Rest of Phnom Penh

Headed to Romdeng for dinner after visiting Tuol Sleng. Yes, that’s when I ate the spider!

Initially I thought that I definitely would not be able to do it. But after talking to the restaurant staff, a very nice guy who told me that the spider doesn’t taste much like anything, and was in fact offered on the kid’s menu for kids (if a kid can do it so can I!), I decided to try it.

I made the photos bigger to freak you out. Here we go:

Have to admit when the spider came, I almost chickened out. But I passed the camera to the nice restaurant guy, asked him to help me take photos, and picked up the tarantula by one of its legs.

Couldn’t bear biting into it while looking at it, so I looked straight ahead and chomped down.

Half the spider’s butt gone!

Hehehehe.

It doesn’t taste spidery or anything like that. It was extremely crunchy and the texture was kind of like soft-shell crab.

After I ate the head and legs, I was left with the abdomen and that was the hardest to chew of all. I kept trying to bite the abdomen into half but the skin wouldn’t give way, so I dropped it on the plate and skewered it on my fork and smothered it in that sauce you see and nom-ed the whole thing and washed it all down with a big gulp of lime juice.

Done and done! Was an interesting experience.

I still won’t eat fried cockroaches or those grasshoppers or beetles. Something about their shiny wings freak me the fuck out (and still do).  But spiders are okay. Hehehehe.

Day 3 and 4

Day 3 and 4 were lazy days. I was quite broke by this time so I walked almost everywhere and tried to go only to cafes/restaurants that took credit cards.

Vietnam pho at a roadside cafe. IT WAS AMAZING.

Visited the National Museum, which had fantastic relics and artifacts from the Angkor temples.

So pretty the buildings!

Saw this really grand mansion along my way.

Spent my last evening in Phnom Penh near the river.

Kids in Cambodia are so cute. They rarely see digital cameras so they are very shy yet happy to pose for you when you take out your camera.

Hello!

On my last night in Phnom Penh, I was invited to the opening of a guesthouse next to the place I stay. It’s the first time I’ve seen so many Cambodians in one place!

They were all very cheerful and rambunctious. Very hospitable as well; the lady who owned the place kept offering us Cambodian food they’ve cooked (chicken and fried beehoon; was really similar to normal Singaporean buffet fare!).

Day 4

Flight was at 6pm, so I had plenty of time to kill.

Had a long breakfast at one of the riverside cafes that accepted credit cards.  Then headed to the Russian Market for some shopping. Then read my book at the river. Then headed back to my guesthouse.

Singapore news in the Cambodian newspaper!

The interior of the pub!

This is my driver, who was really funny. He learnt English from Australian dudes, so even though his command of the language was not good, he had an Australian accent! Very nice guy.

I was lucky enough to chat with a bunch of other guests at the guesthouse before my departure to the airport. One guy was from Ireland, another from England, and they were all telling me stories about Phnom Penh and their hometowns. That’s one of the reasons why I think travelling alone is good – you really get to talk to other travelers and learn about their cultures and stuff. Not saying that you don’t get to do the same thing when you’re traveling in groups, but when you are alone, you tend to meet more new people?

I had a great time in Cambodia.

The Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Day 2 in Phnom Penh. Went to the Choeung Ek Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Definitely not the most happy of days, because there was just so much tragedy to take in that you feel really sombre and sad.

The stupa dedicated to the victims of the killing fields.

Ammunition was scarce and valuable in those days. There were so many people to kill that the Khmer Rouge used other improvised ways to end the lives of those sent to Choeung Ek. One of the ways was by using those protruding bits from the palm trees, because it was so sharp and hard. So they used these to slit the throats of the people, and left them to die from bleeding.

The burial pits.

You can still find bone fragments even today.

I was truly horrified to learn about the killing tree. After the reign of Khmer Rouge ended, the rescuers discovered that there was a tree which trunk was bloody with brain matter and gore. The soldiers were very cruel; they took babies by their legs and swung them against the tree to kill them; then tossed the bodies into a nearby burial pit.

To prevent detection of what Choeung Ek was doing (nearby villages had no idea that this place was a killing field), the soldiers played nationalistic anthems from a speaker hung from this tree. The songs would be loud enough to drown out the cries of the prisoners.

