Angkor Wat, Cambodia

I finally got to visit Siem Reap with my friends, Ernie and Lulu Kamatoy , Roland and Maribel Sunga from Los Angeles, CA. We were lucky to arrive on the eve of the King's Birthday. They were on a 2 day holiday. I found out that cambodian food is coconut milk based, not spicy although most of their stuff were similar to the Thai food. You must try their Khmer Amok Fish which is very famous and their KARI.

They recommended another cambodian dish called TREY BOM POONG but it was already finished when we ordered it. We had our first taste of cambodian cooking in a restaurant cum bar called DEAD FISH.

Our first stop was to see ANGKOR WAT, the world's largest religious monument. It took us the almost 5 hours just to walk thru the whole place.

For lunch we dined in a restaurant near Angkor Wat called SOMOS SRAS SRANG. They served local khmer food.

In the afternoon we went back to the hotel to change clothes and walked to the river to watch the river boat race. While waiting for the boat race to start we went around the area and sampled all the food they were selling.

That evening we were able to go and see a cultural show. I noticed that some of their dances were very similar to our folk dance here. Like the " maglalatik dance " and they had their own version of the " tinikling " . But their movements were much slower and they put more emphasis on their hands and head movement.

Ta Prom Temple, Cambodia

Ta Prom is definitively what you are looking for if you are into discovering old ruins in the jungle. When the French started clearing away the vegetation on the Angkor ruins some romantics protested that the archeologist were destroying what they called "the natural state" of the temples. The Conservation Society decided that Ta Prohm would remain in its overgrown state. Some work was carried out to prevent further collapses and to make the site safe for visitors. Some parts have signs that forbid entry which doesn't seem to hinder the majoity of the tourists.

The temple is one of the largest, with an outer wall measuring 600 by 1000 metres, largely collapsed. The sanctuary is a square with sides of 120m. Some parts are inaccessible because the roofs caved in. It is a good idea to bring a flashlight if you want to scout the inner hallways. Be careful where you step, especially in the morning when all the stones are wet with the dew.

Nevertheless, Ta Prom is a sight not to be missed.

Bayon Temple, Angkor Wat

We stand before it stunned. It is like nothing else in the land. The Bayon is located in the center of the city of Angkor Thom 1500 meters (4921 feet) from the south gate. Enter tower of the Bayon is from the east.

Prasat Bayon was built in late 12th century to early 13th century, by the King Jayavarman VII, dedicated to BuddhistThe Bayon was built nearly 100 years after Angkor Wat. The basic structure and earliest part of the temple is not known. Since it was located at the centre of a royal city it seems possible that the Bayon would have originally been a temple-mountain conforming to the symbolism of a microcosm of Mount Meru. The middle part of the temple was extended during the second phase of building. The Bayon of today belong to the third and last phase of the art style.

Over 2000 large faces carved on the 54 tower give this temple its majestic character.

The faces with slightly curving lips, eyes placed in shadow by the lowered lids utter not a word and yet force you to guess much, wrote P Jennerat de Beerski in the 1920s. It is generally accepted that four faces on each of the tower are images of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and that they signify the omnipresence of the king. The characteristics of this faces - a broad forehead, downcast eyes, wild nostrils, thick lips that curl upwards slightly at the ends-combine to reflect the famous 'smile of Angkor'.