Back from Siem Reap

well a month ago actually... but just a recap of the beautiful city of 1000-year-old ancient ruins... the ancient ruins is what has made it a famous tourist area in recent years, mainly after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the savage communist rebel army that ravaged the country for 3 years and killed an estimated 2 million innocent commoners, wiping out a whole generation... my first trip to Cambodia was 2 years ago, when I visited Phnom Penh on a mission trip and I was told that in many families are left with only the elderly (above 60 years old) and young (below 20 years old), the middle generation would mostly have suffered mishaps during the civil war.

Siem Reap seems quite different from the Phnom Penh that I remember, the heart of the tourist state is a tiny town made of 2-3 main streets that takes on 30 min to walk from one end to the other. Once we travel outside the heart of the city, or rather, town... we reach temples that seem to sprawl out of nowhere in the middle of the dense forestation that surrounds Siem Reap town. The visit to the temples were surreal, the fact that monuments of this grandeur and magnitude can become deserted and eventually get engulfed in tropical rainforest, but get unravelled a thousand years later by archaeologists makes me wonder in amazement even more...

The intricacies of the bas-reliefs on the walls of Angkor Wat, aka the mother of all ancient Angkor ruins, makes me long to spend days to admire and decipher the mysteries carved within the bowels of the colossal beauty. There is hardly any word that can describe how I felt when I was there. I guess yes, size does matter when it comes to impressing people. Of course, I was duly impressed by the dedication and wisdom of the kings and rulers, to inject something as holy as their passion for their faith and something as unholy as their eagerness to show off their wealth and power, into building these temples that reflect both their spiritual and selfish desires.

Our first tuktuk driver, these daredevils swarm the streets of Siem Reap like buzzing bees, from the town area all the way to the temples to the faroff outskirts 30+km away. The long journeys should only be taken by those who do not mind having sandcakes (hot sun+sweat+sand) on their face for 1+hour.

First stop, sunset at Phnom Bakheng, our driver tells us (but I think he exaggerrates) that more than 1000 come to view the sunset here everyday. Cambodia has beautiful sunset because of its dry inland climate, there is almost no cloud so one can enjoy complete sunrise and sundown... including the sky becoming orange-pink-blue multicoloured canvas post-subdown and pre-dawn.

before we left for the activities on our first day. a streak of strong sunlight shines just right on the pretty lotus flower on the breakie table.

Our first sunrise, @ Sras Srang, the king's "swimming pool", a summer palace of sorts and a "cleansing bath" for the king before he conducts spiritual rites (again, i'm not sure). A much quieter alternative compared to sunrise hotspot Angkor Wat.

Banteay Kdei

The Bayon


my favorite insect :)



Ta Prohm , of Tomb Raider fame, I was wondering how the tree got there on to the roof of the temples , with roots spilling to both side of the building, then a taiwanese tour guide enlightened me. It just started as a tiny plant on the roof, from the droppings of some bird that act its fruit.

The magnificently beautiful Angkor Wat
The Moat at Angkor Wat after sundown

Banteay Samrei
Angkor Wat, and its famous lily pool

In Angkor Wat at sunset.


Dancers aka Asparas - my favorite motif amongst the many, graceful and VERY life-like

It's nice to take a break... especially with good company. and I was glad that we had such a great time this trip... no quarrels at all in fact - even tho

i want to see many things, but he controls our budget
i'm a sucker for keeping things organised but he tends to do things last minute

Despite our differences, it was a very smooth and pleasant trip, too short no doubt... but absolutely amazing :)

For more pictures, see here.