Ta Phrom and Bakheng Temple

Right after Bayon, our driver Borat (another name we made up for none of us could decipher the actual pronunciation of his name) took us through the east gate of Angkor Thom and then left us to take the path on foot to Ta Phrom.

Our only knowledge of Ta Phrom sums up to Massive Trees and the Tomb Raider set. Honestly, i dont know what to expect, but at the same time my hopes of being swept off my feet was backed by Jasmain's verbal expressions of its awesomeness. Yes, i was amazed, but not by the temple, but by the power and force of the jungle. Ta Phrom is very much in the process of being engulfed by nature. The poem that attaches itself to this ruin is "with humans first conquering nature to rapidly create, and nature once again conquering humans to slowly destroy."

.This temple was built from 1186 and was a Buddhist temple dedicated to Jayavarman VII's mother.

It was quite annoying that many a path were closed off due to restoration works, and some corridors were clogged with piles of stone blocks crumbled by roots of giant trees. However, the aftermath beauty of this strangulation process has ironically created an atmospheric affair. Where walls are displaced, the tree roots form an archway, where buildings are tilting on the verge of collapse, the strangler vines are holding them together.

Most of the walls of this temple and stones are heavily carpeted in lichen and moss, so becareful if you're thinking of attempting any kind of stunts.

. (Above) That famous Tomb Raider tree.

.(L): Crocodile Dundee wannabes.

Overall, it was good that we came, we saw the temple, we saw the tree and that was that. Although amazing for withstanding the enormity and weight of merciless trees seeking to retrieve its territory, it did not cast any long lasting effect on me.

On the way out, Tim Chin was approached by a little boy who wanted to sell him a "Gu-Zheng", a traditional stringed instrument. We egged him on because he has been crazy over these instruments every where we go. The starting price was an outrageous "twenty-fai dollaaa" USD. While he was haggling, a soft little voice was following Uncle Teo. Whilst flipping her postcards, she counted "ee, er, sa, si, wu, liu" (numbers in Mandarin), "mai-la.. ni mai la, ee kwai" (buy, will you buy, one dollar). This girl, barely 7 i think, has the most pitiful, hair-raising voice. When we bought 2 and was about to close the doors of our van, she tiptoed outside the window, handing Timmy a wristband and me a postcard.. "For you" she said. We learned that Tim's Gu-Zheng went down to $4 dollaaa, crazy huh! He regrets not buying it now.

Bakheng Mountain

After filling our stomach and a short rest back at our hotel, we returned to catch sunset at the Bakheng Mountain. And guess what!??! Look at me shoes...Huuhuu.On arrival, we saw elephants! For $10 USD, you can let an elephant take you up the mountain to Phnom Bakheng. We wanted to! but the queue was just too long, so trekked we did. The climb up was rather steep, pretty much like climbing Shahbandar. I couldnt believe my stamina, i broke out in heavy sweat and was huffing for dear life a few minutes into the hike. Boon's dad, in total opposite, was calm and collected. I should be so ashamed. The picture below is a corroded stairway leading up to the mountains, almost entirely covered with grass and creeping plants. It was cordoned off for the obvious risk. And ofcourse it is not purplish in colour, but a splash of my imagination. =)20mins later, we reached the summit of the mountain. The temple was shaped like a pyramid, mounted in terraces. The steps leading to the top was crazily narrow and steep. So narrow that it fits only half the size of my feet. See how the guy below is using his hands to aid his climb, and the dude above him has one baby in hand. My heart pounded so bad just watching him descend. A couple of us tried climbing up sideways, holding on to the side walls and realised it proved too steep and dangerous for Uncle Teo. Boon decided against letting his dad up so he waited for us on ground. It was pretty crowded by when we arrived and we thought we were early! It seems like every tourist in Siem Reap watches sunset here. Most people have marked their spots with a tripod and picked out the best seat. This really is a popular destination for sunset undoubtedly because of its enviable position with 360 degrees view of the landscape. It's breathtaking and a good place to sit and reflect.

.Built on the hill where the 1st city of Angkor was established, this is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Work started at the end of the 9th century.

Chee Ting and Eric went about taking photos, and us too, except I was taking shots for a vain poser... "here here", "ooh, here nice too", waitaminute i meant to say natural poser ;)

When the rays of sunset began breaking through, it was disappointing to see lots of clouds. Ugh...We also did not stay for the entire length of sunset 'cos we have one elderly waiting for us =P

As we descend, my feet caved to a trembling mess. It's a scary feat and one wrong step can send you free falling. I'm only a size 5, what about people who are size 8, size 11? I read that that in the olden days, Angkor people do not climb the stairs with their whole foot and instead they were tiptoed barefooted. They must have some kind of elixir for lactic acid. Here's one horrendous picture of me drenched in cold sweat and breathing relief when i reach the bottom.