There was a plaque there that described how horrific it must have been for the victims. There were fluorescent lighting hung all over the place, because the executions went on even at night. So every scene of depravity, every cruelty inflicted by the soldiers would be brightly lit by the lights, while nationalistic anthems played loudly in the background.

Skulls of those killed at Choeung Ek.

The infamous S21 Genocide Museum.

The photos on the walls were photos of what the army saw when they first entered the rooms.

I didn’t take a closeup because some of the photos are pretty gruesome. They were executed in a hurry and you could see the pool of blood underneath the body, as well as the state of emaciation and injuries the body had.

Visitors left some touching graffiti underneath one of the stairwell.

Dim small cells.

Barbed wires prevented prisoners from committing suicide by jumping off.

There was a room that detailed some of the torture methods used in the place. The soldiers would use methods like waterboarding, pulling their nails out, pouring alcohol on their wounds, to name a few.

Those were painted by a former prisoner, one of the few who survived. There’s estimated to be about 17000 prisoners who went to Tuol Sleng in the four years of its operation, out of which only 7 are known to survive.

Tuol Sleng is not a happy place. There were photos after photos of all the victims there, from young victims to people in their 70s. Some looked dazed, some looked angry, some looked confused.

~

The Cambodian Genocide is truly terrible. In the four years (1975 – 1979) that Khmer Rouge was in power, an estimated 2 million died. At that time Cambodia had a population of about 7.3 million. 2 million, out of 7.3 million – that’s almost a quarter of the population.

It’s so bad that apparently every living Cambodian today had a relative or family who died during the Khmer Rouge.

What I also found sad was that this was not a case of foreign soldiers coming into their country and massacring their people. Pol Pot, leader of the regime, was a Cambodian – and so were most of the soldiers. It was countrymen against countrymen.

I feel horrified by the massacre, because we always assume that genocides and massacres are marks of an earlier era, when human rights were not so developed yet. Maybe we assume that organisations like the UN and peace keeping corps would prevent such large-scale tragedies from happening. But the Khmer Rouge period happened barely 40 years ago and even after the atrocities were slowly coming to light in international press, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge stil retained their seat in the UN.

Phnom Penh Day 1

Arrived in Phnom Penh at about 6am in the morning. Check in wasn’t until 12noon, so I left my backpack with the guesthouse and went exploring a little.

My first sunrise in Phnom Penh.

I booked a tour to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Reserve, so I headed to the meeting place first to have breakfast. After which I left with the tour group in a restored army jeep to the reserve:

Streets of Phnom Penh. Dusty max!

Close encounters with the stag! Or whatever this species of male deer it was. So cute!

Another stag inside the enclosure.

We walked around a fair bit and saw lots of native Cambodian wildlife like monkeys, monitor lizards and bears. After which we went for lunch.

I took this photo after we have finished most of the food, but the spread of Cambodian food was delicious. Really love the beef and curry. Yummyyyy.

One of the tour guides had his birthday that day, so we celebrated for him with a birthday cake as well!

Hercules herbal wine. I can’t remember how it tasted like, but it was quite a strong shot.

Hello to bears humping!

Close encounters with the leopard! Yes, we were that close to the leopard. The guide told us to stay about a metre from the fence though.

Gorgeous leopard.

Next… to the part I had been looking forward to: an exclusive access to the tiger enclosure!

The tiger was super manja. Like a really big fluffy housecat.

See what I mean by housecat? It’s rolling on its back for rubs!

The guide also told us that tigers greet each other by a kind of ‘purr’; that the purr was the human equivalent of a ‘hello’ to them. She then encouraged us to try purring to the tigers. So I did. The first few times the tigers sauntered by without giving a damn. The fourth or fifth time though, one of the tigers returned the greeting! And then another. Hahaha cheap thrills.

The tigers were all rescued from illegal zoos and homes, so I guess that’s why they are more ‘tame’.

I can maim you with a swipe of my paw but for now I’ll just purr at you.

Next, we headed to meet the star of the reserve:

Lucky the baby elephant!

Lucky was really smart. I was fumbling in my bag, trying to find my spare camera battery, and Lucky walked over and nudged her trunk into my bag. She had gotten used to receiving treats, and knows that when visitors open their bags, it usually means the emergence of a snack for her.

Open up and say nommmmmm.

Tongue felt wet and smooth.. kinda icky but fun!

Om nom nom.

