Siem Reap Day 5 : Nature, Culture, Adventure. Just when I thought my time here could not get any better, it did. Big time!!! Today somehow became the highlight of my trip here. Ok let me tell you... the story goes like this... I woke up early in the morning because the tuk-tuk will come and pick me up at 8.00 am. At 7.45, I was ready and discovered that the tuk was already here. So we had an early start. First stop.... get the day pass for Angkor Archaeological Park because the place I was going is part of it. So, Nabila Kula, ignore my advice the other day, and buy the 3-day pass.. you get to save 10.00 USD!!! Then came the looooong journey.. about 2 hour to Kbal Spean. It was long.. but there were never a dull moment. We passed Siem Reaps countryside and they were beautiful. I got to see how Cambodian villagers lead their daily lives. In two occasions, I came across some sort of celebration, with food and music. It was neat. Most of the villagers were farmers.. so almost everywhere, men were toiling the land, with their bodies glistening with sweat. Kids were either helping at the field, or having fun playing. I saw some were jumping into the river nearby, stark naked. The womenfolk were busy making coconut sugar. It seemed that almost every house have this big wok that was used to make coconut sugar. We passed a few school and saw school children with their white shirt/blouse and dark blue shorts/skirt... macam sekolah rendah kat Malaysia la. Some villagers were also selling fruits and food along the side of the road. On some stretch of the road.. there were vast paddy fields, some green, some yellow... it was such a wonderful and beautiful scenery. Fast forward an hour later, we arrived at Kbal Spean... I had to hike up a hill for about 1.5 km more.. but it was a beautiful hike. I was passing the Kulen Forest Reserve.. where the forest filters the sunlight, making it less hot. But I sweat my shirt wet anyway.. and I loved every moment of it. Along the hike, I got to see the beautiful array of fauna and flora, some common and some Ive never seen before (eg the blue throated gecko). The final point of the hike was The River of 1000 Lingas.... where the big boulders that lined the river bed and its banks were carved with carvings of Lingas and Yonis.. (go find what linga and yoni are...*wink*) and also carvings of Vishnu. It was amazing to see fish swimming in the river, lined with these carvings. The creativity of these people are totally amazing. I spend a good one hour there before hiking down again, back to the waiting tuk-tuk. A coconut drink later, we were on the way back. We passed the countryside and the villages again. Men were no longer working on the fields. Most of them were bathing using water form wells in front of their houses.. which were not walled. At the two celebration sites, people were no longer eating, but there were music and people were dancing.. the music sounded similar to Ramvong.. and the beat were totally infectious. I was doing the ramvong hand movement in my tuk-tuk as well...hahahahahahahah. Bliss!!! Next, we stopped at Banteay Srei. This was the highlight of my visit today.. and maybe ever. I thought that of all the temples Ive visited in Siem Reap, this catched my eyes more. While many people said that Angkor Wat and Bayon are more beautiful and grand, I find Banteay Srei more captivating. But then, Ive always have a different éyes as compared to others. For instance, while most tourists marvelled at Candi Borobudur in Yogjakarta, it was Candi Prambanan that captures my heart. The same goes here. Let people say whaatever they want, Banteay Srei is the highlight of my trip. To add, the temple were surrounded by a wetland that was managed by the local community.. see what I meant by culture, nature and adventure??? The wetland was so beautiful that I spent about 45 minutes under direct sunlight just to watch the fish, the birds and the frogs in the wetland, while other visitors scrumbled to find shady areas. The ecologist in me took over my body there..... heheheheheheh. I am sure, if I came during the rainy season, this place would look so much more beautiful. After that, I went back to the hotel, rest a while and rent the bicycle again. I rented the mountain bike for two whole day,, so I will only send it back tomorrow night. The first stop was back to Steung Thmey village to eat at one of the hahal restaurant there.. and this time I had the chicken Amok. It was wonderfully delicious and fulfilling. I loved it so much, and maybe one day I will try to make it at home. After that I cycled around Siem Reap, exploring the city again before went back to the hotel for a little siesta. At 6.30, rested, I cycled out again to the Phare, Cambodian Circus show... The show was wondefullly entertaiing and I recommend that everyone who visit Siem Reap do not miss it. And buying the ticket and watching the show, youve helped sponsors the education, both conventional and artistic educations, of thousands of Cambodian kids in their school in Battambang. This was such a feel good gesture that made heart warmly glow with pride and satisfaction. After the show, I cycled along the beautifully lit avenue on the bank of Siem Reap River passing through many interesting places such as the night market and Psar Chas. Yup, today was a great day and tomorrow will be my last full day in Siem Reap. I am planning to get out really early, maybe around 6.30 am and cycle through more countrysides. Tomorrow will definitely be a leisurely day and ws planning to cap it with a body scrub. hehehehehehe. Good night from Siem Reap everyone..
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:31:08 +0000