.Dont ever wear skirts to temples, I almost tripped and cracked my head several times.

As it turns out, when we heading downhill close to 6pm, the real crowd has only begun their trip. We passed hundreds and hundreds of people, most of which were the Japanese and Chinese . What was funny was a group of Chinese was screaming "It's getting late" and made a turn up the restricted stairways. Running, in fact! And what does the sign say? And trumping that was a lady in a black dress supported by a pair of black stilettos running along.

Did you happen to realise someone was missing in our Phnom Bakheng photos? Mr.TimChin! He surrendered and went on his Siem Reap massage parlours expedition.

One day of temple visit really knocked us out, so we decided to take a break and tour Siem Reap town the next day.

Bayon, the first of our temple fest

In the beginning, we have this misconception that the temples are situated far away from town. I guess distances varies depending on which of the countless temples do you wish to see. Savong actually helped us draw up a plan on the must-see temples and from there we started our 2-day temple mission.

Our 1st temple on our 2nd day in Siem Reap is the Bayon Temple, the spiritual centre of Angkor Thom, which is roughly 20mins away from the city centre. We entered through the south gate of Angkor Thom (known as the Great City). I absolutely love this entrance (yellow star on map). As we reach the causeway towards this gate, we saw giant faces standing to the left and to the right of the causeway. It's a "wow" sight passing them as they stand tall with that cold smile and that picturesque moat as a background. I love love love the simplicity and the surreal emptiness about it. I couldnt get a decent shot in a moving car and soon gave up thinking i will exit through this gate, but we did not so no pics =\ I also conveniently left Jasmain's lonely planet guidebook in Brunei so i didnt know what they signify at that time. There are actually 54 statues on each side of the causeway, 54 gods to the left and 54 demons to the right taken from a story illustrated in the Angkor Wat.

.At the visitor's entrance.

.(R): I love TimChin's pose.

As we enter this temple, i have this overwhelming feeling of being on an archeological exploration. I wonder how the boys felt that instance especially with those hats on. This temple holds ground to 54 towers, each with 4 faces of the Avalokiteshavra, gazing in 4 cardinal directions and smiling down at you. You will feel like you're surrounded by a supreme being of power, of peace, and of great compassion. Avalokiteshvara is the Buddha of Compassion, better known as Quan Yin to the Chinese. But there's also another theory that the faces are made to resemble the King himself, Jayavarman VII, which is also said to be credible because he was a devoted Buddhist that shares similiarity with the Buddha in the depth of his compassion for his subjects.

My favourites here are no doubts the faces, the apsara carvings, the doorways and towers for stunning pictures. Ultimately what is amazing about this temple and the others we've seen are the crazy stackings and carvings of gigantic stones one on top of another making up every single bit of the temple. Just how on earth did they manage that in the 12th century?

By mid noon, we were nearly fried crispy. It was HOT HOT HOT, and i cannot be any more grateful for purchasing a mini-fan despite Boon2's mocking. That battery-powered wind and the purring of its plastic flaps is like magic,... however you can always settle for dettol wipes... give it a wipe on your face, on your neck, and perhaps under your shirt too, to cool down.

.(C) Boon2 lugging our tripod around which helps if you want group photos without bothering others, though setting it up can be quite a pain. And Steven, i am still upset my WA and Zoom lens didnt arrive on time~! ='(. (R) Insanely steep stairs that we had to buttcrawl down.
If you have the time and interest, you can let a lonely planet guide take you through the stories of the 1.2 km bas-reliefs found around the temple. To me, the beauty of Bayon lies on the mystical smile of the Buddha's face.

.Group photo usually involves me setting up the timer and running to the scene, but it was impossible for me to run and climb that stairs in 10 secs! Huuhuuhuu. What we thought was a cool tree house turned out to be platform for you to get onto an elephant. Duuhh.

.The Bayon is currently being restored by a Japanese team.

Our next stop, Ta Phrom, in search for that Tomb Raider tree.

Road Trip to Siem Reap

180USD and a Mercedes van took us on the whirlwind, scenic but sometimes bumpy road (what our driver deemed will feel like a massage) to Siem Reap. Prices again were hiked up because of the holidays (eventhough this is the low season). I was told on normal days it would only set you back about 100USD. And if you dont mind travelling with a large group, a bus ride will only cost you 6-12USD pp.

However, you can always opt for a cheaper ride such as below =P

My intention was to stop at a town called Skuon, 55 miles north of Phnom Penh, or famously known as the Spider City. I've read about the delicacies of this town, like Pasta is to the Italians, Sushi to the Japanese, Nasi Katok to the Bruneians, fried tarantulas are caviars to the people of Skuon.