After visiting Lucky, we went back in the army jeep back to civilization.

Here’s a look at the cute jeep.

Went back to my guesthouse and checked in!

My guesthouse is located at the top of an Irish bar, which is fantastically stocked with liquor, but the rooms are a tad basic:

Still, the owners were fantastic and super friendly and I really enjoyed my time there. The next time I return to Phnom Penh, I would definitely return to the pub.

Day 2

Lovely sky near the river.

Took the opportunity to go exploring at the local marketplace.

Live crabs in basins!

Live fish! The fish were literally squirming and moving around. Fascinating.

After breakfast, I headed to the killing fields and genocide museum, which will be another entry on its own.

Siem Reap Day 3

Day 3 in Cambodia.

Was feeling super hungover after my drinking binge the night before, but luckily I didn’t have a headache. Went to get a hearty English breakfast in my guesthouse first to stabilize my stomach. Also to try to feel more alive… bleah.

Banteay Srei

Banteay Srei or Banteay Srey (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបន្ទាយស្រី) is a 10th century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor in Cambodia.

Banteay Srei is a small temple which is known for its intricate carvings. The carvings in this temple are all very meticulously done, so it’s all very pretty. Because of that it is fairly popular and there are throngs of tourists everyday:

Couldn’t get a people-less shot of the front gate because so many people insist on staying here to take photos.

The carvings.

Nice small temple but too many people to be truly enjoyable.

Next, headed to Kbal Spean:

Kbal Spean (Khmer: ក្បាលស្ពាន) (“Bridge Head”) is an Angkorian era archaeological site on the southwest slopes of the Kulen Hillsto the northeast of Angkor in Siem Reap District, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia.

Kbal Spean is located after a 1.5km hike to the top, which was hell of a struggle when you are hungover. Kbal Spean is also known as the River of a Thousand Lingas, which sounds pretty cool and Oriental, until you realise that lingas are actually the phallic symbol for the Hindu god Shiva. Somehow River of a Thousand Penises just doesn’t sound as nice.

Holes in the bridge

Lingas!

Ancient Angkorians carved these sacred symbols into the river because the water that flows down this river would eventually be carried to the main Angkor temples. The fact that the water runs over these symbols made the water sacred, so water that was used at the Angkor temple sites were ‘blessed’, so to speak.

I found that information quite interesting because Kbal Spean is pretty far from the main temples, and the hike up to the top of the waterfall is filled with giant rocks and undergrowth. To go to all these trouble – finding the source of their water,  carving sacred symbols into an untamed riverbed – just to ensure that their water is blessed? They are seriously dedicated worshippers.

Next, after lunch at a place at the bottom of Kbal Spean, I headed to the Landmine Museum.

“The landmine is eternally prepared to take victims. It is the perfect soldier.” – chilling.

The Landmine Museum was opened by a former child soldier who set thousands of mines during the civil war period. After the war he assisted in their removal because he had so much experience setting mines.

I found this description to be very affecting and sad.

There were other anecdotes printed as well, including one where he explained that he almost killed his uncle who was fighting on the opposite side of the war with him.

Quite an informative tour. Do you know that landmines were designed to maim, and not kill any soldier that detonate it? It was because they figured that an injured soldier would cost his team more resources and more trouble than a dead comrade. You could just leave a dead soldier behind. But a soldier who lost a leg was different – he could survive, so you can’t do something as callous as leaving him behind to die, and you have to take him along.  I’m guessing that the unit won’t be able to travel as fast with an injured soldier as well.

Spot the explosive devices!

Last stop of the day: Pre Rup

Pre Rup (Khmer: ប្រាសាទប្រែរូប) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built as the state temple of Khmer king Rajendravarman and dedicated in 961 or early 962. It is a temple mountain of combined brick, laterite and sandstone construction.

And that’s the last temple I visited in Siem Reap.

Went back to the guesthouse, packed up my things and had dinner. Then I left at 11pm on an overnight bus to Phnom Penh.

Siem Reap Day 2

Day 2 in Siem Reap was an eye-opener. Traveled beyond the boundaries of Siem Reap into the Cambodian countryside, which was pretty interesting:

Tuktuk driver stopped by one of these ‘stalls’ and bought this for me to try! It’s a kind of sticky chewy sweet rice with black beans in it.

For some reason my camera can’t do macro focus, but here’s a closeup.

