Exploring ASEAN . 1 . Backpack Thru Siem Reap, Cambodia — Adventures

18 MAY 2013 (SAT), 5:28PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Monks gathering together in the highest temple grounds to watch the sunset together.

Drawing back on memories of probably one of the best things I’ve done, is to join a random group of friends and go on a backpacking journey. This adventure of 4 friends spanning roughly 22 days back in May 2013, travelling through the regions of Cambodia and Vietnam, has brought me the simple pleasures of life through budget travelling, in a company a wondrous, hilarious new friends.

TRAVEL-TRIPS Canon Photography Kit

Realising this is a backlog on my list that I really got to clear in 2019, after embarking on the trip just 6-years ago, this is my hasty-sort of effort to get it all sorted and done at one ago, and get this task checked off my To-Do-List.

Image Credits: Google Maps

17 MAY 2013 (FRI), 8:11PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. My first photo of the city night life in Siem Reap, Cambodia

17 MAY 2013 (FRI), 9:02PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Fried ants and honeycomb dishes.

17 MAY 2013 (FRI), 10:03PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. New friends and hosts from Siem Reap for our evening dinner.

The Welcome Gathering.

We were honoured that one of our travel-mates had friends in Siem Reap, who were so kind enough to host us for our first dinner in Cambodia. We were introduced to quite exotic foods like fried ants, silkworms and fresh honeycombs taken from a bee’s hive.

Since we were on an adventure, we just got to take the plunge and try out the crazy foods and they were honestly quite good!

18 MAY 2013 (SAT), 6:30AM —Rise & shine from our mini-hotel residence.

18 MAY 2013 (SAT), 7:38AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. The quiet morning hustle and bustle on the city streets of Siem Reap as we took in to enjoy our first simple chicken noodle meal before we headed out.

18 MAY 2013 (SAT), 7:49AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Monks can be seen waiting patiently outside of restaurants as they ask for alms. Monk-hood is a sort of rite-of-passage for teenager boys to men in Cambodia, where some will continue their journey further should they choose to seek enlightenment thru the ways of the Buddha.

18 MAY 2013 (SAT), 5:21PM — When we always thought that no one usually visits Phnom Bakheng temples at all, but we were all so wrong!

Phnom Bakheng

It took us quite a while to get here. And it was literally just People... People… People… when we got to Phnom Bakheng. We had quite the problem trying not to get lost in the crowds as we went to our own to seek out better angles to capture shots of the sun-setting beyond the horizon.

18 MAY 2013 (SAT), 5:26PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. As the sun slowly sets beyond the clouds, we were a little disappointed as it wasn’t as ‘Epic’ as we would have imagined it to be.

18 MAY 2013 (SAT), 5:35PM — BEHOLD… This is the Footprint of Buddha.

18 MAY 2013 (SAT), 5:59PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Probably the first group photo or photos of everyone as we soon got warmed up to each other with MingXiao, Samantha, Myself, Jason & Cheryl.

18 MAY 2013 (SAT), 6:10PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Somehow, as we decided to descend our way to visit the other parts of the temple, I caught a slight glimpse of a glowing sunset.

18 MAY 2013 (SAT), 6:30PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Watching local kids lingering on a log by the water as time moves by, as our own day slowly came to a close and we headed back to our lodging for a good night’s rest!

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 8:34AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Come next morning as we walked towards the famous Angkor Wat that was hidden deep within the forest and behind many layers of ‘Gates’

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 8:53AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Sadly, the time we were visiting, there were multiple parts of the building that were still under renovation to help restore the aging buildings.

AngKor Wat

Nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992, this place was touted as a must-visit location given the intricacies of the architecture and the beauty it holds as the temple grounds are slowly being taken back by the surrounding forest.

Though it was quite sad that when we visited, we were seeing it in a stage of repair, I was definitely glad that such restoration works are in place to ensure that this historical monument is well-kept for future generations to learn and enjoy.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 9:05AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. A snapshot of my other group-mates as we ventured into the grounds of the temple.

Layers upon layers… This place is just beyond huge!

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 9:19AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Missing parts of valuable artefacts.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 9:22AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Sexual female deities being engraved into the walls, which signified the significance that this segment of the temple was specifically meant for the royal family and to cater for their deepest pleasures.

Theft Of Treasures.

