Flipping through the pages of my history textbook in Cambodia: Day TWO

21st September,2014
Siem Reap

Awake by 5:30 and uncontrolled excitement! The taxi driver was punctual and we set off to buy our tickets to enter Angkor archaeological park ; lack of pre-planning made us spend 20$ again for a one day pass instead of which a three-day pass of 30$ would have saved us 10$ each. Nonetheless, the view was far more valuable than any amount of $$.

Sitting on the library steps and waiting for Mr.Sun to show up, how crowd was building up! Watching the number of people coming in, I was reminded of what the guide told us the day before that I didn't think was plausible at that time but believed with no doubt now; he said an average of 3 million pictures of the Angkor were taken in a day.  Most of us crowded by the lotus pond which is clearly the most scenic to view the three domes of the temple.
6:15 and he rose, made his presence felt to the mere humans who reacted by going camera crazy. The indescribable beauty left ALL of us in a collective meditative trance. Divine, the sunrise was divine. The reflection of  sun rising above temple domes in the humble pond was no doubt the best view I've witnessed so far. The humble pond betrayed the enormous pride it was capable of; for its untold responsibility was immense. I bow my head down to you King Suryavarman II and the exquisite craftsmen who built this place, respect and appreciate the thought and intellect behind the architecture of this place. Many centuries after we continue to pay respect to this captivating structure,so intelligently built to augment the beauty of nature.

Today was a special day, little did we know of this when we planned our trip and it turned out to be our bonus! Today, the 21st of September was two days away from the Equinox and more specifically when the sun shines directly on the equator and the sun rises due east. The exquisiteness with respect to the temple was that the sun rose directly over the central temple dome, a rarity that happens only twice a year.
I hope the picture does little justice to how celestial it really felt.

Feeling grateful to have witnessed this morning, we headed back to the hostel for a quick breakfast.

 BANTEAY SREI :
This 10th century temple dedicated to Lord Shiva lies north east of Angkor Thom and took us a journey time of half an hour. The stark difference between Banteay Srei and the temples we went to yesterday is this temple is largely made of red sandstone. Much of it looks like its been ravaged by pilfering and vandalism, but the carvings that remain are elegant. The apsaras, the motifs and the depiction of Lord Shiva. An interesting carving I noticed was that of the fight between Vali and Sugreeva. This temple,for a change was not built by a monarch but by the spiritual leader to King Jayavarman V.  The lotus pond added to the charm with the pink blossomed lotuses.
The smaller temple complex makes a vivd statement with the intricate carvings and pinkish sandstone.

 BENG MEALEA:
  Tucked away to the east of the Angkor , this temple was my favorite visit. The entrance to this broken down temple complex has huge blocks of stone lying in a pile and a broken down naga .This temple is privately owned and an entry ticket of 5$ has to be purchased. This mostly unrestored out-of this world place was built in the 12th century and remains enchanting in shambles. A maze of wooden planks and walkways constructed make it easier to explore around. The generous trees support the existing structures, giving them shape and beauty.I was exploring the temple awestruck and in silence. The emotion was that of romance between the trees and stones, intertwined in love. The inseparable two formed scenic beauty that takes you far away from reality, back in time to a different century. Surreal! I'd strongly urge fellow travelers to include this temple in their itinerary.

BAKONG AND PREAH KO :
   These two smaller temples were devoid of tourists. Bakong is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva  built like a mountain, the structure ascending vertically. The four levels guarded by Rakshas, Nagas, Garudas. Some restoration was going on with wooden scaffolding on one of the towers on the ground which I believe would be one of the libraries.
Preah Ko, was similar to Bakong and one thing I instantly noticed as a Hindu- the Nandi statue. Pleasantly surprised to spot the Nandi Statue (Sacred bull of Lord Shiva).

This was the last of our temple visits in Cambodia.
After the enriching journey in history, we were sadly drawn to the present.

Back in the central town, we wondered what we could do for the evening. After weighing our choices ,we decided to watch "Phare, The Cambodian Circus" and amble about Pub street later that night.