It’s quite dry, but not bad! Would taste great with some kind of sweet syrup.

Here you can see how the rice is cooked.

This was on the way back but lazy to change order of photos. Sugar pieces that is incredibly sweet but delicious. I bought three sticks back to Singapore!

During my trip I saw dozens of stands like this. Eventually I realised that these were their petrol kiosks!

They use soft drink bottles to fill up their gasoline, and when tuk tuk drivers come along they would help pour it into the tank underneath the seat.

Beng Melea side entrance. A very reassuring sight indeed.

Beng Melea

Beng Mealea (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបឹងមាលា, its name means “lotus pond”^[1]) is a temple in the Angkor Watstyle located 40 km east of the main group of temples at Angkor, Cambodia, on the ancient royal highway to Preah Khan Kompong Svay.

Beng Melea is located way, way further away than a lot of the other Angkor temples. It says 40km according to Wikipedia, but I have read accounts online that says that it’s 60km, even 80km away. It felt longer than 40km to me, I should say.

It’s kind of impossible to picture the scale of the ruins from these photos. It looks to be just a pile of rubble near a gate, but it was massive. Each stone block was at least the size of a human, and the main gate is about three stories high.

Beng Melea is… too incredible for words. It was huge and in ruins, and you could explore every single nook and cranny of it, since no area was blocked off.

My guide for the day.

Beng Melea was the only temple where I engaged a guide to help me through the temple, because he was able to show me paths and shortcuts and stuff. It definitely also helped that he was able to lend me a helping hand sometimes when the pile of rocks were too high/steep.

Inside one of the tunnels.

Carvings still in pretty good condition.

Ah. This photo is able to show the scale of the destruction. To the right of the tree, you will see a person on the platform. Yup… that’s the size of the stone blocks next to her.

So damn amazing.

This was a hidden sanctuary in the middle of the temple. I don’t think many people managed to get across to the other side, because the foliage is growing quite lavishly there.

I spent the longest time in Beng Melea because it was so incredible to climb up and down the temple, even onto the rooftops. If you are looking for a Tomb Raider experience, Beng Melea is where it’s at.

Beng Melea alone was worth the trip to Cambodia. Because of its distance (and the fact that the area was only de-mined about four years ago), it gets a lot less visitors than Angkor Wat, but its fame is spreading. While I was there, there were one tour group from China and many many lone travelers. Maybe in a few years’ time, there would be as many visitors there as there is at Ta Phrom.

Which would ruin the jungle feel. Also, when there are more visitors, I have a feeling that they won’t allow you to go exploring that much anymore.

I have no idea what this fruit is! My tuktuk driver bought this home. Heh.

Lolei

Lolei (Khmer: ប្រាសាទលលៃ) is the northernmost temple of the Roluos group of three late 9th century Hindu temples at Angkor,Cambodia, the others members of which are Preah Ko and the Bakong.

Lolei was built a few centuries before Angkor Wat, and the styles are very different. For one thing, it’s made of bricks instead of the big stone blocks in Angkor Wat temples. You can see photos of the overall temples in my FB, but in the meantime here’s a closeup.

Also more fragile. See the ropes preventing the carving above the entrance from collapsing.

The writing on the wall.

Next, last temple for the day! Bakong was visually striking.

Bakong

Bakong (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាគង) is the first temple mountain of sandstone constructed by rulers of the Khmer empire at Angkor near modern Siem Reap in Cambodia.

Very steep steps that I took ages to climb down from.

After that Niel drove me back to the guesthouse, where I decided not to sleep and instead watched Run, Fatboy, Run. Pretty quirky and funny Brit comedy about this guy who runs a marathon to get his ex girlfriend back.

Headed to Siem Reap town for dinner.

Street food!

Cambodians out and about.

Awesome maggi goreng. Haha. I have to have maggie goreng everywhere sia.

After which I decided to go barhopping.

At Red Piano, which is the place where Angelina Jolie went when she was filming Tomb Raider.

This is their signature cocktail – Tomb Raider, which was supposedly first created by Jolie. Sorry for the red hue.

A Pink Floyd tribute in Red Piano! So funny to see it there that I just had to take a photo.

Next, I headed to Angkor What!, the most famous of all Siem Reap bars.

Yeahhh I like that.

