Siem Reap - Anna Marina And The King at Angkor Wat

The second day of Angkor tour was the same good experience as the first day. Undoubtedly, Mr. Saly again drove us to the amazing historical places, Angkor Wat. We were actually a bit late for sunrise, but anyhow, we carried on the plan. We skipped breakfast at the hotel and asked Mr. Saly to stop at our usual place, Angkor Market, to get a pack of bread and mineral waters.

It was cloudy and gloomy. Similar to yesterday’s sunset, we thought of having no luck for today’s sunrise. The main goal was to see the reflection of the lotus buds-shaped towers. We arrived at the main opening area and saw Lion (yang berlubang di bontot nyer) and Naga balustrades on both sides of the causeway. In the distance, we saw straight in front of us, the greatest Hindu complex that was designed to represent Mount Meru, the home of Gods, Angkor Wat. Macam tak percaya je.
We walked the 350meters causeway towards the temple and along it; we saw some restoration works were currently being done. Beneath this causeway was a stretch of square-shaped man-made river canals that bordering the temple, built by Khmer people since Suryavarman era. You know how large is the whole size of Angkor Wat area? More than 200 acres! And the temple size itself? 1 square kilometer size! And that was why it was known as the “City Temple”.
The sky still dimmed and there was no sign of sun, rising from the east. We reached the first tower entrance and snapped pictures. What a wonderful landscape, with ancient blocks of sandstone that was properly assembled like legos, with beautiful extensive decorations of Hindu epics carved on the wall, though some were gone with the wind and aging, we still amazed.
To the left side before entering the tower, there was a square-shaped pond that full with lotus and…frogs…hehehe! Around the pond was the noted spot to view the reflection during the sunrise, but as expected, the sun has failed all of sightseers, including us. Some has waited since 5am in the morning, but to those who were considered lucky like us, 5am was still nice to be in bed. (We came at 7am. Haha!)
Anyhow, we did see the reflection la di celah-celah dedaun teratai itu. Jaaaaadi la.
We later walked into the main temple and started to explore. The murals, the windows, the steps, were awesome. It was huge that you had to walk from end to end of the first corridor, for about half and hour. So, times 4 la to complete only the square-shaped corridors!
Similar to Kecak Dance in Bali, the front mural also told us how Rama tried to save his wife, Sita, with the help of the great monkey, Hanuman. We walked in deeper into the temple and saw few deep pool-shaped complete with steps and platforms that we guessed, were the King’s pool where he had fun with his concubines. Hehe! Too many king’s fairytale, but its true though, we saw the same number at ancient’s Jogjakarta palace, where the king also had the same pool in his palace…with naked concubines siap pilih ha nak yang mana, masuk bilik, skang! Hahaha!
Seing again and again of apsara’s boobies made us wanted to snap more pictures with them. Hehe! This time, the focus was more ON the boobies, blurring out the subject, who was us. Hahaha!
We later reached the inner side of the temple and again, it was a square-shaped open hall.

A man offering us burned “colok”.

“Err…it’s ok…” I said.

He offered again.

I was wondering…should I or shouldn’t I…should I put the “colok” at the Buddha’s feet in order to respect his religion, or by doing that, I will make a sin to my religion…
I passed by him and walked away…being rude by turning him down, speechless.

“Wahhhh…ni la main tower nyer ek?” I lifted my head up.

There were 4 cardinal points of lotus buds-shape towers at every corner of the main tower. They were all looked the same, but I know they represented different names and motives. Bakan, and the 4 Gods of Hindu, if I wasn’t mistaken. Each towers had a very steep vertical stairs for monks to say their prayers, but it was closed due to unsafe condition. Hubby asked me to pose as a trespasser who tried to climb the wooden gate. Hahaha!
"U gi panjat pagar tu...I amik gambar...hahahaha!" and so this crazy wife did.Hubby walked from the inside of covered terrace, while I walked from the outer side of uncovered terrace. Just to cover all areas, afraid of skipping something interesting. Gile kan? I in fact, took some pose of dancing like Wonder Girls in Nobody, laying down on the floor like a tantrum child, walking like a zombie, and walking like a helpless girl with a heavy bag. Stupid kan? Hahaha! But it was fun!
We later went inside the main tower, where a bigger Buddha sat. There was another man waited there.

Offering two sticks of burned “colok”.

