visiting cambodia episode IV: the historical and spiritual part of my journey

Last week when Suz C mentioned about Darwin's Evolution Theory, you know, the "survival of the fittest" theory, it occurred to me that what if in this superficial world, everyone only wants to be with good-looking people, then will all the ugly people eventually be extinct? And then this entire world will only be filled with good-looking people? Lol. Makes sense, doesn't it? So, we should be thankful that our generation now is much better-looking than our ancestors were back then

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You cannot spend so much money on a trip to Cambodia and NOT visit the extremely famous (and commercialised) Ancient Angkor Ruins. Commercialised coz in case one do not know, you have to pay USD20 for entrance fee.

But yeah, it was worth it coz this place is extremely historical and awesome in terms of its architecture. I might just be saying that because I have a thing for hostorical architecture.

#1: Baekheng Hill - Phnom Baekheng

To reach this ruin, one have to hike up a small hill. Not good for me as of all the days, I chose that day to wear a skirt. Yes:(

But it was just a short hike, and before long, we reach the Phnom Baekheng. According to my guide book, it is the state temple of the first capital at Angkor.

The steps leading up to the top of the temple were extremely steep, as seen in the pic above. Many people practically had to crawl on all fours just to go up the steps. Now, the book did not mention it but I did read in an article of a travel magazine in our hotel, that the reason these steps were built so narrow were so when people actually reach the top of the steps, they are practically on all fours and kneeling, hence a sign of bowing down and respect.

Despite being slighty out of breath, the temple was amazing, with all those beautiful inscriptions. You can see my very happy face there. Lol.

The only downside was that there were so many tourists there that it was hard trying to get a good shot of me and my mom.

The one inscription very commonly found were the apsaras. Not exactly sure its origin yet. Currently reading Ancient Angkor still. Might edit this later kua.

#2: Bayon

Another place that many people would not missed out on is the Bayon, one of the largest temples here.

Our tour group

This is the very famous 7-headed naga. Naga means snake here

The reason everyone was queueing to take pic with this Buddha was because it was the one that had the biggest smile:)

A mass of 4-face Bayon Buddha towers here

Dancing apsaras on the walls

#3: Angkor Thom / Ta Prohmn

Another place that we went to is Angkor Thom, or Ta Prohmn. This is one of the filming sites for the "Tomb Raider" movie.

Lots of ruins here

These humongous gigantic trees are one of the highlights of this place. Seriously, have you seen roots like this before? Our guide calls them the silver gold bark trees (I think he literally translated them from Mandarin) because when the sun shines on the bark, it glitters like gold and silver.

I enjoy taking the inscriptions on the walls. Each is unique as they tell a story.

#4: Angkor Wat

Finally our last destination is the Angkor Wat. We save the best for the last. However, the last was also a rainy day. We had sunshine for so long that kinda disappointed that it rain on our parade when we came here.

But the temple still looks amazing despite the rain

The library + a horse

The moat that surrounded the Angkor Wat. I likey the reflection the temple made

The bas-reliefs, which I believed were used as public baths back then

More apsaras on the walls

I really do not know what story this one tells but I can tell you it really captivated me

The amazing inscription depicting the Battle of Kurukshethra, from the epic Mahabharata

It was a long but beautiful battle inscription

I took this pic to show the headless Buddha statues on the sides. The reason is that thieves used to steal all these heads and sold them in the black market to Western collectors. That is why most of the Buddha statues here are not the genuine ones because they have moved them to the museum to protect them from thieves

Actually the Angkor Ruins is a huge place. You can spend one whole day here, enjoying both the sunrise and sunset. We also visited Elephant Terrace and Leper King Terrace but didn't take any pics. As well as the Bayon Gate.

But after a while, it does get a little monotonous.

visiting cambodia episode III: get ready, shop, eat and go!

I finally copped that Colbie Caillat cd! RM25 only ok? How to resist, I tell you. Got it at Sg Wang. Nasib baik did not buy it at Speedy.

Me very happy:) Now I just got to wait for David Cook's cd

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So, on our first day, we went to shopping mall and I had ice-cream! Ok lah, quite stupid, I know, to eat ice-cream in Cambodia but I like the pic that I took mah and want to post it here. Then, I have to write some description so I just wrote this lor.

Wah, my crap writing has improved.