First I had a whiskey coke. Then I saw that they sold alcohol by the bucketful. I asked the bartender if he would help me finish it if I couldn’t. He laughed and said no.

Challenge accepted!

That was how I ended up drinking a bucket of whiskey redbull coke. All by myself.

Midway through the bucket I got really high and started yammering like crazy to the bartenders there. Then I realised I was taking them away from their work so I called a few friends back in Singapore and yammered like crazy to them.

After I was done with the bucket, I was grinning stupidly from the alcohol high and general feelings of benevolence towards society and mankind. We are all friends! This world is fucking beautiful! Na na na na na na!

But luckily still had enough sense to walk. Got a tuktuk and asked him to send me back to the guesthouse, where I collapsed on the bed and passed out.

All in all an awesome day in Siem Reap!

Goodbye 2011

I’m not going to miss 2011, to be honest. A lot of things happened, especially in the beginning part of the year.

And other stuff.

They say that everything happens for a reason… but right now I really can’t see it.

The only good thing that happened in 2011 (that I can think of now) is that I picked up running. At least I know that part of my life is controllable.

Siem Reap Day 1 and 2

[Image-heavy post ahead]

Reached Siem Reap at about 4pm. Rosy Guesthouse arranged a free pickup, and here’s my driver for the next three days:

This is Niel, as his jacket says.

He’s a very humble man, very sweet and patient. Felt like I was going traveling with a kindly grandfather/uncle actually. I felt very safe while he was driving me around, even to the more remote temples.  You’ll see more photos of him over the next few days.

My room. Double bed because the single room was booked for the week.

Room was very nice and clean, and Rosy Guesthouse had tons of free DVDs and books that you can borrow if you were bored. They even have a dressing table for you to do your makeup.

Or to take the obligatory self-whoring shot.

So I showered and unpacked for a while, before going to the main Siem Reap town area, which was actually pretty near.

Pub Street, which is where all the bars, pubs and restaurants are.

Cambodians doing their shopping at the Old Market.

50cent beer!

50cent beer!

My dinner for the night. Tried the Cambodian national dish – the fish amok. Which is essentially like a milder form of curry.

Over the course of the next few days I would learn that Cambodian cuisine is not inherently spicy. They have this pepper condiment that they serve at almost every single meal, but Cambodian is more similar to Chinese cuisine than Thai, in that their dishes aren’t spicy or hot by nature.

There are tons of solo travelers in Cambodia. At the restaurant I was eating in, there were at least 4 lone travelers who came in, had their dinner, sat for a while, and left. So I didn’t feel conspicuous or left out.

Walked for a while more and went to Blue Pumpkin, which is famous for their amazing tarts and bread and other baked goods. Bought madeleines and a brioche to try.

Went back to guesthouse to sleep because I would be waking up at dawn the next day.

Day 2

Temples, temples and a fair bit of being klutzy.

Left the guesthouse at 5am to see the sunrise!

It was so cold that Cambodians were burning little bonfires by their huts to keep warm. Being unprepared, I wore only jeans and a t-shirt. Brr.

I must confess something dumb. I took so many photos in the tuktuk that by the time I reached Angkor Wat my battery was kind of dying and I had a full day of temple exploring to go (IN MY DEFENSE, I DIDN’T KNOW MY BATTERY WAS GOING TO DIE SO FAST!).

So I was in panic mode. I had to ‘ration’ my shots of the temples so that I can have photos of every single one I visited.  So I had like tons of dark, blurry photos like that above but when it came to the temples it was all fleetingly sparse. 0_o

Gorgeous view prior to Angkor Wat

Like what every other visitor says… the first time you see Angkor Wat you would be awed by the sheer scale of the temple. I went during the break of dawn so I must say… seeing it half in darkness, half in light was mystical. It was beautiful.  Follow me and say ommm now.

The long walk towards the main Angkor Wat area.

My ommm-at-peace-with-da-world mood was spoilt though, by a scrupulous Cambodian dude who scammed me of $20USD. He saw me walking past him, so he thrust some lit joss sticks at me. I thought it was part of the Angkor Wat experience so I took it. Then he led me to this side corridor where there was a statue of a Buddha, and asked me to pray several times and stuff. Then after that? Donate $20USD for the monks.

afdjasfasdafkjfa. Ok no longer feeling one with the world and mother nature.

A closer look at the icon.