Not again.

I had no where to go, except walked towards him.
I faced down...and approached him.

He still offering. Think biqque...think!

AH! IDEA!

“Sorry…I’m muselim…” I had to say mu-SE-lim coz that's how Khmer people speak.

He bowed his head and smile.

LA KALO DARI AWAL AKU CAKAP CAMTU KAN SENANG. Hahaha! I told hubby to say the same thing, next time we encountered the situation again.

We had enough with the temple and made a move. I suddenly heard someone spoke in Bahasa and when I turned back, there were two guys and two girls busy snapping pictures of the temple.

“Dari Malaysia ke?”

“Haah…KL…” straightforward.

“Owh…kitorang pun dari KL gak…” I replied.
That was it. I suka jumpa orang Malaysia kat luar negara. Tapi susah gak orang kita ni nak bersembang. Lebih senang if jumpa omputih, confirm macam-macam yang bleh kita cerita. I rasa diorang tu budak-budak remaja yang masih belajar kot…saje jalan-jalan.

"Ape tu?" I questioned while looking at small heaps of clay.

"Ni busut anai-anai ni..."
"BANYAK GILE!" hubby screamed.
“Ok jom, cari si Saly ni…tah kat mana pulak dia tido arini…” hubby interrupted...yup, our tuk-tuk driver always sleep-waiting.

More pictures here!

Siem Reap - An Evening In Phnom Bakheng & Daging Naik Bukit

We asked Mr. Saly, “Jauh tak tempat tengok sunset tu?” our main concern.

“Tak brapa la…dalam 200 meter…”

We looked at each other. Another long walking distance. Mesti kena panjat bukit ni! (Phnom is hill in Khmer.) We looked at the entrance, quite a high land. Kitorang bermusahabah diri sebelum membuat keputusan. Mesti Mr. Saly ni kata kitorang ni gila sebab tak penat-penat nak berjalan. Hahaha!

“Ok, kita naik! Nanti tunggu di mana?” “Sana…” Mr. Saly showed the place where all tuk-tuk drivers waited for their passengers.

We hopped down the tuk-tuk and headed to the Phnom Bakheng checking ticket area. There were two paths in reaching the temple, elephant path or panoramic path. Since we were 100% sure that we were going to walk, of course we had to choose panoramic path. (If you guys see this path on the map, you will definitely say that we are crazy!) The sun didn’t show any orangish sign. Battling with gravity walking zig-zagly upwards on clay in the middle of Khmer jungle, quite frustrating and tiring. We stopped at the middle of the journey and joined the old folks and believe me, we were the youngest! See how un-fit we were! Looking at the windy and gloomy sky, we blamed and scolded our own madness. We later continued the 200 meters which FINALLY, reached the front wall of the temple. (Baru front wall ni!) Few local aunties walked towards the jungle to have a pee. Soooo Cambodian style bebeh! Hancing plak tuh! (How do I know? Coz I climbed the temple stairs, right behind them! Choyyy!) Once we entered the complex, the place was too huge and high until we can barely see the temple top. We had to climb up these very STEEP stairs to reach the top and I don’t know how those monks did this, in their yellow clothes, back in their days! Tips? Take off your shoes and climb sideways! (And why locals came here too? I have no answer for it.)

The sunset crowd started to pick their own spot. Facing the Tonle Sap for a panoramic view, we also saw Angkor Wat from a distance. But…but… …rain was coming…and…and…falling… Few sightseers lost the battle to the rain and started to walk down the temple. But those who with umbrellas (like us), raincoat (not more than 5 persons), big lenses (many many many pro photographers) stayed. We laughed at ourselves since our RM3 umbrella can’t really last long…water started to come from the tip of the handle. Hahahahaha! BUT WE STAYED! At last, the rain stopped…but the sky almost turned darker and darker. We were forced to go back by the guide, afraid that we couldn’t reach down at the expected time. We were the last 4 small groups who left behind. Hubby and I started to panic and walked like crazy rhinos, pushing everyone to the side. Hahaha! (But we lost to one Japanese guy and his guide who walked twice crazy than us!) At the middle of going down, we finally, got a chance to see sunset, FROM THE PLATFORM THAT WE STOPPED on the way up just now! HUH! BUANG MASA JE PANJAT SAMPAI ATAS! Hahahaha! We laughed and two British couple, who wore raincoat at the temple top just now, who have been to Sabah and Langkawi, stopped and laughed with us as well. Hahahaha! The surroundings were getting darker. I, the short-sighted, started to complain not seeing anything on the road. We reached the checking area, and saw Mr. Saly was looking for us. Sian dia. Mesti takut kitorang hilang or sesat. Dah la dia kata takde orang M’sia yang jalan camni. Hahahaha! Rileks la Mr. Saly… He droved us back to the hotel and promised to bring us to the famous Cambodian “daging lembu naik bukit” nearby. Huh! That sacred dish! The one that my officemate told me to try! Cooked by a “tok kadi” at his own house! WOW! After got ourselves cleaned, we met Mr. Saly and he drove us to meet “tok kadi” who actually was “pak imam/mufti” of Siem Reap! He just finished his Maghrib prayer and came to greet us. (Oh boy, I wore baby-T plak tuh!) This family restaurant was actually his house and located behind a mosque. 70% of the villagers were Muslim.

