Deliciously Me

What will you do when you’re feeling hungry?

A. Immediately look for food!

B. Whine and cry like nobody’s business!

C. Duduk diam and wait for people to bring you food!

We were hungry after touring Tonle Sap and Artisans d’Angkor. Ya heard our predicament and brought us to this nice restaurant in Cambodia. It’s called Bayon Restaurant and they served ridiculously delicious food!

From the overall look (exterior and interior), I know that dining at this restaurant won’t be cheap.

7 of us were seated on this round table, and the waiters started pouring us teas and bringing in food. One by one they brought in food.

Like usual, we pointed our dslr to the food for food-porn first but doing so drew many stares and looks from the waiters and waitresses, as well as the diners from next table.

What surprised us is the amount of dishes served!

There were 6 in total – something that we didn’t expect since it’s a free treat from Mr. Kunn. Mr. Kunn is the owner of the Jasmine Lodge in Siem Reap. We stayed 4 nights there. A nice and cosy (most importantly clean) place to stay for budget travellers like us.  

Thanks again, Mr. Kunn for the yummylicious lunch!

After wonderful lunch, we went to the UNESCO heritage site, Angkor. We were brought to the ticket booth where all of us need to make a pass to access the guarded area. At USD40, we got ourselves at 3 day visit pass, in hope to explore whole temples in Angkor.

Then we were given a short introduction on Angkor by Ya as seen on the picture below. He was pointing at the place we stood at that moment.

The first temple we visited is the Bayon Temple. Bayon is situated in the centre of Angkor Thom, which is a capital city during Khmer empire somewhere in late 12th century. To get to Bayon temple, we need to pass by Angkor Wat, one of the famous temples in the world.

As the van driver drove inner, less and less people are seen and suddenly he stopped. Ya got off the van and told us that we had arrived. We got down and there, a long path leading to Bayon is just right in front of us. Amazed, we started walking towards the temple with Ya explaining little bit on the history of Bayon. Unfortunately, I didn’t really hear much of his explanation.

The front part of the temple is basically ‘torn down’ and many statues were either brought down by robbers or destroyed by the soldiers of Pol Pot regime.

Ya led us into the heart of temple. We followed, carefully placing our foots on the uneven stony pathway. I was glad that I wore sport shoes. Walking with sandals would definitely made me feel unsafe.

As seen in the pictures, the temple is dusty. Probably it’s due to the stone decaying process, slowly grinding stone into sand. Moreover, the sun was maximising its ray on us, making the heat unbearable. I kept drinking water to keep me from being dehydrated. Luckily Mr. Khun supplied us unlimited supply of water bottles for the entire trip. If not, we have to fork out at least USD10 for mineral water in the entire trip.

Apparently, Bayon was the last temple to be built in Angkor and it was dedicated to Buddha. It was said that the faces in Bayon temple were craved to King Jayawarman VII face feature. Some said it’s similar to the face of bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokitesvara.

However, it doesn’t matter to me who those faces belong to. All I know they smiled at me, making me felt warm and at ease. No wonder the temple is dubbed as the Mona Lisa of the East. The smile is absolutely mesmerising!

We lingered quite long there. We took our own sweet time talking pictures of the places. Poor Ya had to sit at the side, waiting for us to finish our business. Haha!

Off and on, Ya explained on Bayon. But because we were busy taking pictures of the temple, we didn’t get all his explanation. Only heard when he happened to be right beside me or near me.

At the middle of the temple is the central tower where a Buddha statue in seated meditation posture there. We walked in, few at a time to pray/pay respect to Buddha. The tower may look big from outside, but we realised there isn’t much space in it. Probably most area in the central tower were closed to public due to the damages and restoration work, that’s why it ‘looked’ smaller.

I took picture of B taking picture of the sisters with a smiling face behind! Haha!

and…

I spotted a guy drawing at the temple!

Ohya, that’s the central tower! Big right? Haha!

I love that picture! Even tho it might look senget, but I don’t care. Still love the picture. Ahaks!

Ya then said, time to move, and led us out from the temple. But we had to climb down very steep stairs.

That’s why there’s a steel stairs built at the side. It’s for those who don’t trust the century-year-old-stones. Lol!

By the time we got out of Bayon, the sun shone so bright over our head making me dizzy. Afraid of gotten myself heat stroke, I quickly drank water and opened up my trusty umbrella!

Ya then led us to other places in Angkor. Where we walked to, I’ll feature it next week.

By the way, we took a group photo at Bayon temple with 3 smiling faces as background. But the thing is, WHERE THE HECK IS THAT PICTURE?! It’s been many months since Cambodia and I have yet receive any group photos taken from the trip. -.-”

Before I end this post, don’t you think this rock in the picture below is cute? Hehe!

Till then, bye! ♥