Day3 in Cambodia

Day 1, day 2, now day 3. Longest post yet.

The last day in Siem Reap. I'd say it was equally as best as the first when we all first touched down into that World Heritage Site. So said at the Siem Reap International Airport. And I supposed it's the day where most of my favourite photos throughout the whole trip come from as well.

Anyway, since it's the last day we were in Siem Reap, we decided to walk around the town before heading to the temples of Angkor for the day. Afterall, the guide said we'd only start our tour at 0900 hour. We crossed the pretty stagnant Siem Reap river and walked to the Psar Chaa, literally translated into 'old market'. I supposed it was too early in the morning, most of the shops were yet to open. But the early birds already started their business alright.

We walked around the market, and headed back straight after. But instead of heading straight back to the hotel, we popped into a temple. Wat Dam Nak. According to Lonely Planet, the temple was formerly a royal palace during the reign of King Sisowath, hence the name 'dam nak' which means palace. Today, it is home to the Centre of Khmer Studies, an independant institution promoting a greater understanding of Khmer culture. We didn't know what to do inside the wat. So we just walked around, and saw some monks from afar. Actually, LOTS of monks. It was their breakfast time.

After the breakfast at the hotel, we headed to the temples of Angkor for the last time. Our first stop was Banteay Kdei. But before we went into the the ruins, we were brought to a lake opposite. It's called Srah Srang, where Srah means 'basin' and Srang, I forgot. Or, does Srang actually means basin?!?! Anyway, it was a man made lake. In the past that was. It was believed to be a sacred lake where the royalties washed themselves before entering Banteay Kdei. Villagers around live on water from the lake.

The pic above was as near as the camera could zoom in, so no clearer pictures of that shirtless Khmer man for your drools. But I thought the man in white shirt below was pretty good looking. He spent quite some time entertaining the little boy who was selling, again, postcards.

Banteay Kdei is, I'd say one of the prettiest ruins amongst the other temples of Angkot, apart from of course Angkor Wat itself, as well as Ta Prohm, Banteay Srei and of course Bayon. So you see, the 3rd day was pretty much as euphoric as when I saw Angkor Wat for the first time with my own eyes. Reason being, Both Banteay Srei and Ta Prohm where Tomb Rider was shot was in our itinery of the day!

The most memorable moments inside Banteay Kdei, I'd say the opportunity of meeting a really friendly old nun. She was praying when we walked into the temple. When she saw us, I greeted her with a sompiah (pressing the hands together in prayer and bowing, similar to wai in Thailand). And she greeted profusely "sox-sa-pine". I turned to look at Mr. Shambat, as a notion of enquiring what she meant. And after that, she came up with more Khmer phrases. Our guide told us that the nun was wishing us well, health and wealth. And that "sox-sa-pine" means "good luck". So I took out the camera and snapped my most favourite photo.

Then after, we had another opportunity to actually took photo with two monks. We saw them walking into the temple while we were walking around. We greeted each other and was engaged in a short conversation. Apparently, they were with a group of foreign visitors as well. Mr. Shambat asked out of the blue if we'd like to take a photo with the monks. I was overjoyed! So yes, even though it was just a mere 4 minutes of intimacy, it was like a wished fulfilled. I've always wanted to see a real monk. And I have now a photo amongst the 2000 others where I was actually standing in between 2 monks.

As we came out on the other end of Banteay Kdei, we were surrounded with more Khmer traders. Since it was our last day in Siem Reap, I thought maybe I'd just get some scarf of Cambodian silk for dear Mum at home. Yes of course there were so many other girls coming to ask if I wanted tablecloth and t-shirts what not. But scarfs were good enough for the time being.

We headed to Banteay Srei after that. Literally, it means 'Citadel of the Women' as it was said to have been built by a women, for the elaborate carvings are just too fine for the hand of a man. True enough, even though it's just a small temple, it's indeed the most beautiful temples in Angkor. The site is very well preserved, and the carvings were just magnificent.

The next temple we visited was none other than Ta Prohm. It's undoubtedly the high in the list of any visitors to Cambodia, for the atmosphere inside the temple is plain different from the other temples. It was said to have been left swallowed by jungle, and the trees are the one holding the entire temple.

And I just love these ones below. I could send them to some publishing company and get them printed in postcards! Let the profits goes to Cambodia, but I'm imagining my name, printed next to "Photographed by". That would be like, one of my many goals in life achieved!

The final temple that we visited in Angkor was Prasat Kravan. Nothing really fascinating. It marked the end of our Siem Reap tour.

We were brought to the Artisans d' Angkor, where artisans were trained. Wood carvings, stone carvings, cambodian silk painting, also liquer painting. I personally thought it's a great measure in helping the locals. It's a school set up by a non-profit company, if I don't recall wrongly, to help the locals. Students graduated from the school either work in the workshop, or go back to their hometown, which majority choose the later. Art works were sent back to the workshop souvenir shop for sale, and profits were sent back to the artisans. Pretty neat huh?

We went back to the hotel and rested for a while before heading out to explore the Royal Garden on foot. It's near to the Royal Residence where the King would take a retreat I suppose.

There's a temple inside the Royal Garden. The Prasat Preah Ang Charm was crowded with devotees even though it was already coming to 1800 hour.

And we saw more monks.

We had our last meal in Siem Reap in a shop named Bloom in Bar Street. It's such a happening place!

Coming up next...
Morbid feelings of Toul Sleng...