Here’s when I did something stupid. I saw, from a distance away, that the main Angkor Wat building seemed to be under construction, since there were support beams outside and all. I peered and squinted and it didn’t seem to have anything behind….. so I left Angkor Wat.

I LEFT ANGKOR WAT AFTER BARELY 15 MINUTES!

*Facepalm to the max.

And I continued on my merry, ignorant way. This is the entrance to Angkor Thom, which is way way bigger than Ankor Wat (but because it’s so big, you don’t realise you are in a temple complex at all).

My super short stay in Angkor Wat surprised my driver, but he took me to the next stop, which is the Bayon.

Bayon

Gonna quote from Wikipedia, because this is my personal blog and I do not need to cite scholarly articles, biatch:

The Bayon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាយ័ន, Prasat Bayon) is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th century or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman’s capital, Angkor Thom.

You are now entering prehistoric times.

This is my second favorite temple after Beng Melea (another entry). It was so imposing and eerie, with the giant stone faces and silent, dark corridors.

Because I left Angkor Wat even before the dawn spectacle, I was ahead of the tourist crowds. I had the Bayon almost entirely to myself, and it was awesome. And it was so quiet I got a bit disconcerted. Was actually relieved to see that there was a few other tourists around at the top of the temple.

Terrace of the Elephants. Visually not very exciting though.

I had brought along my madeleines in case I got hungry while exploring the temples. When I saw the two dogs, I gave them my food and they followed me for a while. Heh.

Next was Preah Khan:

Preah Khan (Khmer: ប្រាសាទព្រះខ័ន), sometimes transliterated as Prah Khan, is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built in the 12th century for King Jayavarman VII. It is located northeast of Angkor Thom and just west of the Jayatataka baray, with which it was associated. It was the centre of a substantial organisation, with almost 100,000 officials and servants.

Snake slithering outside Preah Khan!

I don’t have an external shot of Preah Khan because by then I was really worried that my camera was going to die suddenly, and I wanted to save my camera for Ta Phrom.

Endless corridors after corridors. You walk through this corridor, and turn to your right….

Then you see that there’s another endless connection of hallways here.

Preah Khan is gigantic. The photos I took did not do the place justice. It was huge and sprawling and so very majestic.

A look at the stone ceiling. Rocks, all fitted closely together like a jigsaw puzzle, without any other help.

Baphuon

The Baphuon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាពួន) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia. It is located in Angkor Thom, northwest of the Bayon. Built in the mid-11th century, it is a three-tiered temple mountain built as the state temple of Udayadityavarman II dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva.

Baphuon is a very newly restored temple. Prior to its restoration it looked like this:

Hahaha. Ok I don’t know how it looks like before restoration but news reports say it was like fitting a giant jigsaw together. So I would imagine it was pretty tough.

I tried to wait a long time for the staircase to be free of people, but there were simply too many tourists there. Too bad for you purple auntie.

Really steep stairs as you can see!

Ta Phrom

Ta Prohm (Khmer: ប្រាសាទតាព្រហ្ម) is the modern name of a temple at Angkor, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, built in the Bayon style largely in the late 12th and early 13th centuries and originally called Rajavihara (in Khmer: រាជវិហារ).

Ta Phrom is the famous Tomb Raider temple that is supposedly the epitome of how Cambodian temples should be like – wild, overgrown, with trees and ruins intertwined together.

It is very impressive but there are so many tourists that you no longer get the whole ‘I-just-discovered-this-temple-deep-in-the-jungle’ feel. Which is very sad. Lucky then, that I went to Beng Melea… which is the true undiscovered jungle temple gem.

Tree roots

Massive trees and roots over every inch of the temple. Love it.

A quiet corner.

How many centuries of isolation must it have taken for the roots to grow so massively?

Just a glimpse of how crowded it was.

A hidden part of the temple that was not accessible to the public.

Look at the beautifully rampant tree roots, spreading all over the temple.

Banteay Kdei

Banteay Kdei (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបន្ទាយក្តី, Prasat Banteay Kdei), meaning “A Citadel of Chambers”,^[1] also known as “Citadel of Monks’ cells”,^[2] is a Buddhist temple in Angkor, Cambodia.

A collapsing corridor, supported by wooden beams.

Endless corridors, and a Buddha statue in the middle.