Many of these relics were scarred by the robbing of these priceless artefacts. It was indeed sad to see the buildings in that state as especially many Buddha heads were severed off their bodies and left many of these statues seemingly without a soul.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 9:27AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Heading up the steep steps was probably a long and painful journey.

Many Layers.

And I thought getting up to the top was easy. Man I was wrong.

The steps were very steep and small. Can’t imagine how people got up to the top without the metal handrails. Beyond each level, there was then a seemingly hidden level beyond the top, which is duly impressive of how the architects of the past has designed and built up Angkor Wat.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 9:32AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. A young monk taking a peek out of a higher floor of the temple, presumably living within the temple grounds for meditation.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 9:54AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Beauty hidden in the ruins.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 10:15AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. A little of Angkor Wat beyond its broken-up-bricks that laid in a corner.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 10:17AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Taking a proper group shot with the side of Angkor Wat as our backdrop.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 11:00AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. A partially-failed group jumpshot as we all jumped at different timings based on the random tourist-photographer we seek help to execute this photo.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 11:02AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. A monk taking a break in the shade on this super hot day.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 11:13AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. This place is just huge! These are shots of the supposed ‘Back-Entrance’ into Angkor Wat. Just amazed by how historical people of the past had been able to built a city of such massive scale.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 11:28AM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Another beautiful layer of back-entrance that leads away from Angkor Wat.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 11:29AM — As we entered into the sanctuary of the temple grounds, we found that trees are just massive around here.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 12:02PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. The famous smiling Buddha faces of Bayon.

Bayon

It is truly amazing to see how humanly-like and naturally-smiling these Buddha faces were carved into the stones so many years ago. I was told that there were nearly a thousand smiling faces in this temple alone. Can’t imagine how majestic it would have been like when it was first christened back in its glory days.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 12:18PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Hidden corridors and beautiful rays of sun that lit up corners of this template and creating a sense of mystery of what stories it might have told in the past.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 12:24PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Taking a photo with our wonderful guide who has been cheery and kind with us all day.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 12:26PM — The back gardens of Bayon leading back into the deep forests.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 1:44PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Really wondered how these roots had grown so awkwardly beautiful through the temple stones.

Ta Prohm

Famously known as the movie backdrop for the blockbuster “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”. This temple has its allure in a sort of ‘natural-art’, as the forest evidently took reins of the temple and slowly take back what belonged to Mother Nature.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 1:48PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. The tress was just so huge and I’m glad that there was some ‘fencing’ erected to prevent crazy tourists from injuring the tree further just to take a photo with this iconic venue.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 1:50PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. A true artist in the works. I was told that this guy came here everyday to do drawings of this place. Some of these large-scale hand-drawings may take a few days or weeks to complete.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 2:11PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. The extensive beauty of the inner building and trees can’t be captured fully in frame by my camera.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 3:07PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Dotted along the outskirts of the temples are small businesses creating touristy products, as well as homeless kids playing around and constantly seeking out alms from the passing tourists.

Street Culture

Life is simple and laid back as we saw locals picking up group games on the street or just chilling on the benches for most parts of the day as we ventured along the streets to seek out our next budgeted dinner.

As long as you are not picky, a simple plate of street-cooked noodles will suffice your stomach and affordable street desserts can be the add-on toppings to fill up your meal.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 5:15PM — Seeing the locals skillfully played “Chap-teh” in the public open spaces.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 6:22PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Affordable beers, kids playing in the muddy river and artists creating beautiful art pieces.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 6:37PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. Our simple street dinner and drinks that cost USD$1.00 each. What a blessing!

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 7:11PM — Shot on my Canon 7D. As our day soon came to an end, there is a sort of quiet beauty in this small little town as we spend the last night here before moving to our next stop.

19 MAY 2013 (SUN), 9:39PM — I was just dumbfounded by the crazily cheap booze we had found in the nearby departmental store… It was just dangerously affordable. But we end up buying none as we needed to stay sane the next morning for our travel to our next city in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

TRAVEL-TRIPS Canon Photography Kit

Read up my other Backpack Thru ASEAN Stories in the following timeline → 1: Siem Reap, Cambodia | 2: Phnom Penh, Cambodia | 3: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | 4: Hoi An, Vietnam | 5: Hanoi, Vietnam | 6: Halong Bay, Vietnam | 7: Sapa, Vietnam

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