies.
Before long we arrived at the East Mebon Temple, dating to the mid 10th century, our last stop for the day.
This temple was different. Instead of sandstone, the prangs were made of brick, although the doorways and lintels were of sandstone, quite intricately carved. Earlier temples of the Angkor period often used brick instead of sandstone for the main structures, although sandstone was used for lintels and false doors.
Interestingly, this temple used to be only accesible by boat, with the surrounding area flooded. There were some beautiful statues remaining here too.
Exhausted from the unrelenting heat we met back with Chun and plopped into the back of the tuk tuk, ready to be transported home. 20 minutes later we were back in our neighborhood and coordinated with Chun to pick us up the next morning at 4:30AM to try and catch a sunrise over Angkor Wat.
We stopped off by a store to pick up a 5 gallon jug of drinking water then spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool. How great it was to come back from temple hopping disgustingly sticky and hot, shower, and then jump right in to the pool!
June 6th, 2022
At 3:30 AM our alarm went off. I awoke to Vitali glaring and leaning over me like he was about to plunge a stake through my vampire heart.
What can I say? We've done this so many times before. We gathered our things and snuck out of the hotel. We accidentally woke up the lady in reception who was sleeping on the couch. Oops!
As we stepped outside it started to drizzle... and began to gently rain as we rode the 20 minutes to the temple entrance. Chun would be waiting for us here in the nearby parking lot whenever we were done.
We walked in the darkness in the general direction we thought we should be going and was approached by a guide for hire. Only $15 for a few hours, sure! He had a very heavy accent but I could just barely understand him. We walked across a temporary floating bridge and then through the elephant gate (where the royal elephants would enter) and headed to the south pond where there were already a few people gathered, awaiting the sunrise. So we set up and waited, as more people gradually joined us.
Unfortunately -- the sun did not deliver due to the low level rain clouds. We overhead a group that was supposed to be here yesterday but their guide overslept and apparently they missed a SPECTACULAR sunrise. Booo. There was some nice lilac tones I guess.
The architecture is unlike anything else I've ever seen. The proportions are close to perfect.
Below is the crowd at the south pond.
Our guide began telling us the story of Angkor Wat.
Angkor Wat translates to "City Temple". Quite generic -- and not the original name. The original name of the temple is perhaps Vrah Viṣṇuloka or Parama Viṣṇuloka, meaning "the sacred dwelling of Vishnu, to whom the temple is dedicated.
Some background from wikipedia:
It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (Khmer: យសោធរបុរៈ, present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology: within a moat more than 5 kilometres (3 mi) long[4] and an outer wall 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the centre of the temple stands a quincunx of towers.
As the best-preserved temple at the site, Angkor Wat is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It is one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists in Cambodia and around the world, having played a major role in converting Cambodia into a Buddhist nation.
We approached the main temple as our guide described the history of the place to us. Here is a shot looking back towards the twin libraries (perhaps for storing scriptures) and the main gate.
At least the overcast skies were providing a little bit of atmospheric fog.
We learned that construction took place over 28 years from 1122 to 1150 CE. Work stopped after the King died -- there's even unfinished portions of the temple with future bas reliefs merely sketched on the stone.
Unlike other temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west, perhaps indicating that Suryavarman intended this to be his funerary temple, or maybe because Vishnu is often associated with the west.
We entered the temple and explored. Interestingly, the beauty of Angkor Wat directly led to France adopting Cambodia as a protectorate in 1863, invading Siam to take control of the ruins in the process.
During the 20th century considerable restoration took place and Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953. Restoration was interrupted during the Cambodian Civil War and the Khmer Rouge. In 1992 Angkor Wat was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site and restoration has continued since then.
We walked through gallery after gallery filled with bas-relief telling stories of mythology. Images of Apsara, a dancing bare-breasted female spirit, were everywhere. Incredible floral carving and text inscriptions decorated the interior galleries.
We made it nearly to the top -- visitors are allowed to ascend to the third level of the temple -- provided they are adequately clothed.
We watched a lady scream at the staff because they turned her away for being dressed immodestly. I put another shirt I brought on top of my tee-shirt before approaching.
The wood and steel steps below were added after a tourist fell down the stairs to her death in rainy weather.
Below, the central prang. I was disappointed we had grey skies today.
Our guide told us this gallery used to be filled to the brim with Buddhas -- but now only a few remain after art thieves absconded with most.
We asked our guide about how the pandemic had impacted tourism here. He said he had to go back home to work in the fields because there were no tourists -- and at home he made about $7/a day.
Wow, what a visit. The beauty of the structure cannot be overstated. The layout, proportions, decoration -- perfectly imagined. Bravo to the Architects.
