On our second day in Cambodia, our driver and tour guide picked us up from the hotel at 5.00AM so that we could witness the sunrise at Angkor Wat.
We walked around in the cold and darkness and had to wait for the elusive sunrise like yesterday’s sunset. I didn’t fall asleep this time because I had to stand. When the sun finally showed up, it was hard to get a good shot because throngs of people were blocking the view.
Some maneuvering and quick spotting made us get these though:
We finally left and walked back the long way that we came to where the car was parked.
“Yikes! A nine-headed snake!”
Jump shot
A rather long walk
Then we were driven to a restaurant where we had a hearty breakfast. We needed one for all the walking and climbing ahead of us. The food was good and I loved how they presented the iced coffee.
Our tour guide then brought us to his favorite temple, the Banteay Srei, which loosely translates to ‘citadel of the women.’ It’s my favorite too, as it is the prettiest temple we saw and you know why? Because it was made by women! Haha!
Built at a time when the Khmer Empire was gaining significant power and territory, the temple was constructed by a Brahmin counselor under a powerful king, Rajendravarman and later under Jayavarman V. Banteay Srey displays some of the finest examples of classical Khmer art.
The walls are densely covered with some of the most beautiful, deep and intricate carvings of any Angkorian temple. It used to be pink but old age turned it orange. Still pretty nonetheless. 🙂
The fairest temple of them all
The effects of aging on temples
View from across the water
After that, we were taken to Kbal Spean to see the 1000 lingas carved into the riverbed in the middle of the jungle, about 49 km north of Siem Reap.
It wasn’t quite to easy to get there though, as we had to climb 1500 meters up a mountain route to reach it. Eeps! It was a very exhausting but interesting trek up.
Look at the glistening sweat on our faces!
When we got to the falls, the water felt so cold that I badly wanted to take a dip. But as I had no extra clothes, I settled for my feet.
This cave used to be a dwelling
Spotted: monkeys in the jungle
Our tour guide effortlessly lay on this vine while he had to help us lie down on it.
Our tour guide made us climb and sit on this sun-baked boulder.
After that gruelling adventure, we had to refuel. Jon suggested that we try the luk lak for lunch, and it turns out that salt and pepper with lime makes a really good sauce for stir-fried beef. Yum!
I was happy to see fresh coconut shake on the menu but it didn’t taste good at all. Hmph.
In the afternoon we went to visit another temple whose name I forgot (eeps). Its structure was different from the others we had seen as it reminded me of Roman ones.
Samson
Moment in the ruins
This reminds me of Rome
“Help! I had an accident!”
My favourite spot – secret garden in Rome-like ruins
We then asked to be brought back to our hotel so that we could rest. No more temples please!
Our tour guide made dinner reservations for us and our driver picked us up at 6pm for that. It was just near our place, though. It was a buffet dinner accompanied by a cultural show. What a great experience.
So much food! Which to eat??
This looks like Tinikling, the Philippine national dance
Divine temple dancers
We left the restaurant and prepared to walk home but we spotted an open mall. So in we went and Cate saw that manicures and pedicures were a lot cheaper here than in Singapore, so next thing you know:
Naturally, I chose purple. It was my first time to try nail art, which was carefully painted on each of our nails with paintbrushes and sponges. So pretty!
Continued… Cambodia Day 3
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