  PHARE, A Cambodian Circus :
This unique entertainment has a great cause behind it. They had a social mission and that of promoting Cambodian modern art and provide sustainable employment to Cambodian youth. The performers for the night did an amazing job! A refreshing and new performance. The performance was Sokrias (the eclipse) ,with a blend of dance, song, acrobatics and interesting storyline, it was thoroughly enjoyable! One of the best I've watched. Hats off to the performers, the high energy, the charming expressions, the dedication. Absolutely worth the money!
Please explore more http://www.pharecambodiancircus.org/circus/ .
Squeeze it in your itinerary when you are in Siem Reap, you won't be disappointed.



We ambled by Pub Street and the night market. Bought small bayon,apsara souvenir and the famous "elephant" print pants.

*Do consider including the other farther off temples in your itineraries, including Koh Ker(the incan temple), Preah Vihear,  Kbal Spean(The valley of a 1000 lingas), the waterfall at Phnom Kulen (the mountain from where the stones used to build the Angkor Vat were sourced).
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 The "one dollar, my lady" ringing in my ear as I board the flight for KL.Thank you Cambodia for a unique vacation!

Flipping through the pages of my history textbook in Cambodia: Day ONE

Siem Reap province is located in the northwest of the Kingdom of Cambodia. It translates literally to "Defeat of Siam"; Siam refers to Thailand.
 It boasts of the Angkor Wat ,the largest religious structure in the world and attracts about 3 million tourists a year, one of the most visited places in South East Asia.
Here's my account of the visit to Siem Reap.

20th September,2014
Siem Reap

Stepping into the humid sticky heat of Siem Reap on a Saturday morning, our vacation began. The airport is small and you can't get lost even if you try. The Visa On Arrival (VOA) counter was to our left as soon as we walked into the airport. The process was simple and fast involving filling up  of the visa application,one passport size photo and visa fees of 20$. Once submitted, a page is attached to your passport with a validity of 1 month. Took a 5$ tuk-tuk ride to the hostel we were staying at, Jasmine Family Hostel. The room wasn't cleaned out yet,so we left our bags at the reception albeit the passport and important things. Over a quick breakfast ,we drew circles on the map of the Angkor planning the day ahead.

        We had emailed Sam Pho(http://www.angkordriver-sam.com/), a tour guide about our arrival and possible itineraries before coming to Angkor. Very impressed with his promptness in replies and detailed suggested itinerary ,we decided to go ahead with him. Greeted by Mr. Pol and tuk-tuk driver Mr.Hoy at 10:30am, we began our temple visits!
 

ANGKOR WAT :
   You must posses a temple pass to visit the temples in the Angkor Archeaological Park. You can purchase the passes for a day,three days or seven days. We bought the one day pass that cost 20$. The passes are checked for at the entrance of every major temple, so make sure to keep them somewhere safe.My romancing with the breeze and tall trees that lined the road was cut short by the sight of a huge lake, the broad man-made moat around the mighty Angkor Wat. The reflection of the Angkor outer wall on the rather clean moat water was stunning. Stone lions with missing tails (because the plunderers stole the iron rod used in the tail) and Nagas(mythological Snake) flank the causeway across the moat.   Angkor literally means "city" and wat means "temple". King Suryavarman II and is men  took over 37 years to complete the temple structure as we see it today and work started on it in the 11th century. Angkor was the capital then and temple is dedicated to Hindu God, Lord Vishnu. We saw the three beautiful domes of the main temple as we entered in through the outer gate. There is a long causeway connecting the outer enclosure to the main temple. One doesn't realize the vastness of area until you enter past the outer gate. HUGE! 400 sq km and well maintained.  Manicured gardens and lush green on either side. Libraries are pressent on either side, one for the women and other for the men or one for higher sect of people and the other for the lower sect (Hindus had a prevalent caste system). A lotus pond on the left, in the garden gives the best photographic opportunity to capture the reflection of the main temple. The temple is stunning, every meticulous carving, the planned architecture, the stories on the walls. One wide wall has the entire epic "Mahabharatha" carved on it precisely. Another wide wall with epic "Ramayana". Another with churning of the cosmic ocean where Lord Vishnu is in the Koorma Avatar (Tortoise holding the mountain on his back to prevent it from dissolving while the churning happens). One with King Suryavarman II ,the monarch himself and the life in those times. The heart of the temple is the central tower with steep stairs leading to an idol of Lord Buddha ,although I read the history that says an idol of Lord Vishnu was here.  The temple was converted into a Buddhist one (and still remains so) in the 14th century by the Kings ruling at that time.
The temple lives up to the hype and more than that. Unbelievable architecture and precision and to think of the timeline when it was built.