We headed back out and bid our tour guide adieu. We saw a little skinny kitten with a kinked tail sitting in the street where scooters were zipping by... and picked him up and moved him to safety. We thought there was something wrong with him because of his tail. We later learned in SE Asia cats with kinked or bob tails are considered lucky -- so they are well cared for -- which is why there are so many of them!
We walked around to admire the exterior of the temple.
At major axes, paths lead off into the jungle, promising adventure. When he had left him, our guide advised against going down these as they weren't safe -- there were kleptomaniacal monkeys about!
We did walk down one though, which had a small structure at the end.
The forest was stunning.
As we headed back to the main temple we had a beautiful view of the central prang.
And the chance to see Angkor Wat from a different angle.
We continued our circumnavigation of the outer wall.
And headed back towards the main entrance, where we saw various individuals draped on the structure and admiring the view.
Below, the main causeway with construction holes visible -- they put pegs in the holes so an elephant could drag them with a system of ropes.
The sky began to cooperate as we walked back towards the entrance.
Chun somehow saw us approaching and he appeared before we even reached the edge of the road. We headed to the next stop on our list.
The Bayon Temple, from the late 12th century.
This temple is of the baroque style of Khmer Architecture -- as opposed to the classical style of Angkor Wat. It features serene smiling stone faces on the many towers.
The roads radiating out from the temple were quite striking too. A few people were cycle touring the ruins. We had considered doing that, but the distances between some temples are quite large -- we'd have to bike up to 45km/day, in 90 degree heat and in high humidity. Nah.
As we were leaving, we came across a big group of monkeys!
They were running around, playing, screeching.
Checking each other for fleas.
It was pretty entertaining watching them and making sure to stay out of their way.
We met back up with Chun and headed for the Baphuon Temple, dating to the mid 11th century. We were constantly surprised by how different all of the temples ended up being. This temple and the next few in the area were part of a Royal Palace complex.
It's process of restoration is quite interesting. From Wikipedia:
By the 20th century, much of the temple had largely collapsed, and restoration efforts took on an epic quality. A large-scale project to dismantle the temple so that its core could be re-enforced before the whole is re-constructed again—a process known as anastylosis—was abandoned after civil war broke out in 1970. The workers and archaeologists were forced to leave 300,000 carefully labelled and numbered blocks organized across 10 hectares surrounding the temple. However, the plans identifying the pieces were lost during the decade of conflict and the Khmer Rouge that followed.
A second project to restore the temple was launched in 1996 under the guidance of architect Pascal Royère from the EFEO. It took the team another 16 years to complete what had become known as the "largest 3D jigsaw puzzle in the world". In April 2011, after 51 years of work, the restoration was completed and the temple formally re-opened.
Rubble lay everywhere, beautifully illuminated by the forest light.
We slowly made our way to the top levels of the temple, as our views to the surrounding area got more and more interesting.
The second level required a very steep walk up some stairs.
We didn't climb up the final level because we were already soaked with sweat. The standing doorways lent a mysterious air to the temple peak.
Headed back down...
What a pleasing layout.
After that we followed a trail through the forest to the next temple.
We were approached by a man who started telling us about the temples in the area... uh oh, we knew this spiel before. He told us he was collecting money for helping school children. We gave him $2 to leave us alone and he happily walked off.
The forest was so dreamy.
We reached the Phimeanakas temple, dating to the 10th century in the Khleang style.
An interesting anecdote about this temple from wikipedia:
The tower was originally crowned with a golden pinnacle, as Zhou Daguan described it in his report. According to legend, the king spent the first watch of every night with a woman thought to represent a Nāga in the tower, during that time, not even the queen was permitted to intrude. Only in the second watch the king returned to his palace with the queen. If the naga who was the supreme land owner of Khmer land did not show up for a night, the king's day would be numbered, if the king did not show up, calamity would strike his land.
We continued our walk over to the Terrace of the Elephants, all of which remains is the foundation. The king would use this as a platform for public ceremonies.
We walked across a large open area.
And past the Terrace of the Leper King, so named from a 15th-century sculpture discovered at the site, discolored and covered in moss, depicting the Hindu god Yama, the god of death. The terrace is thought to have been used as a royal cremation site.
Finally, we visited a pair of temples, Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda, both dating to the 12th century.
We also saw an ant superhighway.
We met back with Chun and headed to the famous Ta Prohm, dating to the late 12th century. This temple was featured in Tomb Raider, and inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992. Today, it is one of the most visited complexes in Cambodia’s Angkor region.
We could see why. This temple was largely left the way it was found -- complete with overgrown jungle foliage. The atmosphere was otherworldly.
The temple's stele records that over 12,500 people lived here, and an additional 80,000 people lived in the surrounding area.
