Angkor - Kbal Spean, Banteay Srey and Preah Khan

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I awoke checked the watch to see it tell me it was the ungodly hour of 5:50, and then I checked the window, to see it was raining. I then went back to sleep smug in the knowledge that we had been correct to not opt to visit the temples at dawn today, as we would have experienced a wash out for our troubles.
When I awoke for the second time it was a far more reasonable hour of 8:00, I woke Lou and we sorted our stuff out for the days temple excursions, and descended to eat our breakfast. After breakfast we returned to our room to pack our stuff up as we had to move hotel once again as the hotel was full and we had been too late to extend our stay (despite asking long before their own self proclaimed cut-off time of 24hrs before you are due to check out!)

The driver had been arranged for 10am but at the last minute we got a call in the hotel saying it would be an extra five minutes as our previous driver was busy and so they had to get another.

The four of us left at about 10:10 via our new hotel to drop off our bags before heading out to the temples, today’s choice being Banteay Srey. The driver explained that if we were going to this outlying temple we may as well go further and do the nature reserve also where the lemurs are. After a brief conflab, we all agreed this made sense and so the driver headed out.

The journey through some beautifully lush green countryside was stunning. We had to stop once to get our Angkor passes punched and checked and other than that it was a peaceful ride. None of the hooting and noise of a trip in Vietnam was to be seen here.

We saw water buffalo, and paddy fields, broken up by small villages and Cambodian life, including men and boys both, jumping off bridges into the brown water of the local stream/river swollen from the recent rains.

The whole way to our destination, we followed the clouds that had been shedding their load upon us at 5am, until we finally caught up with them in the last couple of minutes before pulling into our destination.

Having been in the hotel checking in, when the driver had suggested this initial destination, I was unsure what to expect when we exited the Toyota Rav 4 and put our rain jackets on. We then started our hike up the hill to our destination. It was only at this point that I realised that our destination was not a park with lemurs, but the river of a thousand lingas, or Kbal Spean.

The rain abated only 5 minutes into our hike and that combined with the sweatsuit effect of a waterproof jacket made us all wish we had not bothered with them, but c’est la vie. It soon became apparent that we were going to get wet irrespective of rain coats as the humidity combined with the physical effort of climbing the 1500m made us all sweat to the point that rain wouldn’t have made us any wetter.

The resulting climb was spectacular not only for the sights at the destination but the sheer abundance of life in the forest/jungle that we were hiking through. From ants, to lizards, to butterflies to birds, all sorts of fauna were present not to mention the flora - huge trees of all varieties, with enormous root systems, fungi, and everything in between.

On arrival at the summit we were greeted by a lively area full of locals, and monks all frolicking in the water which was pleasantly cold. The waterfall itself may not have been as impressive as we had been led to believe but the hike was worth it for the journey.

We were also able to view some of the carvings made in the pre-angkorian period in the riverbed, and surrounding rocks. Given the torrent of water at this time of year, I’m not sure whether the carvings themselves or their continued existence against the might of nature is more impressive.

The descent was far less tiring than the ascent as was to be expected but it took no less time to descend and by the time we had returned to the car nearly two hours had passed. A decent bit of exercise in the heat to be sure, especially for Lou who was flagging from the start with the remnants of her cold.

From here we returned to the temple complex at Banteay Srey which the guidebook claims to have some of the best examples of sculptural carvings in the world. A big build up for this small temple complex. The pinkish hue of the stone sets this complex apart from most of the other temples you see in this area, and the carvings do also. They are so detailed and have such depth to them that they go beyond bas-relief into sculpture almost. The place is delightful. The size meaning that the heat of the day whilst sweltering was not long lived and we were soon back in the car for our third complex of the day.
On the journey back, we changed our mind from going to Ta Prohm locally known as the Tomb Raider temple, because of its association with the Angelina Jolie movie, and decided instead to go to Preah Khan.

The journey time in the car allowing us all some respite from the heat and our tired legs and feet some rest. On arriving at the temple complex we were, as usual, greeted by small Cambodian children and the cries of “ you want to buy…one dollar“. Whether the items in question are postcards, bangles, scarves etc they follow you in a persistent manner until you either outlast them, give in, or get to a point where they see some other target. We have discovered that if arriving at the same time as others the phrase, no but that person over there wants some, goes down nicely!

We entered the temple complex over the now familiar moat, and bridge showing the tug of war between the gods (Devas) and evil gods (Asara) both pulling on Nagas as a rope. This Churning of the Ocean Milk scene is common, what was inside however was new to us.

The temple complex was on a scale that we had yet to see and , whilst I write this 4 days later having seen more complexes, I still feel not beaten. The temple consisted of 4 wings around a central shrine, and the sheer size was breathtaking. I don’t have figures to give you but I know I could have spent the entire day in that one place alone and not seen too much. With examples of beautiful carvings, areas of dilapidation, nature trying to reclaim the land, and also restoration in an appropriately subtle manner, this was and still is my favourite of the complexes.

We were adopted in the centre of the complex by a man dressed in Police uniform who proceeded to act as a tour guide for us despite no asking on our part. He showed us some small rooms tucked away from the main thoroughfare and also informed us of some of the stories about the temple.

After a while, the weather caught up with us and the deluge began, so we made a swift exit with plenty of the complex still unexplored. We raced out of the East exit to find our driver but by the time we got to the car the clothes were as wet as they had been after the hike, despite them all drying out in between.

We returned to our hotels to freshen up before heading out for dinner, Indian was on tonight’s menu and it was most pleasant although was slightly marred by the ridiculous number of insects that plagued us throughout our meal.

We agreed that after such a packed day going to the temples again the next day was not on the menu, coupled with we facts that we wanted to see sunrise and the weather was not doing us any favours in that department. As such we retired early, and arranged to meet up the next day.

We awoke and sampled breakfast in our new abode and whilst an improvement on the previous dwelling was still nothing to write home about. After this we decided to head into town to our usual hangout, the Blue Pumpkin Café, home to great milkshakes, coffee, and decent Wifi. We spent a relaxing morning catching up on admin tasks and grazing before deciding to head to the Angkor Museum in the afternoon. During the course of the day, I proceeded to start feeling rather under the weather and come down with the illness that has claimed most of our small group now. This made the concentration required to study the exhibits and the stamina for the same rather difficult given the size of the place. Two and three quarter hours after we had started the tour we finally finished, to my relief, and whilst I can say it was enjoyable’ I know I didn’t take away anywhere near the volume of information I would have had I not felt so awful.

I wanted to go home to bed but was talked into going back to our café, for dinner first. With an all round agreement that tomorrow was going to be a dawn awakening to start our third day of temples, we all needed an early night and so we all parted for our beds, both tired yet excited that tomorrow we would see Angkor Wat.

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Photos

Man beat nature
Cambodian government cut this tree down about 5 years ago!