View from the library

The King Suryavarman II

                                                         

One of the libraries

The Buddhist influence.

     

The library for the Brahmins.

After a tiring 90 minutes around the Angkor Wat and it's many towers, we headed to Ta Prohm in the tuk-tuk. Hoy was kind enough to provide us with chilled water and a wet tissue. We passed by  Bantaey Kdei on the way to Ta Prohm and glanced at it. Bantaey Kdei was built by Jayavarman VII  dedicated to his teacher. The route also showed us Srah Srang reservoir, or a "royal bathing pool", vast! Quite a swimming the king wanted!

TA PROHM:
       We exited Angkor Thom through the "Victory gate"  to reach the famous "Tomb Raider" temple. Was originally called "RajaVihara", came to be known as Ta Prohm, and now as the Tomb Raider temple. Was constructed by Jayavarman VII and is dedicated to his mother. The beauty of this temple lies in its relationship with nature. The big silk-cotton trees grown on the ruins and beautifully so. The big towering trees look like they own the ruins. Not much remains of this structure and a few scenic pictures, we headed out to get some lunch.

The famous tree structure that holds uncanny resemblance to that of a buttock!

                                                               Spot the dinosaur!                                                        

We stopped for lunch at a place a little off Ta Prohm and in an attempt to try local cuisine, we ordered for the vegetarian version of "Amok" along with some rice and a soup , if my memory recalls correctly "Khmer soup". DELICIOUS!

TERRACE OF THE LEPER KING AND TERRACE OF ELEPHANTS:
     We then explored the terrace of the leper king and the terrace of the elephants. Both the terraces are alongside each other. Opposite the terrace are two broken down structures and a field where the King would be entertained. The terrace was a podium for the King Jayavarman VII to view his victorious army returning. The terrace of the Leper King is called thus because of the statue of the king, the original is kept safe at the National Museum at Phnom Penh, and the one here is the copy. The statue with no fists and a shorter structure. Some historians also believed that Jayavarman VII was a leper,although there is no evidence supporting it.
     The bas-reliefs are mostly elephants and apsaras. But most of all,the one I was impressed by was that of an angry guard.

The Angry Guard

BAYON TEMPLE:
    Our next stop was Bayon Temple. By far the temple I enjoyed most because of the symmetrical carved smiling Buddha faces.It is believed that King Jayavarman VII built this temple for himself and to signify the 54 provinces he ruled. It is geographically placed at the center of Angkor city but built many years after Angkor Wat. The four faces in each signify different traits including those of sympathy and compassion. The uniqueness yet perfect symmetric of the faces intrigued me,impressive.The boddisattva looks at peace. The stories of a common man's life at Angkor crafted on the walls were interesting and not far from life as we know it today.
    We took the quintessential picture of the nose touching that of a smiling buddha face! the cheap camera trick with hilarious outcome.

With a choice of watching sunset at the hill Phnom Bakheng and the other temple of Preah Khan, we chose the latter. Watching the sunset from Bakheng Hill is mostly on every tourist's itinerary,we saved it for the following day.

We exited Angkor Thom through the North gate.

PREAH KHAN:
    The king Jayavarman VII dedicated this temple to his father. This temple I noticed had many shiv lingams and also structures with buddha in hermit pose.One of the walls had Lord Vishnu in the sleeping pose as well. The temple is spread over a wide area and most of it in ruins. Nonetheless, this temple had lesser crowd and a huge relief to be able to explore it in peace.
Having some time to spare before heading back, we relaxed our tired legs on top of the building next to the library with a view of the ruins. I sat there in that peace contemplating on how life would have been during Jayavarman's reign. The King and his royal family lived a grand life.

