Deliciously Me

Exactly a MONTH to go! *yoohoo* Eh, means a month for me to finish up the Cambodian Hour series. *gasp*

Mr. Kunn arranged us to visit 5 temples on the 4th day of our Cambodian trip (which was alot!)… and Ta Som was the 2nd one in line.

First look at the entrance of Ta Som, it does resembles the South gate of Angkor Thom but in smaller scale. Those 4 beautiful faces won’t fail to put a smile on my face.

Ta Som maybe one of the small temples in Angkor, but it has 3 gates for us to pass through! @.@

Now that I’ve came back and looked through pictures taken there, I seriously can’t recall exactly where the shots were taken. All I remembered was me walking hurriedly to catch up with the rest as they quickened their pace on this temple due to lack of time. As much as I want to stop, look around and remember the surrounding of the temple, I can’t. So, I let the pictures do the remembrance. Lol!

I was surprised when the ‘fast batch’ stopped in front of me. I thought they suddenly being thoughtful, decided to wait for the rest to catch up. Manatau, Siya was actually telling story about the stone with the feet. Can’t recall the story he told – but I remembered seeing both Aaron and Ailing standing on top of the feet and feeling ‘enlightened’. Lol.

We then reached the final one. The front look.

The look from the other side. Which made me think this is the entrance too. @.@

Confusing it is – but the last gate stands out more. Probably because of the fig tree again. Lol!

Since it was the outstanding one, we took a family photo here too. But I never get to see the family photo because the person who snapped this never send the picture to us. Tsk tsk.

At there too there were few stalls selling goods – from books on Cambodia/Lonely Planet for bargain price, T-shirts, batik clothes to small souvenir gifts. The children were found running and flocking the tourists, begging them to buy something from them. Some of the kids are pretty good salespersons as well. But becareful, you might end up paying more than it supposed to be when you thought you’re paying less for more. (We almost got conned – not here but at another temple.)

Some begged you for money too – “one dollar” they would say. 1 dollar maybe a small amount to those earning in USD, BUT not to me who earn in Ringgits. I can’t afford to give a dollar away, therefore I wish I had brought sweets or small toys along. That way, I could as least offer them something rather than turning them away.

Emily got herself a very nice batik printed cloth here. I remembered this because I wanted to get one too, manatau she went and bought one d. My bad, cause I never inform her earlier.

We then left Ta Som for Neak Pean – a small Buddhist temple built on a small island in a pool.

Bah, the picture was dark, as it was photographed with sun shone slightly behind the temple. And boy, the sun expanded its rays on us! It was so hot that I had to take out my trusty umbrella to keep me from melting. T.T

Thanks to abundance of trees, Leemay, Emily and Siya were protected from mighty sun’s rays.

Siya told many stories about Neak Pean. Among the many stories he told, one of it was the origin of the name. It derives from the tale of 2 nagas (snakes) on the base of the small island. These two nagas are said to be the representation of the 2 nagarajas of lake Anavatapta in Himalayas. IF you see the picture closely, you can see 2 snake heads on the base. Their tails twisted at the end.

Purpose of this built : for medical healing purposes, just like the one in Himalayas where it’s said to have mystical healing power. So anyone wanna take a dip in the pool?

The picture below shows the Balaha statue. It’s a horse statue. Don’t really know much about the story though. Was busy enjoying the serenity of the temple there.

A man was seen walking down the stairs towards the Balaha statue and the small island. Out of the blue, Siya asked us “who want to go to the island?“

With most of us wearing sport shoes and seeing the ‘condition’ of the water, we said, “nooooooo!” and then laughed. Lol!

We then went to see the 4 chambers where the water from the big pool would flow out to 4 smaller pools in North, South, East and West during wet season.

Big discovery : my white short shoes has been coloured with red brownish shades by the time we left Neak Pean. Conclusion, never wear white sport shoes to Angkor even though white shoes looks nice! Lol!

Slippers maybe a good choice but you’ll end up having 2 shades on your skin! Like Sat’s.

We managed to squeeze in another temple before our late lunch. I was hungry, gastric threatened to attack me – therefore quickly opened up biscuit packs in my bag and munched them. Which temple was next in line before lunch? – that I’ll feature in next post.