20 March 2019
After watching the sunrise over Angkor Wat, our plan for the day was to visit Banteay Samre, Banteay Srei, Cambodia Landmine Museum and the Roluos Group of monuments. These are some of the more remote temple sites, located outside the Angkor Archaeological Park, but included in our 3-day Angkor Pass admission.
Banteay Samre
Banteay Samre is a small Hindu temple ruin located about 15 km east of Angkor Wat. We arrived at Banteay Samre at about 9.15 AM.
Compared to temples within the Angkor Archaeological Park, this temple has fewer visitors.
Banteay Samre, a large, walled temple in “Angkor Wat” style.
We did not hire a licensed tour guide on this day. So we explored the temple on our own.
Plenty of time to explore and shoot photos at Banteay Samre.
What that is left of a statue at Banteay Samre.
Cambodia Landmine Museum
From Banteay Samre, we stopped by at the Cambodia Landmine Museum on our way to Banteay Srei. The museum is very near to Banteay Srei and is worth a visit. The museum charges an entrance fee of USD 5 per person and is open daily from 7.30 AM to 5.30 PM.
Cambodia Landmine Museum located near Banteay Srei.
Cambodia remains one of the most heavily mined countries in the world as a result of decades of conflict, including a civil war, the brutal Khmer Rouge regime and genocide, American bombings, and Vietnamese occupation. Dozens of civilians are still injured or killed every year by landmines and other unexploded ordnance that have been left over from all the fighting.
The museum is not very big with small rooms around a fish pond. The rooms contain exhibits on Cambodia at War, History of the Landmine, Ottawa Treaty to ban Landmines and also stories of local children affected by landmines.
The museum strives to educate visitors of the importance of clearing landmines in Cambodia. It also houses a relief center that takes care of dozens of at-risk children.
We met Aki Ra who founded the museum and a 71 year old American, Bill Morse, who works as their International Project Manager. Bill gave us interesting information about how he came to Cambodia and is involved in their efforts and challenges to rid the country of landmines and unexploded ordnance using metal detectors and guts made of steel.
Only way to detect landmines is with a metal detector.
As of 2018, Aki Ra and team has cleared over 155 minefields in small villages and put over 36,000 people back on land that was, in every sense of the word, killing them.
Banteay Srei
We arrived at Banteay Srei slightly after noon. There is a building near the car park which is like a visitor center providing useful information about Banteay Srei and also public toilets.
Chronology of the Angkorian temples.
We learned that Banteay Srei in Khmer language means “city of women” and it is a modern name, not the original name of the temple. Banteay Srei was built about 150 years before Angkor Wat and is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. The main idol housed in the centre sanctuary tower is the linga.
Layout of Banteay Srei.
The temple is oriented in the West-East axis and we entered via the east entrance following a marked route.
The single storey temple is small but this is one of the more popular temples in Siem Reap.
What made this temple stands out is the red sandstone used in its construction and the well preserved fine intricate artwork that adorn the temple walls.
Intricate artwork and carvings of red sandstone above a doorway.
What that was left of a statue of sacred bull Nandi, vehicle of Hindu God Shiva, at Banteay Srei.
After passing through several doors, we arrived at the centre that houses the sanctuary towers.
The main towers were cordoned off to visitors.
Guardian Statues at Banteay Srei. Look at the details on the wall behind.
We exit the temple from the west and followed the marked path round the perimeter of the temple back to the front entrance.
By now, all of us were perspiring like crazy. Bottles of cold water were dished out by our driver once we returned to our air-conditioned van. From Banteay Srei, our van drove southwards towards the Roluos Group.
Lunch at Hut Natural
We had our lunch at a restaurant located a few minutes away from the Roluos Group. The restaurant was named the Hut Natural for a reason. We sat on the floor and ate from a low table set in a kjosh (Khmer gazebo), surrounded by banana trees.
The restaurant serves local Khmer dishes and we ordered the fish amok, beef with ant sauce (yes, sauce made from ants!), fried chicken wings amongst other dishes. The food was not fantastic and the beef with ants tasted ordinary. I was also disappointed with the warm coconut that was served.
Although the concept of dining outdoor surrounded by nature is nice, Siem Reap weather was just too warm and humid for us to enjoy the outdoors, even with the ceiling fans blowing at us.
Roluos Group of Monuments
The Roluos Group refers to a collection of four Angkor-era monuments, near a small town named Roluos, 12 km east of Siem Reap. This area used to be the location of the first capital city of the Khmer Empire in the Angkor region.
The monuments are named Bakong, Preah Ko, Lolei, and Prei Monti. They are the oldest of the Angkor temples, built around year 800 to 900. Prei Monti is very small so we would only visit the first three sites.
We went to Lolei first. The crumbling towers of Lolei are located on a small hill. They were undergoing restoration and totally encased in scaffolding. We walked round the ruins but did not take any pictures.
The teacher and 2 Buddhists in my travel group went to check out the small village school and modern Buddhist temple at the Lolei site. We did not linger too long. After leaving a small donation at the school and temple, our group continued to Preah Ko.
We did a quick exploration of the ruins at Preah Ko. Preah Ko is known in Khmer language as The Sacred Bull. Three statues of the kneeling bull sat in front, facing the towers built on raised platform.
This is one of the oldest temple in Angkor, dedicated to Hindu god Shiva.
Preah Ko, known in Khmer language as The Sacred Bull.
A statue of Nandi, the kneeling bull at Preah Ko, the temple known as the Scared Bull.
The last temple for the day was Bakong. Bakong was the largest and most interesting temple to visit in the Roluos Group. A large prominent tower, that looked similar in design as the towers in Angkor Wat, looms above the multi-tier temple. The temple was partially reconstructed and restored by the French between 1937 and 1945.
Approaching the multi-tier Bakong Temple.
The five tiers of Bakong symbolise Mount Meru, the mythical abode of the gods. At the corner of each tier, there are crumbled statues of stone elephants.
Steep climb to the top platform.
A steep flight of steps lead up to each tier. A climb to the top offers a nice view of the countryside and overview of the crumbling ruins around Bakong.
Statues of stone lions lined the stairs.
Bakong would probably be a good place to see the sunset but we had enough of temples and seeing the sun for one day. We ended the second day of our temple tour at about 4.30 PM.
We still had time for a swim back in Koulen Hotel before dinner.
The best way to end a hot day of temple exploration is in the pool of Koulen Hotel and enjoying 1-for-1 Happy Hour cold drinks.
We wanted to try the Cambodia BBQ and our hotel concierge suggested The Grey, Khmer Grill restaurant, located along King’s Road overlooking the Siem Reap River and proceeded to help us make reservations.
We travelled by tuk-tuks to the restaurant, arranged by the ever helpful hotel staff. Overall, this restaurant did not disappoint. Good food, excellent service and also live music while we ate.
No comments:
Post a Comment