Kbal Spean - The Carved River

---

Hired a tuk-tuk to get 50 km north of Siem Reap to a place called Kbal Spean. I didn't bargain too hard, as the driver kind of squealed in delight when I agreed to $20 for the day's planned itinerary. Well after about 40km the tuk-tuk died from over-heating! They are designed for stop and go rides, not continuous journeys. But, the driver had a couple of Johnny-Walker bottles of water under the seat, and filled up the plastic bottle that served as a jury-rigged radiator reservoir. After 10 minutes, the engine re-started and it was onto Kbal Spean.

Kbal Spean is a 2 km up-hill climb to the "River of a thousand Lingas" that is in a spectacular lush jungle setting around a set of waterfalls. Since I left so early, I was the only foreigner there for the first hour. The claim to fame here, besides the pretty scenery, is the rocks in the river are carved! It's a twisty meandering river, and the river bed is made of carved rocks of various Hindu art-work. A tad bit surreal.

---