Day 3: Tomb Raiding @ Ta Prohm + Sunset @ Pre Rup 。。。

Started our day at 8am and Rany promised to bring us for breakfast. Arrived at this roadside stall which specialised in Beef Noodles/ Kway Teow Soup. We didn't know that kway teow is also called kway teow here & asked for 'white noodles', keke! Really tourist hor! We sat down at a small wooden table wif Rany & Mr Heng, our driver. Rany ordered a french loaf to dip wif his beef soup. Wow! the soup is really tasty & beef lovers will love this! Wif some soup left, Rany asked me to try dipping the loaf into my soup, yum yum! When billing time, we were surprised that it cost us only 1 bucks each! hmm, i tink i could eat more, keke!

After filling our tummies, we continued to explore the 400 sq km of Angkor Archaeological Park. We spent the morning exploring Angkor Wat ('Wat' means temple in cambodian), one of the largest Khmer monuments in the park. At the main entrance, Angkor Wat is framed wif 2 Nagas (a mytical multi-headed serpent) on both sides. Rany brought us on this interesting walk along the walls (yes! we are abt 1 feet from the ground) & pointed out to us this close to perfect-looking Aspara (mythological celestial nymphs) hidden at a corner of the wall.  He helped me to take some close-up shots of the Aspara! It's amazing after all these years of rain & shine, i could still observe the intricacies of the Aspara. Thru'out the temples, you can see Asparas lining the walls, decked out in various costumes, expressions & accessories ^o^. 

Passing thru' the towers, Rany asked us to look up to view the damage done by bullets! As you know, Cambodia was under long period of warfare & this park served as a fortress for the army.  It's a pity that scars were left on the exterior of the temples. Besides that, there were many small holes in the interior, which were dug by robbers who came to steal the precious gems hidden inside.

There are more bas-reliefs found in Angkor Wat and we only manage to view a small part of it. The most famous 'Churning of the Ocean Milk' scene is currently under restoration, hence we were unable to admire that.  At the central tower, we walked thru a gallery ~ Preah Poan (Thousand Buddhas) and inscriptions were found on the stone pillars. Angkor Wat is indeed huge and before we realise, it's noon time.

Exited from the back of Angkor Wat and walked thru' a forested area to our next stop, Prasat (means Tower) Kravan ~ the only example of brick bas-reliefs. Prasat Kravan was originally constructed by a nobleman rather than a king.  I spotted some beautiful lilac water-lilies at the small pond here & couldn't resist going down the slope to snap a pic! But alas, the intense sunlight paled off the sweet lilac colours :(

Less than a few mins drive away, we dropped by Banteay Kdei, the entrance resembles the buddha faces of Bayon. Yup, cos this temple functioned as a Buddhist monastery under Jayavarman VII. The place is still under restoration,wif some areas blocked off. There r visible signs of the massive deterioration as the once upon a time roofs were gone & ropes were used to reinforce some structures.  We break for lunch at a nearby restaurant.

After our not-so-fulfilling lunch (this restaurant was flooded wif tourists & not only long waiting time but food was lousy), we crossed the road to visit Ta Keo. Ta Keo was constructed from huge sandstones and dedicated to the Hindu God ~ Shiva. The steps are really steep and we only climbed to the mid-levels for photoshoot.

Finally, we reached the much anticipated Ta Prohm, another key highlight of our itinerary & a MUST DO! Ta Prohm is popularised by the hollywood movie ~ ''Tomb Raider'', where Angelina Jolie filmed her adventures here. This place was intentionally left partially unrestored and contains lots of parasite trees. The trees are all over hundreds of years, perhaps even 1000 yrs old! However due to the massive number of tourists thronging the place, there were wooden platforms set up juz for photo-taking spots... i find this really tarnish the 'feel' of the place! The amazing strangler fig trees forms a nice contrast wif the temple ruins, as its roots creeped over the rooftops! No wonder, Ta Prohm is a photographer's heaven & I did some black & white shots here. It's also a test of our patience as we need to wait for long time bef the tour groups disperse...

Strangler Fig's Roots Creeping over the Roof!

See how the tree 'crush' the temple

                                  Magnificent Sunset                                    

       Us & Dicky

Our last stop for today was at Pre Rup ~ to watch the sunset. Omg! It's really a pretty sight here & we simply love it. Juz before sunset time, the lighting was just nice and the clouds looked fabulous! hoho! I love to take landscape pics wif nice clouds if you notice, keke! After snapping some shots on ground levels, I had this whacky idea. I asked Ruby to stay put wif my cam, while i climbed up first. Guess wat? I sat at this high spot & pretend that i'm meditating, keke! Cos i visualise that it will have a nice contrast wif the skies & lion statue. But i dared not sit anywhere further out, it's danger point! Frankly, i really felt like sitting there abit longer as i find peace there. However the sunset watchers began to grow & I quickly found a good spot to sit down first. Over here, it's pretty cramped & scary to look down our feets....really can give u the jitters due to the steep steps. Then, this guy who sat next to Ruby started talking to us in chinese and he's Dicky from HK, a solo backpacker. Later, he intro us to Winnie & her mom, whom he met on their flight.  We chit-chatted while waiting for sunset & this certainly distracted us from the 'stress' of sitting at the edge ;p  The sunset was breath-taking or was it the accompany? I couldn't differentiate, haha! But we concluded we really like Pre Rup!

    Cambodian Soup Restaurant

Back at Pub Street, our dinner was a Curry set for two at Cambodian Soup Restaurant. The curry set was really yummilicious, consisting of fish, beef, chix & shrimps wif jasmine rice. I had this refreshing Apple Shake as well & wish to drink it again! Great meal to wrap up our long day...