Anyway, back to main point. I noticed that foreigners usually go to buffet restaurants in Cambodia. Maybe cleaner kua and "supposedly" more varieties.

Crap-lah. The food is nothing much as compared to Malaysian All-You-Can-Eat Buffet ok?

Our tour took us to two, Tonle Bassac Restaurant (in Phnom Penh) and Amazon Angkor (in Siem Reap). As usual, want to know more, go look it up yourself-lah. Don't be lazy:)

One thing I must warned you about the breakfast hotel buffet is that it really is not a buffet. Hmm...how can I put it into words?

Ok, to make it simpler - choose between fried rice, noodles, bread and jam or eggs.

Yes, that's all. Mom and I wanted to try Cambodian-style food so we ate their specialty bowl of noodles every morn'.

I would give it a thumbs-up if not because I had to eat it EVERY MORNING.

Then came the interesting meal we had when we dropped by a market en route to Siem Reap. Can you guess it from the pic above?

If you read my previous posts, then you would know. Yup, these are tarantulas, complete with hair on their legs somemore. The first pic is the fried version, the second is the alive version.

If you thought I was some brave chick daring to take pic with the tarantula, let me tell you what was really going on in my mind:

"Shit! Shit! Why did I agree to do this? Faster take the pic lah! You want me to die is it? And shit, stop crawling up my shirt, you damn pervert soon-to-be toasted disgusting thing!" (read in fast motion to achieve the actual effect:)

Despite my hesitation, I did taste it and other delicacies as well. Actually, it was more like me Mom forcing me to try it when I was so occupied camwhoring (that is her hand, not mine)

Tasted bitter though. But nevertheless, it tasted like fried meat popiah...or whatever you want to call them.
Stuffed frogs. Taste like some malay kueh

If tarantulas are not your thing, you can try...

COCKROACHES!

Don't worry, our guide assured us that these are not your average household pests. These are actually water cockroaches.

I suck at biology (and diversity) so don't ask me what is the difference.

No questions asked. Btw, the cockroaches actually tasted better.

And for dessert, we had lotus seeds. Ok-lah, not as radical as the main courses but bet you didn't know these can be eaten leh? Kan kan?

Actually I didn't also.

Anyway, difficult to open and not even sweet also. Only recommended to those with lots of patience and those damn curious.

And now we move up into the shopping alley.

In Phnom Penh, we went to Central Market. Yes, they even have the same name as Malaysia's one. I wonder why this name is so popular?

And just like M'sia CM, this one is overly-priced, totally targeted for tourists and contains plenty of souvenirs.

But unlike our local CM, this one is over-packed with stalls, both inside and outside the building, stinky and hot.

Too many stalls, too little time.

Another market that we went to is the Russian Market. Slightly smaller than Central Market and a lot hotter. Less stalls too but basically, plenty of handicrafts and handbags.

Btw, Cambodia is popular for their gems. So if you have a big big wallet, you can take a look and maybe purchase some.

There are also lots of silverware and these wonderfully-crafted stone sculptures.

In Siem Reap, we also visited another market called Central Market.

I know. Seriously? Is this a joke? Either I am wrong or Cambodians lack creativity.

I secretly hoped it is the latter.

Much cleaner and more fun to shop here. Lots of wonderful and beautiful paintings. And I really mean beautiful:D

Another famous Cambodian export is the Khmer silk, which everyone tells me can only be found here and has great quality.

Maybe it's just me but ya, not really into scarves. Too auntie-ish, I think.

If you really want top-quality Cambodian handicrafts ( you know that saying, you want nothing but the best?), do visit Les Artisan Angkor.

This place is funded by the French government, for the sole purpose of giving job opportunities to those who live in villages and also to disabled people.

The people who make the handicrafts are all skillfully-trained. We got to see each section in the work factory, right from the beginning of the process till the end.

We saw how they sketch and carve the sculptures, how they paint and yeah, basically how each type of Cambodian handicraft is made.

Me like all the sketches in the workroom.

So if you think that all these stuff are overly-priced, think of how much effort is taken to make each one. Even if you cannot visit this place, there is a shop at Siem Reap International Airport selling their products.

Now is when I revealed some of the stuff I bought:)

A book on "Ancient Angkor" for USD7. Some bargaining skills required here.

I just realized Nicole has one too.

T-shirts for USD2 each. No bargaining here. Thought the price was reasonable enough.
Lots of varieties in terms of T-shirts.