It's appearance of perfect neglect of course takes a lot of maintenance -- here's an excerpt from Wikipedia:
After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 15th century, the temple of Ta Prohm was abandoned and neglected for centuries. When the effort to conserve and restore the temples of Angkor began in the early 21st century, the École française d'Extrême-Orient decided that Ta Prohm would be left largely as it had been found, as a "concession to the general taste for the picturesque." According to pioneering Angkor scholar Maurice Glaize, Ta Prohm was singled out because it was "one of the most imposing [temples] and the one which had best merged with the jungle, but not yet to the point of becoming a part of it". Nevertheless, much work has been done to stabilize the ruins, to permit access, and to maintain "this condition of apparent neglect."
This apparent neglect was indeed extremely pleasing to view. Piles of rubble gathered along every wall and corner, with trees sprouting right up out of them. Lichen and moss grows on almost every surface.
The trees were the most impressive part.
Information on the trees from wikipedia:
The trees growing out of the ruins are perhaps the most distinctive feature of Ta Prohm, and "have prompted more writers to descriptive excess than any other feature of Angkor." Two species predominate, but sources disagree on their identification: the larger is either the silk-cotton tree (Ceiba pentandra) or thitpok Tetrameles nudiflora, and the smaller is either the strangler fig (Ficus gibbosa).or gold apple (Diospyros decandra). Angkor scholar Maurice Glaize observed, "On every side, in fantastic over-scale, the trunks of the silk-cotton trees soar skywards under a shadowy green canopy, their long spreading skirts trailing the ground and their endless roots coiling more like reptiles than plants.
Indeed.
How much do those roots (trunk?) weigh???
It is a very special place. I wish we could have visited in the winter when we would be more comfortable and could enjoy the atmosphere more.
Definitely one of our favorites. Below, a giant man-made reservoir, Srah Srang, from the mid 1oth century.
June 7th, 2022
We took today off, I think. My note keeping has failed me! Months and months of not caring what day it is will do that to you.
June 8th, 2022
We decided to get up early again to try and catch a sunrise at Angkor Wat.
This time, we had slightly better conditions.
After an hour we met back up with Chun, who had bought us some bananas! He'd kept us supplied with ice cold water the whole time too.
We headed over to our last group of temples, the Roluos group, which was about a 30 minute ride away. We were on the main road during rush hour, and it was swarmed with scooters.
First up, Preah Ko, dating from the late 9th century.
The name Preah Ko means Sacred Bull, representing Nandi, the mount of Shiva. It was quite fortuitous that a man walked by with his cows just as we were visiting.
We also saw a scary spider lying in wait...
Next, we stopped at the Bakong Temple, which also had on site newer temples.
Bakong was the fist temple mountain constructed of sandstone. Interestingly, there is a temple in Java with almost the same layout and architectural details which archaeologists theorize served as a prototype.
Although beautiful, we were getting temple'd out by this point.
We met back with Chun and chatted with him for a bit. We had asked him how much he would charge us for today and he said whatever we want. He admitted he has three sons in school -- studying to be a lawyer, engineer, and a mechanic, and that he always needs money. Chun was so kind to us and seemed so genuine. Meeting him was a highlight of the trip.
We headed to our final stop, the Lolei temple, dating to the late 9th century. This temple was once an island temple, accessed via boat, like another we had seen previously. Now, it is adjacent to a contemporary monastery, just as it was in the 9th century.
We headed back to the hotel and made it back in time for breakfast and spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool. We headed out in the late afternoon to explore Siem Reap.
We walked by the well-known Pub Street lined with bars and restaurants and tuk tuk drivers waiting for customers.
We walked by some food stalls starting to set up.
And various scenes of everyday life.
We saw a banner for "The Best Mexican Food in Asia - Sold the Most Frozen Margarita in Siem Reap" and felt compelled to stop.
It was pretty good, and we were visited by a cat. A thunderstorm had started off in the distance so we walked around looking for a spot where I could try to photograph it. We set up along the river where a young man approached us and started chatting us up.
He had a similar story to the guy in the jungle -- this guy was a history and math teacher collecting money for upgrading his classroom. He talked with us for awhile and was quite earnest so we gave him a little money and an email address for updates on the school (which we have yet to receive).
After the storm slowed we headed back to Haven for dinner which was as tasty as last time. Yum.
June 9th, 2022
We took today off to relax. I caught up on some writing and we both got 60 minute oil massages and our free foot massages in the afternoon, which were quite excellent. They used this pointed wooden tool on acupressure points on our toes -- which looked scary but felt quite nice. They gave us ginger tea and banana chips after which were delicious. The cost was on par with what we paid in Thailand.