His helper later prepared the stove and ingredients. He brought butter, soup, red meat, vegetables, rice and the Korean-BBQ shaped pot. Ustaz Musa suddenly stood up and started cooking.

“Eh Ustaz? Takpe ke ni?” we shy-shy cat.

“Takpe…kalau dua orang, takpe…kalau ramai, tak boleh la…” he smiled.

While cooking, we asked him how this dish was prepared and marinated, who knows we can try it at home. Hehe! And the result??? MASYAALLAH SEDAPNYERRRRR! SUPER DELICIOUS! USD8 for two persons and we can’t even finish the rice! (Yes, makan lauk je, hehe!)

TERIMA KASIH USTAZ MUSA! (Camne nak buat? Klik sini.)

More pictures here!

Siem Reap - Tomb Raider at Ta Prohm

Mr. Saly, the tuk-tuk driver has driven us to all the enormous noted listed temples and waited there, patiently. First stop was Baphuon, three-tiered temple that was built to honor Hindu god, Shiva, which later being converted to Buddhist temple. Anyhow, it didn’t stay long and collapse few years later. There was a very large reclining Buddha inside, but we were too lazy to go in.
We then passed by few small and unpopular temples called Prasat Suor Prat, opposite to Terrace of Elephant. The road was dusty till we had to cover our face with bags, but the scenery was so picturesque. Hawkers selling their products, tuk-tuk drivers resting under giant trees, what a superb panorama.
About 10 minutes journey, we saw a Victory Gate upfront, and asked Mr.Saly to stop over. This gate was one of the 5 gates, also the boundary of royal road of Angkor Thom, which we noticed that we had to pass few more temples like Terrace of The Leper King, Tep Pranam and Preah Pithu and Preah Palilay. Few snapped of pictures, off we go.
We also passed by Thommanon and Chau Say Thevoda and stopped for few pictures. Hubby was so happy to pose with his blue umbrella and walked his feet high and dazzlingly like a soldier. Haha! We also stopped at Spean Thma and started to give an awe-aspiring look towards two trees that almost buried all cube bricks underneath it. Scary!
It was 40 minutes past 1 and we didn’t have our lunch yet. Looking at Ta Keo on our left has made us fail to remember how rice looked like. This sandstone temple was built by three generations of King Jayavarman, Jayaviravarman and Suryavarman. Under the hot sun, I didn’t have anymore energy to climb up. Thus, hubby just snapped few pictures from the stairs, downwards and upwards.
We turned back to our tuk-tuk and we saw Mr. Saly sedapppp je minum air kat kedai depan. Sedapnyeee! He invited us and negotiated with the waitress to get us two fresh coconuts with ices, for 1USD! Good, good! Sambil basahkan tekak, kitorang sembang pasal Malaysia and Cambodia, termasuklah Negara South East Asia yang lain macam Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Memang best cerita pasal history, especially pasal kekejaman Pol Pot. (When you have your breakfast next time, just think that your nasik lemak cost can get one Cambodian family a breakfast, lunch and dinner.)
Before we made a move, hubby took a chance to pose on Mr. Saly’s tuk-tuk, as the driver. Haha! Since it was difficult to get Muslim food around this site, we ate our packed bread and shared with Mr. Saly a piece of it, as he also didn’t take his lunch yet. We continued a 5 minutes journey and stop at one of the most popular temple, Ta Prohm. Mr. Saly told us to walk in and meet him over the other side of the temple. Owh, nice, one way in and one way out, so nothing to miss out.

