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Published: December 12th 2012
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For a new experience we tried Khmer noodles for breakfast and the best Vietnamese coffee we have had yet. At 8.00am we met our guide who due to a lack of available drivers also filled that role. He turned out to be a great guide - full of knowledge, camera happy like us, and always down for a good joke. The original plan was to visit Angkor Wat and the small circuit. However it turned out to be a religious day and so the top level of Angkor Wat was closed....so change of plan. We set off for Kbal Spean, Banteay Srey, and sunset at Pre Rup. Kbal Spean is about 30 kilometres from Siem Reap and is reached by climbing up a small mountain for about 45 minutes. The climb was fairly easy going except for two spots that required clambering over rocks and was quite steep. It wasn't at all too strenuous and we were kept entertained by our guide who regaled us with lots of stories. The day had started to become quite hot and we made sure we took the occasional break. In all it took us an hour to reach the top. The climb though was
well worth it. Kbal Spean predates the famous Angkor Wat and is also referred to as the river of a thousand lingas. From the carvings there you can see why. It is a spectacular spot and we took heaps of photos even though it was quite shady and much of the carvings are still covered with water. We spent probably a good 2 hours here and listened to the many stories and explanations our guide was happy to share. A 45 minute walk down the mountain found us on the way to Bantrey Srey, the pink and yellow sandstone temple built in the 10th century. Lunch was at a local restaurant just outside the temple proper and OH got to taste Amok for the first time. It was not the best Amok but also wasn't too bad. After lunch we headed off on the short walk to Bantrey Srey. The carvings in this temple are exquisite and almost impossible to describe to do them justice. The use of pink and yellow sandstone throughout the temple is remarkable and adds to the awe factor of the temple. Our guide again did not let us down and spent a lot of time
explaining carvings and Hindu and Buddhist influences in the building of this temple. We spent so much time at Bantrey Srey that we decided to put off seeing the sunset at Pre Rup and to leave it for another day. Otherwise we would have had to rush to the top to actually see the sunset and miss out on our guides great explanations. For dinner we took ourselves off to the famous Pub Street. Oh caught a glimpse of the Red Piano Bar/Restaurant but we decided to keep with the Khmer theme and have Khmer food for dinner. A $2 tuk-tuk ride found us back at our guesthouse after dinner to catch up on some sleep for the next days big adventure.
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