The headless guards.

For some strange reason,they only cut off the heads.

Hermit Pose

We exited the walled city through the south gate, with demons gods on one side and devas on the other, holding the naga or the snake and churning the cosmic ocean(Hindu Mythology). Of all the gates we went by today,the South gate is the best preserved.

South gate with the devas and asuras on either side.

The guide told us about Koulen Restaurant which has Apsara dance shows every night and a buffet dinner of local cuisine. We decided to try it out. The buffet was extensive but the vegetarian that I am, my options were limited. The places were booked,but we managed to get decent seats where we could view the dance. The talented pretty ladies swayed gracefully to the music, there is a striking similarity to Bharathanatyam, although the movements in the dance are subtle and slow.

The tuk tuk ride of 15$ along with the guide fees 35$ seemed well worth it. Back at the hostel, we checked with Sam Pho on our itinerary for the following day ; Watch Sunrise over the Angkor, Bantaey Srei, Beng Melea, Bakong, Preah Ko and spend the night at Pub Street. He suggested we hire a taxi as these temples are farther off from Angkor Thom.

Retired for the night anticipating a great view of sunrise in the morning.






 

Cameron Highlands

Cameron highlands is a pleasant hill station at 1500 mt above sea level in the state of Pahang,Mayalsia . Situated in the northwestern tip of Pahang, it's a small hill station with vast green sceneries and rolling tea estates.
Desperately in need of respite from the Penang heat and monotony,four of my friends and I decided to go to Cameron Highlands for the weekend.

April 11th,2014
Friday: 2pm

           The bus from Sungai Nibong to Cameron highlands was empty except for the five of us! The bus cost us 38RM and in my opinion,the seats should available till even  the day before your travel. The bus service run is Uniti Express(the name mentioned on the bus,but various travel agents will give you tickets),that's the only bus from Penang. Started half past two and the driver stopped at Butterworth for twenty minutes. The bus route has a stop at Ipoh, therefore quite a number of people got on the bus from Butterworth. The bus cruised on the highway with vast open lands on either side. We reached Ipoh at 4pm and stopped for about 20 minutes to freshen up. Ipoh is a quaint place, with agreeable weather and mountains in the hindsight. Seemed to me like a quiet little town where one would want to retire. The next two hours was one of the best drives I've ever been on(how I wish I was driving this stretch though). The drizzle on the windows, the curvy roads, the man-made outlets for the water on these mountains which formed gorgeous small waterfalls. So calming ,the sight of green topped mountains in the far distance. The only thing missing was being unable to eat the fresh air! Stuck in the Air-conditioned bus, I could hear the gushing winds taunt me. As our destination approached, there was some amount of a traffic clog. I rephrase, a lot of traffic!! It's a popular tourist spot for the Malaysians and foreigners alike.
      We reached the chilly hills at 7pm. Chilly is a relative term here. Living and working in Penang for the last few months lets you appreciate temperatures below even 20 degree Celsius!  Cameron comprises of a series of townships of Tanah Rata,Brinchang, Tringkap , Kuala Terla and Kampung Raja. We had a hotel booking at Tanah Rata, but one can alight at Brinchang as well that comes first while entering the highlands. I would suggest that one stays at either Tanah Rata or Brinchang (apart by approximately five kilometers). We made a cheaper accommodation booking at "Kisabel Hotel"  which is located in Tanah Rata, in the same building structure where the bus drops us off. The hotel is suitable only for single travellers or a quiet bunch of friends, a budget hotel with just the basics and a drab view as well!. We were greeted by two Malaysian Indians who run the place. A modest reception with a giant TV, a sitting area, a fish pond. The number of rooms is limited and we took the double bedroom with attached bathroom and a triple bed room with an attached bathroom. No complaints of the place, you get what you pay for..and this place brims with tourists!
         With the night left at our disposal, we hired a taxi (only mode of transport around here and slightly expensive) that cost us 12RM to Brinchang for the night market (Pasar Malam). The market was good! My favourite and must do in this market -
 (1) Eat the strawberry coated with chocolate sauce available for 2RM. Delicious!! The fresh sourness of the strawberry makes your taste buds twitch and the sweetness of the chocolate gushes in to compensate. Ah!
 (2) Sample some of the local fruits and vegetables. I didn't find them very fresh although the the taste was thoroughly enjoyable. I sampled a green fruit(Jeruk Jambu) that I've never tasted previously, it was mouthwatering sweet!
 (3) The cactus pots. Tiny pots of cactus are sold for 3RM and above and well worth it. Many varieties of cacti.
  After dinner at a Chinese restaurant and a pot of Chinese tea, we waited a while for a taxi back to Tanah Rata. It was 10:30pm in the night and the hill station was asleep, after waiting by the taxi stand for twenty minutes with no luck,we decided to ask someone. Opposite the taxi stand at Brinchang, is a hotel by the name "Jasmine", we asked the Chinese lady there if she knew any taxi driver whom we could phone up and call. She luckily had one and called on the taxi for us. The fare back to Tanah Rata was 20RM. Retired for the night




























