Knyom Soksabay Awkun

Day One (evening): Sunset at Phnom Bakheng

After a bath at the guesthouse, both Sean and I wanted another bath and another one coz as soon as we were done, we were all sweaty again. We met 'Luck' downstairs who took us to the Main Entrance and Admissions to the temples. The Apsara Authority issues admissions for the following day after 5 p.m. which is also valid for that day itself. So with our passes valid between 16-Aug-2006 5 p.m. onwards until 19-Aug-2006, we happily headed for our first temple.

Along the way, you see many tourist either in their tuk-tuks, motordips or just taking their own sweet time cycling. And then Angkor Wat and it's surrounding moat comes into sight. That was in our itinery for the next day but I can already imagine the grandieur that will be upon us tomorrow.


Upon reaching Phnom Bakheng, we were welcomed by the sight of hordes of tourists all ascending the hill towards the temple ruins. According to many, that is the most well-known place to observe the sunset over Lake Tonle Sap on one side and the view of a distant Angkor Wat amidst the jungle on the opposite end; which explains the over-crowding. Some people took elephant rides up the hill instead of walking (which I felt was kinda cruel to the animals).


According to the Canby Guide (which we obtained much later on), this so-called temple mountain was the first major temple to be constructed marking the shifting of the capital of the Khmer empire from Roluos to Angkor in the late 9th century AD. It served as Yasovarman I's state-temple at the center of his new capital city Yasodharapura. Here are some of the pictures I took at Phnom Bakheng:











While awaiting the sun to perform its usual feat, some Cambodian kids treated us to some entertainment that deserved its own merit. And I got it down for viewing. I must say, they were rather good.






After the sun had done what it was supposed to do, Sean and I headed downhill as fast as we could before we got stuck in some kind of human traffic jam. Anyway, after yet another bath, we had our dinner at Arun Restaurant, a few blocks away from where we were putting up. This restaurant was supposedly famous for whipping out some good dishes at very reasonable prices. The food we ordered tasted good but I wasn't too sure the price was that reasonable. Sean and I shared a plate of 'Garlic Fried Rice' and a 'Fish Amok'. The dinner costs us rl 22,800 (RM 22.80) inclusive of drinks.

First day over; we decided to retire early since we were scheduled to leave our guesthouse before 5 a.m. the next morning to catch the sun performing yet another feat, but this time at Angkor Wat!

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posted by Hanson @ 8:55 PM