Phnom Kulen and Travel Day: Week 11 / Day 72 / March 23
Siem Reap, Cambodia: Rather than spend a third day at the Angkor Archaeological Park we decided to head up to Phnom Kulen, a park with a temple and waterfalls about an hour away from Siem Reap. Credit for this decision goes to our waitress at the restaurant the other night where we had the green onion straws. As she waited on us everything was very formal and reserved – “Excuse me, Madame”, “Pardon me, Sir.” However, when we asked her where we should make sure to visit in the area it was like a switch got flipped. She suddenly went from stone faced (but pleasant) to lit up like a 1,00 watt bulb. She quickly bent down next to our table and went on about how much she loved Phnom Kulen and what a great time she had there with a friend of hers and the friend’s brother. With that sort of reaction, we decided we had to go.
We arranged a taxi for the day and were picked up at 8:00 AM to head up to Phnom Kulen. Our driver was a rather chatty fellow with expansive opinions on the state of political affairs and corruption in Cambodia, the people of Cambodia, and the level of foreign investment (quick side note – he decidedly did not like the Chinese tourists and neither did our guide at Angkor Wat. Take all of your bad stereotypes about American tourists and amp them up a bit – that was how they described the Chinese. No love lost there.)
The drive through the countryside to Phnom Kulen was pleasant and, upon entering the park, very steep up the mountain. All along the road were soldiers who were stationed at particularly dangerous turns, clearing out brush, or available to assist travelers with issues. We drove first to the temple of Preah Ang Thom which has a large reclining Buddha statue.
We were dropped off in a parking area and first walked through a long series of shops and up the steps leading to the temple.
Once up at this area we were confronted with a lot going on. There was a shrine with people burning incense and praying, a man reading out prayers and requests rapid fire (I thought I was at a Cambodian auction), an older Budhist monk blessing visitors, a small musical ensemble playing Cambodian music, and a pool and linga (an abstract representation of the Hindu god Shiva. The linga incorporates both the male, in the form of a rounded knob sticking up, and the female, in the form of the large bowl enclosing the knob) where people were pouring water over it to purify the water.
Immediately adjacent to this area was a set of stairs leading up to a temple perched atop a huge boulder. In the temple was a large reclining Buddha.
The second picture shows the back of the reclining Buddha. From this view, and from the outside of the temple, one can easily see that the Buddha is carved from the same boulder on which the temple rests.
We enjoyed the views as we walked back down the stairs from the temple.
Scattered amongst the other boulders in the area were other shrines and places to worship.
After leaving the temple area, we headed over to the 1,000 Linga. This is an area of the stream Chup Preah where over a thousand linga have been carved into the sandstone of the riverbed. The linga are attributed to a minister of Suryavarman I and were carved during the 11th century. The logic behind the linga in the river is that they sanctify all of the water in the entire river and, thus, the waters could be used by the king to bathe, for rituals in the temples downstream, and by the villages downstream.
Because it is the dry season, some of the linga were easy to see due to their exposure, while others were harder to see under the water. The number and variety of linga was impressive.
Along the shoreline were spirit houses and children happy to pose for pictures.
Leaving the area of the 1,000 Lingas, we drove further downstream on Chup Preah to the waterfalls. Although difficult to see due to being submerged, there were also large linga carved into the riverbed here as well.
We walked across the stream and headed over to the first, smaller waterfall.
Walking further downstream, we went to the larger waterfall which had platforms for picnicking along the stream.
While the crowds were large, there were certain angles where one could get pictures of just the waterfall.
I saw one guy in particular who seemed to have the right idea on how to beat the heat.
Also, the water was filled with the tiny fish that are seen at some spas that will eat the little bits of dead skin off of the customer’s feet. Here, my feet were swarmed with little fish nibbling my skin every time I stood still for more than fifteen seconds.
After returning to Siem Reap, we went back to the laundromat to do laundry (and grab a meal), before heading to the airport. Tonight we are off to Hong Kong where we will stay for two days before heading to Peru.