April 12th,2014
Saturday
 Cameron has many jungle trails ,small hikes to offer. We decided to go for a hike that morning. We left for Robinson Falls (Trail 9/9A) at 8am in the morning. After some repetitive cycles of getting lost and looking around, we finally got the way to Robinson. The directions are simple, Follow the road from Tanah Rata towards Brinchang till you reach the "Terminal Fressia" bus stand  junction, take a right there (follow the board with directions towards MARDI). Walk down that road to see MARDI(an agro technology park) on your left and continue ahead, till you read the signboard to Robinson Falls.
       The falls isn't remotely "spectacular". It's a waterfall of muddy rainwater, was disappointed at the sight of it. Due to the rains every afternoon the rocks were slippery. A caution on that. After a quick stop for a photo, we continued along the jungle trail. The path has many signboard of the jungle trail paths. We decided to follow the signboard of 9/9A, that leads one to the BOH tea estate. Do a little research on the jungle trails and pick according to your fitness level. Hiking always excites me and this trail was nothing less than exciting. The smell of the rain-drenched soil,the contrasting lush green against the brown wet tree barks was a magical sight. We spotted many exotic flowers(unfortunately don't known the common or botanical names), wild mushrooms and small pretty birds. The jungle trails here are fortunately not very commercial and unspoilt by human littering. We reached towards some part of a tea estate(which we later found out to be BOH). Unknowing whether there's a path ahead,we re-traced our way back towards Robinson Falls and caught the road from where we entered. It was "stroll", a very easy path we hiked today. Nonetheless, a morning well spent!
        Hungry, we found a place called "Kumar" , similar to a Nasi Kandar and ate comfort Indian food. The rain came and how! About 2 pm and the it was pouring! We tried our options with many tours and travels about half-day tours we could do for that day. Unfortunately, no one had anything that pleased our needs and suggested that we do any of the tours the following morning as the rains wouldn't subside in sometime. We finalized a half-day tour with "T.J Nur Travel & tours" in Tanah Rata for the following morning and had the rest of the day to our leisure. In the evening,we took a stroll around Tanah Rata, the weather was delightful!  We ambled about admiring bungalows, a Chinese temple and nurseries with stunningly fresh and colourful flowers. We went down to the main park near the "Terminal Freesia", took the road behind it, that lead to us to a winding sloping road from where we could get a pretty view of a part of Cameron Highlands. We sipped our steaming cup of tea at "Lord's cafe" and tasted some of the best apple scones! Highly recommended to visit this place and taste some of the delicious apple scones.
     Tucking myself into bed that night,I got thinking how unfortunate it is that the natural beauty is gradually being destroyed for more "resorts" and tourist purposes. The lopsided balance of urbanisation versus preserving the existing beauty. It's left to us to bring that balance.

