Day 2: Cambodia (Siem Reap)
Rise and Shine! And for the first time in our life, we actually had enough sleep for an overseas trip. Cos there's absolutely nothing to do at Siem Reap! And we are not beer drinkers even though beer is dirt cheap, say US$0.60 for draft (cheaper than Coke Light!).

So we slept at 9plus p.m the night before and woke at 7am on the 2nd day for breakfast.

Our 1st stop was Banteay Srei. This is a 3-star temple due to the intricate carvings and its colour - Red!









As usual, we had to cross a bridge (which represents a rainbow to heaven) in order to reach the temple.

I realised that as I age, I kinda prefer to take shots of my friends' back view.









I am so ready for a picture. But eyes looked so swollen! Lack of coffee. Hotel's coffee CMI.










Aha, the temple in its full view without me!















A view without the water.












Oh no, Mingxiong's legs are starting to give way!


















Note the deep carvings! Due to the delicate workmanship, we can still see the art very clearly even after like 900 years! The temple was built in the 10th century. Banteay Srei also means Citadel of the Women. Don't be mistaken, it was not dedicate to any Hindu Goddess. The name refers to its size and the delicacy of its decoration.












The building in front is the library. In every temple, there is always a library but all the scrolls were missing due to theft or due to the change in the kings, whereby the ruling king would destroy all the previous records. according to lao ye, it was also stolen due to the many wars Cambodia faced.














The 3 main shrines. Notice how bright it was. Yes, it was burning hot in the morning.













Pre Rup. Due to the countless falls at Banteay Srei and upon seeing the number of steep steps, Lao Ye decided to wait outside for us. Wise decision cos we were not gamed to carry him to the top!












A pic before we would venture up. Grrr....

Anyway Pre Rup is another 3-star temple as it lies on the same north south axis as the Eastern Mebon. It was built 9 years later after Eastern Mebon as the king was lazy to travel to Mebon to pray!












The view from the top!














Another winning pic ...












Ta Prohm.This is the temple where Lara Croft was filmed. It is also given 3-star due to the beauty of the aging trees growing amongst the temple.

Wenhui and I decided to take a back-step in posing for pictures. keke, afterall, we are far from looking like Angelina Jolie, especially in figure...sigh.





Hand in hand we stand. Rong strongly recommended lao ye to visit the temple. He volunteered to hold lao ye's hand and gave him extra support whenever we had to walk over boulders. We, girls, also helped. We have team spirit! (TS)









See how the trees entwined with the ancient ruins!

















Haha, we are like hobbits in front of the towering tree.


















A landscaped format keke.















Don't you love the green? It's the moss covering the building adding a sense of romance and mystery.













Look at the force of nature. Trees uplifting the temple causing a domino effect.
















Hei hei, do not look down at this simple tower. Magic is coming!


















"We, the citizens of Singapore ..." No lah, don't be silly. Wenhui was not reciting the pledge. She was pounding at her chest! Don't be idiotic again! It's not KING KONG!

When we pound our chest in this tower, an echo is produced. However, no echo can be heard when we speak. Interesting huh? We guess it is due to the frequency, keke.












Can you see the Apsara's head?














An umbrella for the tower...

















Another close-up of the domino effect.














It just stunned us how the trees even encroach the long passage way...















It's like a tree growing on top of the building!




























Temple in camouflage! Talk about army daze ...

Anyway, it was close to noon so it's time to KOON! haha...

Wenhui and I had to pack lunch for Lao Ye cos he really CMI. The funny thing was he told us he was trying to do some form of warm-up in the hotel room in order to strengthen the legs. He did this by walking and guess what? He fell while only walking to and fro in the hotel room and he fell on the extra bed which happened to be my bed!

Wenhui and I lunched outside at a restaurant called The Soup Dragon. Ice coffee was heavenly but we realised that all the restaurants in Old Market have no air-cons! Really do not understand why they like al fresco in the burning weather...
Preah Khan. It was 3pm, we left for the 2nd part of the tour without Mingxiong, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise for him. This temple is like Ta Prohm with many trees around. By that time, I was kinda getting ral sick about temples and Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. So whatever the tour guide said, i just nodded my head and nothing went in.






Our tour guide, Rong!














See ... same same...

Weather started to turn bad and we had to take shelter in this temple for about 10 minutes.












Neak Pean. This temple is interesting and also receives a 3-star rating. It is kinda built on an artificial island in the middle of a big basin. Two entwinged naga (serpeants) ringed the base of the temple. The temple was known to have healing effect due to the 4 elements associated with it. At each of the four sides of the basin are a mini santuary. Each sanctuary has a gargoyle taking the form of an animal. They are horse, elephant, ox and lion. The 4 gargoyles discharge into smaller square basins to each side in a form which replicates the sacred lake of Anavatapta in the Himalaya, venerated for its powers of healing.

It was here, where we met with torrential rainfalls. We had to take cover in a makeshift shelter meant for the musicians who were landmine victims. Luckily, it was vacated. While taking shelter, we made friends with some local people who also were shielding from the rain in the shelter. One of them is a relative of the locals and she's from America. She is lucky to have migrated to the Land of Gold when she was young.

Becos the wait was long, one of her relatives braved the rain and ran back to their car to get a super big canvas for us. Altogether about 8 of us held the canvas and ran back to our cars which was like 300 metres away. Suay! Mingxiong must be laughing at us!



The day ended with us witnessing the setting sun.













Lessons learnt:
1) Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma again!
2) Train for the numerous climbs and descent. If not, know your limits before you become like lao ye!

Interesting finds:
1) Ice-cream... there is this mobile cart selling ice-cream along the roadside. Very nice and their local ice-cream comes with glutinous rice!
2) Sweet Pancake. While going back to the hotel, we stumbled upon this mobile cart along the road selling pancake drenched in condensed milk....it's yummy and we went back for more on the following day!