Cambodia Trip In August '06..

Couple of days ago, on Discovery Travel & Living channel, 'Globe Trekker' showed footages of Cambodia's greatest monument, Angkor Wat. It somewhat brings back many wonderful memories of the trip to Cambodia I've undertaken way back in August last year, so I've decided to upload some of the photos I've taken..Click here for a brief history on Angkor Wat.

 

Touchdown

 

 

 

 

Intricate and exquisitely-designed building - Siem Reap International Airport

 

 

A nice little airy cafe just at the entrance of the airport..

 

Molly's Irish Pub & Guesthouse - our accommodation for the next three days..  

Arh...a local's delight - breakfast that consists of bread, pickles, ham, and minced pork meat mixed with some butter!

 

Look at our smiling faces - we couldn't help but greedily wolfed down around 2 1/2 times the portions of a serving that a average Cambodian will eat! Arh, the guy on my right is our driver cum traveling guide for our entire trip..

 

One of my traveling companion - the ever affable Ronald..

...and of course not forgetting this lovely lady here..Winnie

 

 

One of the lovely Angkor's region of temples - our first pit stop for the day..

An explanation of the many statutes and relics found among many of the Angkor temples.

 

A lovely Buddha statute.

Unfortunately, some of these intricate wall-carvings has been vandalised - like the one you are seeing here.

 

Hrmz, this is supposedly some ancient female goddess that was carved onto the walls of some Angkor temples; its origins I'm not too sure..but they do bear some resemblance to those goddess you see in Hindu temples though..

 

 

One of those few giant Buddha statues that is not housed inside the Angkor temples

Our lunch - considered to be local dishes; though I felt it tasted average; and it was EXPENSIVE! I remember vaguely it was around US$20-$25..we felt ripped off..maybe because we ate inside the temple regions..

Arh..our tour guide suggested we visit the largest lake in Siem Reap..if I remember correctly, it was supposedly linked to the Mekong River..

Look at the hustle & bustle of the crowd at the marketplace near the lake - the locals here are generally quite poor; I've bought some fried banana rice from a small kid who set up her stall at the marketplace, and immediately I was surrounded by quite a few children who looked like they've not eaten for days..in the end I've sympathised with them and gave them some food..

 

This is a picture that left quite a deep impression in me - the small boy you see is a Vietnamese; he'd row his little 'boat', which is nothing more than a bath-tub all the way to your boat and he'll beg you for money; usually around US$1..

THIS is an unusual sight - at first glance I thought my eyes was fooling me; later I've realised they are not..wonder how did that truck end up like this?

Haiz..fearsome-looking crocodiles - we're brought to this particular crocodile farm cum seafood restaurant in the middle of the lake..ain't they fierce?

Hrmz, I was amazed when I saw a floating Catholic church - quite a rare sight when you consider that the majority of the Cambodians are Buddhists; the possibility of finding a church is quite low, much less on a lake! So we went in to find the priest who was in charge, but to my disappointment he was out.. 

This is one family who settled on the banks of the lake - you can see quite a few as you walked along the banks of the  lake.. 

 

 

An aerial view of a small portion of Siem Reap - basically it's still a very much agricultural country.

 

 

Dinner-time! Here we are, having our dinner at this lovely restaurant, called The Red Piano..as recommended by Lonely Planet traveler's guidebook..affordable & nice ambience..

Arh..its nice little interior..Angelina Jolie once came here to eat during the filming of Tomb Raider - wonder if that's the place she sat? 

 
Sir/Madam, may I have your order please?

 

After dinner we went around shopping..we happened to come across this lovely hotel in town, so we sat down inside to enjoy the ambience..it has a lovely courtyard inside it, easily accessible from its rather posh cafe at the lobby, didn't really take a photo of the interior though..but the design style is quite minimalist..rather nice. Oh, by the way staying in this hotel isn't cheap though - according to our tour guide, it cost somewhat around US$200 per night!

Rise and shine! We woke up darn early, hoping to take a picture-perfect shot of the sun rising against the backdrop of Angkor Wat..there were incredibly many tourists thinking along the same lines too - lots of Japanese, Europeans, Americans, etc were there as well.

Arh...postcard perfect!

Hrmz..a horse grazing near a palm tree..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the towers that I've climbed - the steps are darn steep! My guess is that it is around seven-storey high..

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the courtyard of the towers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is one of the lovely giant Buddha statue inside the tower - I had my little wooden Buddha figurine, which I've intended to give to my parents, blessed by a supposedly 'high' priest here..

We followed a small trail and it led us to the back of Angkor Wat - it is really lovely scene, not many tourists know of this spot though as the back entrance/exit was blocked.

 

 

 

Arh...this is the famous temple where the Tomb Raider was shot..

 

One of the many Angkor temples..

 

Some of the artifacts 'discovered' by us!

This magnificent tower stood near the entrance leading to the Angkor temples..it's been gradually restored to its formal glory by the Cambodian government.

 

The horrific reminders during the Khmer Rouge reign - on display at a local museum in town.

 

Hot-air balloon here we come!

 

An aerial view of the country-side..

 

 

 

Another aerial view of the lovely country-side..

 

 

 

 

 

 

The three Musketeers...NOT! :p

Night scene of the surrounding moat of Angkor Wat..

Arh...our dinner!One of the dishes I really like - chicken curry laced with plenty of coconut milk, not spicy, rather sweet..

We asked a Caucasian family sitting besides us to help us take this photo, and they gladly obliged..there are two storey to this lovely restaurant, and we sat in the upper storey to eat and as well watch the local dancers performing a traditional dance on stage..

 

 

 

 

Sigh, after three days of fun, we had to leave this little nice place...

 

Our parting shot..

Traditional Latin Mass