After 100-150 meters of walking on straight dusty clay road in jungle environment, we FINALLY reached this temple! (Bahbi tul! Jauh rupanya! Nasib baik jalan elok!) It was dedicated to King Jayavarman’s mother and also known as tree-in-temple due to fig and silk-cotton trees grew on top of the towers and corridors. We started to have jaw dropping each time we saw giant trees. Unlike other temples, this temple was partially restored and we saw many bricks left unorganized on the jungle floor.
We went inside and saw many tourists on both sides of the temple. More and more giant trees were found which some had to clinging to construction iron stacks. There were danger areas too, so you have to walk carefully, according to trails that have been equipped. (We at first, walked through a different way, but finally managed to find a correct path by following other’s tourist guide…hehehe!)
“Ha tu!” “APE???” “Pokok tempat Lara Croft berlakon tu la…”
“HA AMIK GAMBAR! AMIK GAMBAR!” I shouted happily.

The restorer has actually provided a platform with ring around it, for the purpose of pictures taking by tourist. So never go beyond the ring ya (kang kuar ular ke ape ke, tatauuuuu...). Quite a number of tourists waited to take pictures and we had to be the last since I wanted ours to be a boxing scene. Haha! Not to forget, the apsara dancing pose too!We continued 20 meters and walking around the temple and found ourselves approaching the exit. If I’m not mistaken, we had to go out using one of the side small door, for the main door (inside part) has nearly collapsed.

“Amik gambar dulu…” “Ok, dah…”

We stopped for a while.

“Mana si Saly ni?” We looked around, hoping to see Mr. Saly with his tuk-tuk, waiting for us. We saw a long dusty clay road before us.

“Don’t tell me kita kena…” “Haah, kena jalan lagi ni!” “AAAAAHHHH!” We sighed.

Yes, we walked another 100-150 meters before we met Mr. Saly and his tuk-tuk. Berpeluh sakan! Lucky we were served with traditional instrumental song by land-mine victims (8-10 of them) who played for their funds. Pity them, but I didn’t donate la. (The funny part was, they will only play whenever someone is approaching. Ye la, kalo tak, penat la kan…)

Next stop was Banteay Kdei. But due to poor construction plan and materials, almost part of it had collapsed. Since no sign of who’s this temple was built for, it was left untold. We had a quick snapshot and walked out from the site.

“Ma’am, one for one dollahhh, one for one dollahhhh” a small girl approached us.

“No thanks…no…” I smiled and continued walking.

“Please buy this bangle, buy from me, one for one dollahhh…” she stopped. “Ok, two for one dollahhh…” she insisted.

“It’s ok…I don’t wear bangle…” I looked front.

“Where are you coming from?”

“You guess.”

“Philippines?” “Nope.” “Thailand?” “Nope.” “Indonesia?” “NOPE.”

“Then where are you coming from?”

“Hahaha…Papua…you know where Papua is? Haaa…you don’t know…” hubby teased her.

…there was a long pause. “No…”

“How old are you?” I asked her. She was small…my shoulder height, beautiful eyes with mascara, tanned skin, pony-tailed hair, and hideous sandals.

“Thirteen…” British slang. Wah!

“Thirteen? But you look small…” I don't think she's thirteen.

She grinned and spoke loudly “We are Cambodian, such a big country but small people…” British slang again.

“Hahahahahahaha!” we laughed.

“Here, I give you 2 bangles…for free! Take!” she gave us a kitty looks.

“Errr…it’s ok…” contemplated. “Take, free…free…I like you…”

“Aww…” I hugged her. What a nice girl. We took and straight away wore it.

“For good luck!” she added. (Cambodian good luck means have a very good, luck…not good luck for your exam k…)

We waved at her and walked towards the Srah Srang, a multi-tiered platform baray opposite Banteay Kdei. It was guarded by Naga (not dragon but snakes with multi-heads) and lions. These guardians were facing a square lake that has a temple that will poke out from the middle of the lake during dry season. (But I don’t see any temple pun.)
“Macam gelap je ni…nak tengok sunset ke kat Phnom Bakheng ni?” hubby questioned.

“Ala dah sampai, tengok je la…”

“OK, JOM!”

More pictures here!