Handbags for USD5 each. Bargaining needed. Let me warned you first, though, that Cambodia is a haven for imitation bags.

Gorgeous as they are, but if you don't want to be seen with knock-offs, you can do like me - spot for handbags without any famous logos or labels on them. Trust me, there are plenty as well to satisfy that handbag fetish.

Besides those, other things that caught my eye was like accessories and shoes, which are also aplenty.

Sunglasses of every kind can be found everywhere. Wish I copped more. But how can, since I am sei ngan mui:(

Got this for USD3 at Sorya Mall. So you can trust the marketplaces to have even cheaper ones.

Other miscellanous stuff I bought were junk food and souvenirs:P

visiting cambodia episode II: the capital phnom penh

Just want to wish Christine Yap Yee Mun, a very Happy Birthday! She turns 21 on 25th May!

The good thing about being born so late in the year is that you get to see everyone turn old (and legal) much earlier than you do
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The Independence Monument. If you didn't know, Cambodia was under the French regime, which is why the French language is of utmost importance here.

The Royal Palace was absolutely lovely. Added with the fact that the sky was in a gorgeous sky-blue colour that day, I have to say that some of the best photos I have taken in Cambodia definitely came from here.
The construction of the throne hall (pic above) is filled with superstitions, esp about the seven dragons sculptures on its roof, representing protection for every day of the week. It is these kind of info that one usually gets from locals/tour guides. I don't think websites will put such info.
No photos are allowed inside these royal buildings so we could only just take pics outside - at the balcony and exterior of the buildings.
This is freaking beautiful. My most favourite building here. It is called the Napoleon building, and clearly you can see the French colonial style in its architecture. Magnifique!
A display of the coronation of a Cambodian king. Eventhough it is just a display, the face of the king totally resembles the actual face of the reigning King of Cambodia. Of course, takkan-lah I want to post his pic here so you can compare. Don't be lazy, go and search in wikipedia ok?

Btw, this is just like a small part of the display, it was so so so loooooong...

As we left the precints of the palace, I noticed the intricate details on one of the gates. Sometimes you cannot help but wonder how do they form all these shapes on metal gates? But then I am a Science student, so I will leave all these questions for architects or whatever profession needed, to answer.
In Phnom Penh, we also visited the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, which is a must-visit for every tourist to Cambodia. Why? No, not because of its scenery, its people, its photography, and etc., but mainly as an awareness of the genocide, the massacre of innocents, that took place during the Khmer Rouge regime.

It goes to show that humans, despite being the higher being, can totally abuse the power given and cause such great harm towards other humans.
This place left me so overwhelmed that I did not really take many pics. And in some case, I did not want to take any. I know, it is like avoiding the truth, but really, I do not think I can bear taking pics of the torture instruments and the graves.

Here is one of the classrooms which has turned into an interrogation (but more like torture) room. I took it from outside so it will be less scarier.
This place was once a secondary high school before it became a hell zone. As I walked around the compound, I can imagined how this place must have look like, before the Khmer Rouge took over. Students walking in and out of classes, some eating, some reading or maybe some playing in the basketball court.
The signboard above is the description for one of the torture instruments used, as shown in the pic above the pic above (lol). It is just so disgusting when I read it, let alone to imagine it.

We were fortunate to meet one of the seven survivors of this S-21 torture chamber. He told our guide (who then translated to us), his experience being locked in the prison for 3 months. Right until today, he still do not know the reason they lock and torture him.
What used to be classrooms has now be turned into many small prison cells, made sloppily with multitude of bricks.
These barbed wires were placed to prevent the prisoners from jumping out and committing suicide. I like this pic because it feels like it came from the prisoner's view, and the desperate need for freedom.
Another monument, which I think, is called the Victory Monument (or something liddat la). Sorry-lo, sometimes I did not pay attention to the guide. Lol.
As in my previous post, I mentioned that we took a river cruise where we saw boathouse villages. I took many pics like these - of shabby boathouses, of ladies' doing their washing, of families having their dinners on the boat, of children waving at us...

I like this pic simply because of the image of the church on the mainland. I don't know, maybe because it symbolizes that there is still hope for poverty in Cambodia.
They might be deficient in terms of material and money, but I really hope that they can fill those voids with lots of love.


Like Morrie said, "Love is the only rational act."