I began taunting everyone, and teasing their guts "You do it, i'll do it", "C'mon... dont be a p*$$y". Boon2 said he would given it's deep fried, Eric admitted that his mind was juggling with eat-or-not the entire 55 miles to Skuon. We knew we've arrived in the spider city when our driver pulled to the side of the road and to our left women were thronging up their seats with their prized black mountains of black mass.

.A-ping: Fresh out of the woods - tarantulas fried with garlic and salt. These tarantulas were originally used by Cambodians in traditional medicine, which was thought to be good for the heart, throat and lungs - but later served as the basis of survival during the Pol Pot's regime. They survived by feeding on insects, water beetles, and these spiders which they found to be deeelicious!

Taste description by others: Crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside, white meat in body is like a cross between chicken and cod. For real???

The boys immediately shook their head when what they saw did not fit what they had imagined. Thinking it might have been deep fried in nice crispy golden batter, instead it looked soggy and gahhhh... alive despite furless. I can almost feel them crawling up my throat. Gahhhh.. and prickling my skin. Nope, i wasnt gonna eat it, i suck... so does everyone else!

We also did not try the stuffed frogs. Whyyyy??

.Viket, our driver that we mistakenly named Reeechard, says "mmmMMmm''.

And just like all trips, i return wishing i had stretched my limits, perhaps next time with an Angkor beer on standby.

The first few hours into our ride was easy, we were distracted by beautiful paddy fields, and the deterioration of scenery as we drove deeper into the villages. Reeechard became our ad-hoc tour guide, filling us with information of each instrumental monument/architecture we passed. As we bumped our way into Kampong Thom, we passed by a small Muslim village - a village belonging to the Chams - the minority ethnic group. There is a sad story to them that whilst they taught the Vietnamese improved rice-farming and silk-production techniques, they taught the Khmer gold work, designed boats and developed significant ports... while today the Vietnamese are thriving and Khmer have a state, the Chams are said to be losing their history and numbers. When we asked if the Muslims here can drink, Reeechard said No, when we asked if the Muslims here take pork, Reeechard said No, and when we asked if the Muslims here can take 4 wives, Reeechard's eyes sparkled "I want to be a Muslim". Hahaha, although we very much convinced him he will have to work 4 times as hard to afford that.

Uncle Teo said the village reminds him of his younger days, where he too lived in stilt wooden houses. Unlike modern cities, where one is distinguished by the house you live in, the car you drive, the job you have, I think the people in these villages are distinguished by the number of cows they owned; for almost every other house has a cow grazing on gigantic stacks of hay!

Reeechard starting sharing his story. Pointing out to us where he used to live in Kampong Thom, he recalled the days he woke up at 4am to walk 20 kilometers to attend school. He would return home and perform household chores, from washing his father's clothes to cooking, although there are days when he would go to sleep without dinner. "I feel pain in my body, I feel pain in my heart" he said, as he walked us through bits and pieces of his life. Now he is making 80USD a month, and i said "GOOD!" thinking it is indeed good for their standards, but he calculated out loud his expenses which amounted to 180USD a month. He chose to put his children in private school to learn languages so that they get the education he didnt. His only reliance is on tourists such as us for tips. This is an example of how knowing a foreign language is of upmost importance to Cambodians.

.Phnom Penh Mafia.

By the 4th hour, i was going crazy. "ARE WE NEAR?!?!" Boon2 realised that he has been driving at a speed of 50km/hr. GAWD! A sign said we were 98 km away from Siem Reap, at this rate we wont reach in another 2 hours... this got pretty agonising when the sun sets, 'cos there was nothing to distract us anymore. HuuHuu. And especially when someone keep sitting up and saying "OOOhh, i see modern houses, i think we're near" only to pass kampongs and more kampongs.

At the 5th hour, Reeechard played us a Cambodian comedy (there's a tv in the van, Boon said we should have bought a Tomb Raider dvd to get us in the mood)... and eventhough we understood nuts, it kept us from annoying him with "ARE WE ALMOST THERE?" for abit.

After 6 long hours on the road, we finally reached our hotel, atop an Irish Bar. I just wanted to collapse and sleeeeeeeeeep!

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It was the pits to know those who came by bus took only 4 hours, obviously for we were overtaken by countless bus! But i guess better safe than sorry, Reechard did mention he'd rather drive slow because it being the festive season, there are alot of drunk motorbikers, and it doesnt help that there are no street lights and no clear division between a right/left lane! =\
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A day in Phnom Penh

I'm back home now after a fruitful but tiring trip... my body feels like pounded meat. There's too many pictures, moments and stories i'd like to pen before it drains from my memory. This one is on the one and only half a day we have in Phnom Penh, quick on our feet to cover as much as we can.

