Dodges and Burns

Having travelled to Siem Reap recently, I want to share abit of my experience to help those who have not been there or wanting to go there to plan their journey.

Below are a list of temples in Angkor Archeological Park that has been categorized to three different groups. If you are in short of time (read one day), just go for the “Must See”. If you have more than one day to explore the temples, go for the “Must See” and “Should See”.

Must See: Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan

Should See: Angkor Thom (Baphoun, Primeanakas, Terrace of the Elephants, Terrace of the Leper King), Neak Pean, Phnom Bakheng, Banteay Srei, Pre Rup, Banteay Kdei, East Mebon, Preah Ko, Kbal Spean

See if you got the time: Lolei, Krol Ko, Chau Say Tevoda, Prasat Kravan

Angkor Wat – the most famous temple of the whole Angkor Archeological Park. I would say that it is the grandest among all the temples and one could spend hours there.

Bayon – The temple with the many faces (some say are representation of Jayavarman VII while others said the faces belong to the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokitesvara. The interesting of the place is that countless alteration was being done to the place that it actually make Bayon a puzzle. It is actually a joy to move around the puzzle, not know what would find next.

Ta Prohm – The temple made famous by the movie Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie. This is one of the few temples that combined nature and civilization where trees grow out of the ruins. Unfortunately, the restoration of the temple actually limit the accessibility of a tourist. Thus, Ta Prohm was a letdown for me.

Preah Khan – The “Sacred Sword” is definitely my favourite temple among all, maybe because the temple was near empty when I was there. I was happy to be able to capture the place without interference from others.

Angkor Thom – It is the largest temple site among all and inside it, there are alot more attractions (Primeanakas, Royal Palace, Royal Bath, Baphoun, Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King) but the places nearby the Terrace of Leper King has been so commercialised that I dont find it interesting. What I felt still attracted me is the West Gate which is seldom being visit by tourists and I hope it stay that way until my next visit.

Phnom Bakheng – This is the place where everyone goes for the sunset. It is pretty crowded and be sure to be there before 5.30 pm as the guards would not let you thru even if it is one minute after 5.30 pm.

Banteay Srei – This is one of the better preserved temple apart from Angkor Wat and the carving in the middle of the temple is the most beautiful that I have ever seen. Situated about 25km north-east of Angkor Thom, the journey to the temple is an eye opening. Giving a glimpse of the countryside which I find very scenic. Along the way, one should dropby Banteay Srei Butterfly Centre and the Landmine Museum.

Banteay Kdei – A temple not so high on a must-visit temple list, it is more quite and the shades surround the place make it easier to move around.

Sras Srang – Directly opposite Banteay Kdei, this is a man-made lake which actually has a temple in the middle (I think not visible most of the time). The beauty of the place would be seen during the afternoon especially during a cloudy day.

There are many other temples and those listed here are just some of them. If you have time, do go and have a look. It is well worth the time. More information coming soon.

As promised, I would be uploading more photos from my recent Siem Reap’s trip. Here is one of my favourite photo taken there. The place is call Sras Srang and it is actually a rectangular man-made lake.

When I took the series of photos (which I want to use to create a panorama photo), I didnt have much hope on it. It was so hot and the sun is so bright then. I could hardly enjoy the scenery of the place. Still, I make it a point that I shall shoot what I need and accept whatever that I may get.

Wanting to post more panorama photos when I am back, I decided to process this photo as one of the first few. At that time, I was still not very sure if I would have like the result. But all the doubts that I have were gone when I actually see a sample of what I would be getting. True enough, the photo turn out to be more than what I have expected. I was surprised and flabbergasted and I absolutely love it.

That is why I am featuring it as the second photo in my Photo of the Week Series of Siem Reap. Hope you like it as much as I do…

Found something extremely interesting (and cute) while I was searching for some Lego products (another story). It interested me alot because I have been a fan of these Avengers for quite a while (and they are so cute):

Stark

Iron Man (Mark V)

Thor

Loki

Caption America

Red Skull

These are products of Hot Toys, a Hong Kong based company and in Malaysia, their products is being distribute by XL Dotcom. It cost RM168 and I am very tempted to buy….

Angkor Wat, in Siem Reap Cambodia, is definitely a must see. The beautiful ancient architecture is marvelous and words just cant describe the feeling that I got when I am there at Angkor Wat and the other temples in Angkor Archeological Parks. Built by ancient Khmer empire during the 9th to 15 centuries, it was being forgotten by the world until it was found once more by the world and restoration started in the year 1907. There is still ongoing restoration work at Angkor Wat and the flood of tourists visiting it is becoming a threat to this UNESCO Heritage Site.

I would feature more photos taken in Siem Reap in future Photo of the Week series, so, stay tuned.

About the photo: Taken from the side of Angkor Wat to avoid the neverending hordes of tourist. Processed using PhotoMatic Pro 3 before final tweaking using Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 and resizing using Photoscape.

Siem Reap is a beautiful country. That is the first impression I got when I reached Siem Reap International Airport. It is a small one, smaller than Subang Airport. But the architecture is great and beautiful.

But my main objective of going to Siem Reap is actually the Angkor Archeological Park, which is one of the UNESCO Heritage Site. I have wanted to go to this place a few years back but unfortunately, I missed my flight.

Finally, on 9th June 2011, I stepped my feet on the soil of Kingdom of Cambodia. Traveling with me was 10 travel mates that comes from different part of Malaysia and I really enjoyed their company even though not all the time.

Angkor Archeological Park covered more than 400 square km which including the many temples plus the forest surrounding them. These temples were built between 9th to 15th century and the most famous among all these temples are Angkor Wat. Other temples in the archeological park that are also famous world wide are Bayon and Ta Prohm.

Below are the temples that I have visited during my short stay in Siem Reap:

Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Baphuon, Premeanakas, Royal Palace, Terrace of The Leper King, Terrace of Elephants, Phnom Bakheng, Bantaey Srei, Ta Som, Ta Prohm, East Mebom, Preah Khan, Pre Rup, Neak Pean, Bakong, Preah Ko Lolei, Srah Srang, Banteay Kdei, Prasat Kravan, Thommanon, Chau Say  Thevoda and Ta Keo

Each one of them has its own beauty but if you were to ask me which would be my favourite three, I would tell you that I love Preah Khan (Sacred Sword), Bantaey Srei and, of course, Angkor Wat. Only a person who has been there would understand how beautiful the place is.

It has been 5 days since I am here in Siem Reap and tomorrow is time to go back. It has been a crazy but nice trip, waking up about 6.30 am everyday and sleeping very late at night. It is almost 12 am now, and I shall update more about the trip once I get back to Malaysia…

Alex from Siem Reap