We did get a big rainstorm in the afternoon.
June 10th, 2022
So since the initial acute reaction of my tendon it had been almost one month exactly. I had been doing the eccentric exercises three times a day, diligently, and had experienced incremental improvement every day. It was still not right, but starting to get better. Today we decided to do a small hike, up Mount Kulen, to the waterfalls on top.
We arranged through the hotel for a private car to pick us up and drive us to Phnom Kulen National Park. It was expensive, something like $115 for the day, but we paid it, because I wanted to test out my tendon and see the waterfall. Most expensive hike ever?
We had told the hotel we wanted to hike up -- and wanted to be dropped off at the bottom of the mountain at a certain time so when we reached the top the sunlight would be at the right angle on the falls and he said he would arrange that for us. I had asked the receptionist which direction the waterfall was facing and he confirmed my guess based on satellite imagery, although I had almost no faith that he knew what I was talking about.
So, we were picked up and headed towards the National Park. We tried explaining to the driver where we wanted to go, but had a tough time. There was a language barrier and he didn't seem to understand why we would want to walk up the mountain. He said we should go to the guard station and talk to them to see if we can do it first.
So we went and talked to them. They didn't speak english though so we had about 10 minutes of pointing at the map, gesticulating, trying to explain what we wanted to do. Our driver kept saying it was a long walk up the mountain, many kilometers, too hard. Total incomprehension why we would want to walk up a mountain for recreation.
Our driver called our hotel to help translate, I tried to explain, again, what we wanted to do. FINALLY -- we had a breakthrough. We didn't want to walk up the road HERE, we wanted to walk up the mountain path -- in the other direction about 15 minutes. Our driver relented and we left the guard station, the guards laughing.
He had never taken anyone here before so we directed him based on alltrails and had him drop us off at the end of a dirt road. He laughed and told us he'd be on top of the mountain and we said we'd be up in about two hours. He looked very uncertain but we reassured him.
The waterfall was oriented south-south-west so we wanted to be up there around noon time -- which meant we had a late morning start -- it was spectacularly cloud free and already 90 degrees.
We followed the trail first up a series of steps. It appeared to be steps to a temple.
We passed through a small village and asked if this was the way to the waterfall. They nodded yes.
About half way up we found the temple, tucked into the forest. We asked another person which way to the waterfall -- and they pointed up the steps.
And so we started up the endless stair. We stepped over so many of those giant millipedes... we saw up close that they have these disturbing pointy stingers on their butts. Ugh. I tried not to think about all the other creepy crawlies in the woods around us.
We made it up to the top of the plateau before long and walked a ways through more forest. We passed a lot of termites. Interestingly, the soil was quite sandy up here. It made sense, since the primary stone here was sandstone.
We joined up with a road after awhile and continued to the top, where we first stopped off at Kbal Spaen, the Valley of a Thousand Lingas. They are carved geometric forms in the riverbed which are believed to bless the water as it flows towards Siem Reap. Lingas are a phallic representation of the Hindu god Shiva. I think most of them have broken off here.
Then we continued walking towards the first of the two waterfalls.
Then we headed to the main one which was quite busy -- we climbed over some rocks and found a suitable boulder that I could perch on while photographing. The sun eventually cooperated and I couldn't have asked for a better shot.
We met back up with our driver and headed down the mountain.
After a few kilometers we asked him to pull over so we could walk to an overlook I saw marked on google maps. It was spectacular. We stood on a cliff of limestone overlooking a verdant valley. Reminded me of Jurassic Park.
We also saw some more creepy crawlies.
This $115 trip also included a stop at Banteay Srei since it was on the way back. We got there and they wouldn't let us in though with shorts and exposed shoulders so I had to buy an overpriced skirt and Vitali had to buy an overpriced t-shirt.
We passed some very interesting plants and then headed towards the ruins. This one was meant to have exceptional carvings, due to the harder red sandstone medium, and dates to the 10th century.
It was quite nice. The scale was much smaller than other temples. The pillars below are lingas too.
This temple is the only major temple at Angkor not built by a monarch, but by someone who was a counsellor to a king. The carvings were very beautiful.
We met back up with our driver and headed back for the hotel. We drove by a whole line up of roadside vendors selling woven goods, so I asked the driver to stop and found a nice woven catchall for our souvenir from Cambodia.
We made it back and scheduled a massage for us both in the afternoon. What a mistake that was. We had different masseuses who were not as skilled and the massage tables were so uncomfortable...
- - -
This is officially the longest post ever, because Wix let me know I had to split the post up in order to save it. 🙃 And of course, there's no documentation on that error and no way to do that automatically....
Continue to Cambodia - Part II to read about our visit to the capital, Phnom Penh!
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