Srah Srang

Srah Srang (Khmer: ស្រះស្រង់) is a baray at Angkor, Cambodia, located south of the East Baray and east of Banteay Kdei.

Srah Srang is just across the road from Banteay Kdei. It’s nothing much.. just a platform. But as you can see from the photo, it faces a beautiful body of water which I would imagine would look very beautiful during sunset.

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat (Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត) is a temple complex at Angkor, Cambodia, built for the king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation – first Hindu, dedicated to the god Vishnu, then Buddhist. It is the world’s largest religious building.

So after I left Angkor Wat at dawn and went to all the other temples, I remembered thinking to myself that what I saw couldn’t be the extent of Angkor Wat after all.

It’s supposed to be huge! And yet I only went through one set of temple corridors.

So I decided that since I still had time, I shall return to Angkor Wat and walk to the supposedly under restoration part.

And I was so glad I did, because if not I would have missed out these:

See the hot air balloon in the distance? That’s the boundary of Angkor Wat.

“Soldiers! I stand before you in a time of peril! Fight for our empire or it shall be vanquished forever!”

I am dwarfed and I am insignificant.

Temple ruins in a corner of Angkor Wat.

Really really steep stairs.

To climb up the top level, you have to have your knees and bare arms covered (kinda the same rule as Thailand when visiting the royal palace). So if you want to really explore the whole of Angkor Wat, remember to cover up.

Am so glad I went back.

After all the temple exploring, I was exhausted to the bone so I was relieved when Niel said that was the last temple of the day. Went back to Rosy Guesthouse and had some tea break.

Then I went back to my room and knocked out until about 6pm.

Went out to have dinner:

Jasmine rice with Khmer-style soup. Super delicious. I had Khmer whiskey with Coke for my drink.

Anyway, I don’t know why, but Khmer whiskey is super strong. After just one drink (of which the alcoholic taste wasn’t even very intense), I got a definite buzz and was a bit tipsy after that.

I walked around Siem Reap a bit, taking photos and stuff. Then, headed back to my guesthouse where I got more whiskey with Coke before sleeping.

And that’s the end of Day 2.

I miss Kampuchea already

Just came back yesterday from a long awaited trip to a country that I had always been very fascinated by.

Cambodia! Or Kampuchea as it is also known.

I’ve always found Cambodia to be very intriguing. In my mind I kinda imagine it to be the Wild West of Asia. Anarchy, guns being sold openly… yet tempered with the humbling spectacle of the Angkor temples.

I also found it affecting that Cambodia went through one of the worst ever genocide in modern times (1970s period… that’s barely 40 years ago) under the Khmer Rogue. Where almost all the educated people in Cambodia were massacred, so even after the regime ended, Cambodia was unable to rebuild itself because everyone with education had been killed.

It’s heartbreaking, what they went through.

During my trip I learnt that it’s no longer the wild place like it was back in the 1980s (where you can buy guns in the Russian Market apparently!). Yet it’s still amazing.

Am uploading photos to FB, but it will probably look like a bunch of rubble and ruins. Will do a blog post about my trip and stuff… soon!

Cookin’ Time

Every year before Christmas, I’ll put on my metaphorical apron and proceed to bake trayloads of cookies and/or brownies. Then I give them out as Christmas presents to my colleagues, friends and family.

I do it because I feel buying presents for everyone can get a little overwhelming (“I’m getting this for A! But that means I have to buy a gift for B too, because they know each other… and if I get this for B, that means C would feel left out that A and B got presents but C didn’t…”).

Also because I honestly like baking and cooking, damnit.

So I’m checking out Foodwishes, and I see tons and tons of amazing recipe videos for Christmas. I’m so psyched and excited, I want to make everything, including the damn goose.

That’s not very practical. After all my oven can only fit a quail.

Anyway, I’m thinking of baking cookies (probably chocolate chip, because I’m unadventurous), and brownies, and THIS:

Rum balls! Chef John says that these balls aren’t for kids; they really do pack a punch. *bish*

And they are really easy to make. No baking required as they make use of leftover brownies.

Hmm. Maybe what I will do is bake cookies and brownies for Christmas, and then, a week after that, make little rum balls with the leftover brownies I have, just in time for New Year. Sounds like a plan.

PS: I really want to make risotto again. Made it last week and it was pretty fun:

Maybe the week of the rum balls. Anyone knows where I can buy risotto rice?

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