Our last and final day in Angkor. Also the last day on our pass. We cleared out our rooms, packed all our stuff. The sight of those heavy winter coats made us sigh.. soon we were going to leave this warm (in all aspects) country and head back to the cold.

We were slightly delayed in leaving due to the long line at check-out and met Sam at 08:45 outside our hotel. Sam was very chatty right from start and he gave us tons of information through out the day.

We started our long drive to Kbal Spean and got around to discussing life in Cambodia.. how almost every family owns coconut, mango and palm trees and how they sell these produce for their living. We enquired about palm fruit and soon Sam stopped at a local street side vendor that was selling them. We picked up 2 bags of juicy palm fruit.

Sam was mentioning about checking out Banteay Srei’s parking lot before heading to Kbal Spean but we were in for a shock.. there were about a dozen tour buses! We drove straight on. 

The parking at Kbal Spean was almost deserted except for a couple of pestery vendors who wanted to sell us their wares. They also mentioned they will remember us and look for us when we returned from the hike! After a quick bathroom stop we were on our way to the 1.5km one way hike. 

The path started out smoothly with a wooden bridge across a creek. The route slowly gained in height and difficulty. Even then the path was very well made out and maintained. There were steps carved out in earth, the rocks were also laid out in such a way that they could be clambered over without holding anything for support. I carried my camera in one hand and used the other for balance. And I’m not so fit!

There were roots and branches hanging along the way and the girls enjoyed swinging in them. The older called herself the hike leader and led the way. We also noticed many interesting rock formations along the way. We even named one as “Alien Rock” ‘cos that looked like a space ship!

There were rest stops every few meters and there were signboards indicating the distance left to the waterfall every 100 meters. But we didn’t need any breaks as the path fairly smooth and just difficult enough to keep us interested. We only met a few people returning and a few that over took us. 

When we reached the top there were hardly any people. We admired all the carvings at the little waterfall. The reclining Vishnu, Shiva and his consort on Nandi, the bull and the 100s of Lingas.

These images were carved between the 11th and 12th centuries during the Angkorian period by hermits who lived here. They believed this river, that flows to the Tonle Sap lake through the Angkor monuments, is sanctified by flowing over all the Shiva Lingas and the other carvings of Hindu deities.

We took a short break and had some snacks including the juicy palm fruit. There was lots of shade and some rudimentary wooden slabs for seats. It was pretty cool and the sound of water flowing was very soothing.

We then followed the river downstream. This path wasn’t clearly marked and only the rope along the edge of the river kind of directed us to where we were supposed to go. Though SC was hesitant if we were even supposed to go I noticed some visitors down below and decided to clamber over those rocks! This path was slightly more difficult. The river was flowing among dense foliage  and we could see more Shiva Lingas carved along the river bed. There definitely would have been at least a 1000 of them near the little falls, a little upstream and now downstream.

We climbed down some rickety wooden stairs to arrive at a taller waterfall. This setting was almost like the jungles from Indiana Jones’ movies. There were bunches of roots hanging from the rocks and the jungle was almost still.. except for the sound of the flowing water. All the tourists had left and it was just us alone enjoying some “jungle time”! 

The water, flowing over a 1000 Shiva Lingas, all the way down to Angkor… It definitely was holy, indeed! At a shallow point we all scooped up some water and washed our faces with it. It was so refreshing!

We then climbed back over the wooden stairs and were sort of confused about where and how to head back to the main route. We saw a gap in the rocks and passed through it. This gap was very tight and would allow only one person through. Once past the rock we again were lost about how to join the main path. We presumed it must be to our right and were almost on our way when we noticed our “alien rock” on the left. So we turned and soon joined the main path. Though it wasn’t the Alien rock we had encountered on our way up, we were mighty glad we did not get lost by taking the wrong path.

We had to be careful on our hike down as the path was slippery in many places. The sand over the rocks did not offer us any friction and after a few skids we were safely on flat ground. 

We were nearly drained out due to the heat and after some cold water, we were whisked off by Sam to the restaurant at Banteay Srei. The hike had taken a little more than 3 hours. The children were happy with the change from temples!

The restaurant at Banteay Srei was in a better shape and looked more upscale. As we were getting tired with rice and curry, we ordered fried rice and fried noodles. It wasn’t any better! The rice was over fried and hard and there wasn’t much flavour. We, of course, had some coconuts!

It was a bit of a walk from the restaurant to Banteay Srei in the afternoon sun. The sun was harsh and was burning on our skin. The only respite was it was popping behind clouds every now and then.

Beautiful things come in small packages.

A small temple, quite tiny by Angkorian standards, that was built in the 10th century is the most charming of all temples. It’s made of laterite and pink sandstone. However the treatment of pink sandstone is what makes it different. Lovely carvings, so neatly etched as if it were wood, makes this temple a treasure to relish.

There are many symbols of Hinduism carved on the pediments here. Indra on his elephant Airavatham and Mahalakshmi flanked by two elephants welcome you into the temple. There is also Nataraja with Karaikkal Ammaiyar – perhaps the only instance of their presence outside India. The apsaras and dvarapalas take a different shape here. 

We were thankful for the partly cloudy weather. The sun was scorching and the photos came out miserable. It was also pretty crowded. Whenever the sun came out we took a break in the shade and came out when the sun decided to take a break behind the clouds! So even though there were crowds, we managed to avoid most of them and enjoyed this charming little temple.