.Roadside Steamboat!.
This is rather interesting to watch. A few people were parked by the roadside pavement, seemingly plonked their unsuspecting boxes that opened up to little woks powered by gas and starts frying garlic and meat. I have no idea whether if it was for sale or for their own enjoyment while having a good view of the park. The box looks handy to me and i reasoned if they were chased by police, it would be damn easy to pack-and-run.
The smell was ..ooO.. heavenly~
.A lil' bit of dirt fun.
One will soon realise it's a common sight in Cambodia to see children flocking about naked or without underwears. This, however, was one of the first few we saw and judgmentally we gasped at her mother's ignorance to her playing with dirt and sweeping her bum on dirty pavements.

Our first destination was the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, which was a few minutes walk from our villa... which also led to our 1st disappointment of the day. The Royal Palace was closed for the king and his household was busy preparing for P'chum Ben Festival?

.A glimpse of the Royal Palace.

.Preparations for the festival.
The Royal Temple, aka Wat Preah Keo Morokat that translates to 'The Temple of the Emerald Buddha'.
This temple was later known as the Silver Pagoda for the 5,329 silver tiles that cover the floor. This is where the King meets with monks to listen to their sermons. The pagoda is surrounded by other interesting stupas and shrines but we dare not risk admiring each and every one of them under the flaming hot sun. Even the mini fan i had brought me little comfort.
.One of the late Kings' stupa.

Becareful not to wear tank tops and shorts when you visit this place, Chee Ting was refused entry and had to go back to change.

.A sweet face.

Not long after i strolled away from the murals, we were reunited with Chee Ting and Eric. And suddenly, a loud drilling sound tailed me, buzzing like a crazy shaver... WTH? I turned around to find Eric swaying his super-duper mini fan that works like an industrial machine. Huuhuuhuu.

Unbeknown to us what this shrine represents, we simply follow suit what others were doing. Some washed their face with the water trickling down from the buddha, some washed their hand whilst Boon2 dapped his head, for higher wisdom maybe? =P Right beside this shrine stood a tree, where hundreds and hundreds of hopes, dreams and wishes were penned on its leaves.



.This is one hilarious moment - Chee Ting's hair got all tangled up in her mini-fan, only made worst by Eric's attempt to 'rescue' her. I laughed like a nut only to have karma befall me.


Can you tell from the looks of it that my dear friend on the left is stupefied with hunger? He turned pale and cried "I neeeeed to eat man...!". Hahaha..

Down the street and left of the Royal Palace, you will find Phnom Penh's National Museum that houses the world's largest collection of Khmer art during the Khmer and Angkor era. To me, their paintings have immaculate resemblance to those i saw in India.

The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek
Although we had our reservations in visiting the killing fields, we braced ourselves for it. True to the words of many that has been there, it's not a pleasant sight.

Upon entering, you will be greeted by a stupa layered with 8000 human skulls exhumed from mass graves, and arranged according to gender and age groups. It's a chilling sight and you will really feel it in your bones when you read the history of it.

.Click to enlarge if you want to read about the sadistic genocidal regime.
The gist of Pol Pot's regime was to create an agricultural utopia - an extreme form of peasant Communism. There would be no money, no televisions, no bicycles, no foreigners, no education, no healthcare... shutting off Cambodia from the rest of the world. People are to slave in his "killing fields" living on only the fruits and rice they harvested. He declared 17 April 1975 the "Day 1 - Year Zero" telling the people that 2,000 years of Cambodian history is now meaningless. If you were educated, wore glasses, spoke a different language, or even appeared intimidating, you will be shot, tortured in unimaginable ways and left to die. It is so grim that Vietnam called Cambodia the "Hell on Earth".

It was impossible to comprehend. Impossible to ever imagine living in that period. And it is possible to bump into one of the survivors ever willing to share stories of the worst days of their lives. .An unknowing child bearing a genuine smile in the midst of remnants of mass graves.

Thinking there might not be time for another site, we were surprised to find that all these places were comfortably 10-15 mins away by car. The maps were pretty misleading but considering how small this place is, we should have known better.

The Russian Market, reportedly famous for brandnames made in Cambodia for cheap cheap prices. It's like the Bangkok Chatuchak market, except nowhere near that size. More than half of the shops were closed, so we did some price-checking and practice haggling before we go full-steam in Siem Reap. Huu huu huu. You will practically find everything here, local designer tshirts, shoes, watches, dvds (Simpsons box set is the cheapest here! Do buy it here if you're a Simpsons fan, unlike Eric who thought he could get a better deal in Siem Reap but no.. prices were double or triple that), handbags, beautiful paintings of Angkor temples, and you can even get a HAIRCUT! (see right below)

.Mucking around on the rooftop of a restaurant.

And that is about all we covered in Phnom Penh in half a day. 13km for the good ol' feet and we're off on our road trip to Siem Reap.

My trainers died on me even before Angkor Wat!!