Lunch at one of the restaurants in Angkor compound : Can’t recall the name cz didn’t jot down. T.T

Since that day was so eff hot, I ordered coconut to cool myself down. If not mistaken it’s about 1USD.

We’re in budget backpack trip and the price are quoted in USD, therefore we tried to spend less on food – if possible.

And that’s why I ordered this – some stir-fried noodles. Hehe.

After lunch, we crossed the road to get ourselves to the famous ANGKOR WAT! But before we managed to cross the road, we were ambushed by the young locals a.k.a. young kids.

One of them came up to May and thrust a piece of paper onto her palm. She caught a glimpse of the paper and immediately gave back the young girl.

But the young girl said, “nono… I want to give you.” Then she ran to a considerable ‘safe’ place and looked at her with full of hope.

Curiously all of us wondered what had happened and took a peek at the letter.

Only then we know this young girl wanted to make friend with May by inviting her to her house!

How sweet! But too bad our schedule was too tight for a short visit.

We continued walking towards Angkor Wat with the young sellers kept asking us to buy something from them. I walked quickly, showing stone-face… which it worked as they no longer bugging me with goods. Kakaka!

While walking the longggg pathway to the first gate we spotted few monks heading the temple. Suddenly everyone (our gang) started taking pictures of the monks – which I joined in too.

We actually went to Angkor Wat for sunrise viewing in the morning, but because I forgotten to slot in battery into my DSLR, I couldn’t take any shot of sunrise. *Wuuwuu.

And because of that, I took extra photos of the place to ‘pay back’ what I’ve missed. Kaka!

In the morning, we walked to the outer compound only where the famous spot for sunrise photography is. Many with tripods took pictures of orange ball ‘coming out’ from the back of Angkor Wat.

Obviously mine doesn’t have the sun coming out la since I forgotten my battery. T.T

Though I wished I have orange-y or purplish sky as background, but I’m quite satisfied with the blue sky! <3

It was a sunny day, therefore I quickly snapped and walked towards the main building for shelter! Gosh, there are so many things to snap there, as the architecture are fantastic!

At the entrance, there are statues for devotees and visitors to pay respect.

We ‘pai pai’ the statues and then walked in. Big long pillars of carvings greeted us.

Siya explained something here – but I didn’t listen. Haha. I think he was talking about the origin of Angkor Wat and the purposes.

Although I wished I was paying more attention to Siya, I was too fascinated by the bas relief. Like the one below. Tourists visiting Angkor Wat must be naughty for making certain part ‘shiny’.

On both side of the corridor of the long pillars, there are libraries. We went to the one on the left. Seemed like it had been burnt down.

Despite looking at the long, steep, narrow stairs, we decided to climb up the library with 4 limbs! Yup, turned into a monkey there!

But really worth the energy climbing up there. The view from there was spectacular. It was windy. It was so nice to the on top of a … library. Haha!

But the library was deserted. There are no books, no tables, no chairs – nothing. What left there are the fallen stones and hole full of cigarettes’ ends.

to be continued…

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.

Woke up super duper early at 4.45. Washed up and then gathered downstairs. Siya greeted us and off we go to Angkor Wat for sunrise viewing at 5.20am. As much as I wanna show the picture of the sunrise, I couldn’t as I forgot to slot in battery after charging it overnight. Sigh!!!

The sunrise was magnificent. It was nice seeing the  orange sun coming out from the back of Angkor Wat, the birds chipping, the serenity in the morning; including helping the man setting up the tripod and watching him snapping pictures of the sunrise with green-y eyes. *wuwu*

Then went back to lodge for breakfast at 7.30am. Took bath, then went out for the famous Ta Prohm. The temple where Angelina Jolie fought with bad guys in the movie Tombraider.

It is scary seeing the roots penetrating the building.The roots are super duper big somemore. If you’re wondering what tree roots is that, it belongs to silk cotton tree.

However, no all trees in dominating Ta Prohm are silk cotton trees. Another type of tree, strangler fig can be found there too. If not mistaken, the tree in the picture below is the strangler fig.

Temples are always donned with beautiful cravings. Like the one below. Though it’s badly preserved, but we can still see the bas-relief. I’m always amazed by how the bas relief could withstand the harsh weather and the damages made by the robbers/soldiers.

And I couldn’t stop wonder how the temples in Angkor would look like if they’re all well-preserved since the glorious days till now?

One astonishing discovery! The roots found its way down the earth, carefully avoiding the apsara’s beautiful face. Coincidentally, the aprasa in the picture below was smiling beautifully!

It’s said that Ta Prohm was abandoned after the fall of Khmer empire. It was until in the 20th century that people began to do something to this temple. But I think they need to do alot here as the some part of the buildings have gave way.

In one of the buildings below, if one stands at a side and pounds chest once like Tarzan, a thundering sound can be heard in the chamber. I tried it, but the echo wasn’t that thunderous. Ah, probably not ‘hard’ enough. LOL!

Walking around in Ta Prohm wasn’t easy. There are some part where we had to climb over the big fallen brick stones and bent over to avoid the branches jutting out from the trees. But despite all that, I love walking around this temple.

Why?

Because of the shades provided by the trees! They made the place cooler!

On the way to our van, we were ‘taunted’ by the locals – asking us to buy something from them. I was super paranoid with this, as I was told that when one bunch of people surrounded you, you need to be on guard as while you’re distracted with their goods, their hands will work their way to your wallet. Luckily we didn’t encounter such problem. *phew*

Since I’m not interested in the good they’re selling, I quickly walked to the van. Satkuru and Emily found themselves good bargains, therefore gotten themselves few Angkor-temples print t-shirts.

Next, Ta Som…

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! ♥