This was the last temple on our itinerary. This was a further 1 hour away from Banteay Srei and Sam gave us a ride while I took a nap in the car.

Beng Melea is an unrestored temple with a wooden walkway laid through out except for some parts where clambering over the fallen stones were allowed. It was supposedly built in the 11th century. No one quite know how the temple came to be thus. Some even suspected bombing by American forces during the war. Sam told us that the wooden walkway was laid for shooting of a movie and left in place since.

It was about 4:30 when we reached Beng Melea and after purchasing $5 tickets we were off to explore. The sun was pretty low down and the ruins were nearly empty except for a sprinkling of tourists who did not hover much. We walked as far as the dark tunnel and returned to the car in the 1 hour we had there.

On the way back I had a few minutes of the monument all to myself. There was absolutely no one else and I was wondering about how it would have been 10 centuries ago when the leaves started rustling in the breeze and the trees swayed every so slightly. Those few seconds were magical!

Back in the car, it took us about an hour and half to reach Pub street where we had dinner at Vanakkam India restaurant. The meal was simple but very well made. What was annoying was all the insects and bugs that they had let into the restaurant!

After dinner we took a walk along Pub Street and Old Market – Psar Chas. Pub Street was loud and the atmosphere energetic with the loud music and the lights. There was even a Happy New Year 2018 sign at the entrance! Many shops were closed in the Old Market as it was a Sunday. We also noticed the usual spread of fried insects and reptiles along the way.

The souvenir shops closest to Pub Street quoted exorbitant prices while those inside were reasonably bargain-able. We bought some more souvenirs from a shop inside the Old Market who was saying business was slow because of Sunday.

Then we rode a tuk-tuk back to our hotel, refreshed ourselves, picked up our luggages and went with Sam to the airport. Although I was completely drained, I enjoyed the last ride in this wonderful place with mixed feelings.

We bid good bye to Sam promising to come back to Siem Reap and to meet him again.

As we were checking-in for our China Eastern flight back to Tokyo my eyes fell on the fresco on the wall. Tears welled up in my eyes. 

Years of longing, months of researching and weeks of planning all ended in just 3 days. This beautiful country, warm people and those larger than life monuments… I cannot wait to come back here!

Flights – Siem Reap is serviced by nearly every major airline in Asia and very well connected to the rest of the world. We used China Eastern From Tokyo through Shanghai. Having traveled in a lot of different budget airlines I was not very happy with China Eastern. Their website could be more user friendly. We were served the same couscous with vegetables for all our meals since we had requested for vegetarian by calling up their Tokyo office. This was one airline where we had to switch off our electronic gadgets – Flight mode wasn’t sufficient. We also couldn’t switch on our mobile phones through out the flight. They were ok with using tables and laptops.

Out and About – We used Sam from Sam’s tuk tuk tours. When I contacted him about a month before our trip he said he doesn’t drive tuk tuks anymore but would put us on to his colleague who did. His prices seemed more reasonable compared to what our hotel quoted. He also had good reviews on Trip Advisor. He answered all my queries and handled all the itinerary changes patiently. He was also a wealth of information. He helped us minimise travel and took us to temples when they were least crowded. I wouldn’t even blink to hire him again if I were to return to Siem Reap, which I will!

For short trips between hotel and Pub Street and restaurants we used tuk tuks available outside our hotel and on the streets. It cost us $2 to Pub Street and $3 to Haven, which was a little further away.

Food – There were umpteen options for vegetarians – something we were skeptical about when we started planning for the trip. We requested for vegetarian curry (amok or khmer) with steamed rice in the eateries near the tourist sites and specifically told them no fish or meat. I heard they sometimes use Fish oil or fish paste in their cooking. There were more options in town. There were many establishments that served only vegetarian fare but we did not have time to try them. There were also many Indian restaurants near Pub Street

Spas – There was a spa every few hundred feet. Foot reflexology started at $1-2 at the night market and got as expensive as $30 in some upscale spas. We chose mid-range which was around $15 for 1 hour and pretty good.

Language – Almost everyone involved with tourism speak a little English. But it is preferable to use simple statements to communicate what you want.

Scams – As with all developing countries there are a few scams. One I heard of was a milk powder scam where a little girl with an empty bottle asks you to buy milk powder. Once you pay the shopkeeper and move away she returns the milk powder and gets half of what you paid. The other is where off-duty policemen offer guide services. It’s best to give them a firm No. 

Shopping – Many of the items are over priced in the markets (read souvenirs). It’s better to bargain starting at a price of about 50% of what was quoted. If the vendor offers to come down from his/her original, it’s worth continuing to bargain, else, just walk away. The interior shops offer better bargaining capacity than those directly outside popular spots. Elephant pants & T shirts cost $2. Some souvenirs $5. It’s not worth paying more. We did not buy jewellery.

For basics, supermarkets such as Angkor mini market or Lucky mall are very good options. Prices fair and neatly indicated.

Currency – The de facto currency is USD. The ATMs dispense USD for any foreign card. However they charge $5-6 as ATM fee. One USD is roughly 4000 Cambodian Riel. At very few establishments they return change in Riel if they do not have enough USDs. Try to use them wherever possible so that you don’t come back with too many Riels. Cambodians are very particular about the quality of USD. They will not accept torn or crumpled notes. Do carry a lot of lower denominations – $1, 5 or 10 which come in more handy than large ones like 50 or 100. I believe banks will also convert large denominations to smaller denominations for free.