     

April 13th,2014
Sunday
    We were at T.J at 9am in the morning. We hopped onto a jeep and started for our tour. We were in to cover the rolling views of the BOH tea estates, the mossy forest at Gunung Brinchang and the peak itself, a factory visit to BOH tea estates again, ending with the butterfly farm and  strawberry farm. A half day tour from 9am to 1pm and cost us 50RM each. Our bus back to Penang was at 2:30pm , so this worked out fine. The roads up to the tea estate and Gunung Brinchang are sloping upwards and a rather tough drive without a jeep or 4-wheel drive. The view of the rolling tea estates can easily qualify for a perfect postcard picture.  The tour guide did a good job of explaining about the estates and its establishment, the process of tea processing. After spending around half an hour walking through the tea plantations we hopped onto the jeep towards Gunung Brinchang. The peak is the second highest mountain in Cameron highlands at 2000mt above sea level.There is a watchtower where you can get a panoramic view of the place, the hills and valleys, tiny villages and towns and Ipoh as well. The number of tourists here were enormous and everyone waited their chance to climb up the watchtower and squeezed to get good pictures. I found it rather dull, not a great view. We went down to the mossy forest next. This forest is claimed to be one of the oldest forests in Malaysia. It was genuinely beautiful. The natural environment of moss,ferns, lichens,orchids and pitcher plants.We got an up close view of the pitcher plants, which was a new experience for me. This plants look so tiny, to think they actually blow up to carry 3 litre of water in them. Amazing! Wild orchids was another exciting sight for me, gorgeous is an understatement! The atmosphere in this forest was cool, chilly, in the guider's words "natural air condition". We explored this area for about 30 minutes before starting back. It's not a hike,trek really, just a walk inside to explore the flora.Our next stop was the BOH tea estate, where we sipped a cup of fresh tea(don't take the tea bags, just buy and drink them at home!) and watched a plethora of tourists swarm the place.The tea factory has a small tour you can take to see the tea processing(nothing impressive).We bought a few tea bags and tea for home.Next the butterfly farm. A small enclosure with butterflies, pretty butterflies fluttering around oblivious to us humans prying. Even though it was a small area, the butterflies sure were beautiful. Stopped at a strawberry farm afterwards, it was just to purchase some fresh strawberries. The rain gods blessed us with a heavy downpour by then and we were soaked to our bones. The half day trip was not entirely worth the money in my opinion, but "pitcher plant" and the "orchids" in the mossy forest was the highlight. So much delight  to have seen it in its natural environment,something I can't see back in India.
       We made it time for our bus back to Penang,packing lunch before boarding the bus at 2pm.Slept for most of the way down to Ipoh and the Penang. Back home by 8pm in the night. *the traffic descending the hill was a pileup, weekend traffic from Cameron is heavy*

The trip to Cameron Highlands was a refreshing break from the monotony of life. The quaint little towns in Cameron is unfortunately becoming highly urbanised, I hope the government controls the growing development before it destroys the charm of the place.
                                   
Tips -
 -- It's a romantic place but take a resort a little away form the bustling towns to thoroughly enjoy the weather and sceneries.
 -- Own transport is the best, the sceneries along the journey are charming.
 -- With not much to do,a weekend or three days getaway is the enough to cover the place.Not many family activities, but your thirst for hiking,trekking can be satiated with many trails Cameron has.Wear your shoes!
-- Most of the common half day tours of only the different farm visit is useless in my opinion. I would recommend the Mossy forest to  be covered in your agenda and a small hike in one of the Jungle trails.
-- Food is not an issue, lots of choices to eat from in Tanah Rata and Brinchang. Many Indian,Chinese, western cuisine restaurants and no problem form vegetarians as well.
-- Shopping didn't appeal much to me. But do try some local fruits in the Pasar Malam at Brinchang and apple scones at "Lord's Cafe" . But some fresh strawberries, the one sold in the markets instead of plucking the strawberries in the farms by yourself (it's expensive).
-- Don't be overwhelmed to buy tea bags from the BOH tea plantation, you can get the same tea bags in the local supermarket, and back in Penang as well. We bought tea dust and "Seri Songket" (package was eye-catchy) from the store in the BOH tea plantation which we couldn't spot outside in the local supermarkets there or in Penang.

           Go cool your heels in Cameron Highlands.