Day 47: Kulen Mountain, Cambodia by Scooter

The day started roughly once again. Still sick from travellers diarrhea and suffering from an extreme lack of sleep, it was a rude awakening call when the alarm clock went off at 6:30 am. But we had a scooter trip booked for today, and there was no way we were going to miss out on an opportunity to see the Cambodian countryside.

We headed off to Phnom Kulen on our 125 cc scooters. The ride took us through the countryside on rarely used dirt roads. It was an incredible contrast to Northern Vietnam in every way possible.

Hot with a beautiful blue sky.

Peaceful, not a single toot of a horn.

No livestock running widely about.

A landscape utterly flat.

Men, not women, performing hard labour.

Children watching us, never waving to us.

The steep, terraced rice fields and thick forests of Vietnam replaced by bright green, flat rice paddies dotted with tropical palm trees. Small villages replaced with spread out farms.

It reminded us of a tropical Saskatchewan, if there could be such a thing.

We admired the beauty and were in awe of the lifestyle of the farmers who make up 70% of Cambodia’s population. A man with one leg, sadly a common site in a country who only recently recovered from civil war, awkwardly fishing by hand. Men and women working the rice paddies and weaving baskets from dried weeds. We stopped at a local farm where we watched palm sugar been made. Rice husks were burned to heat palm juice until a thick, brown syrup was formed. The syrup was then stirred by hand until the water evaporated and small crystals were left. The same farm was making rice wine. Fermenting rice in buckets and then distilling the liquid over a fire fuelled by dried palm leaves. The remaining rice used as hog feed. Every part of every natural resource having a distinct purpose as either food, fuel, building material or feed. After riding through the countryside we arrived at the mountain range of Phnom Kulen. A 40 km long range, 400 meters high. Also the source of the sandstone used to build many of he Angkor Temples. We climbed up a series of switchbacks through forest and massive boulders.

We enjoyed lunch at the Kulen Mountain waterfall before heading to Wat Preah Ang Thom, home of the reclining Buddha. The reclining Buddha is a huge Buddha carved into the top of a sandstone boulder on the summit of the mountain. I loved this Wat. Where the temples of Angkor seem ancient and forgotten, Wat Preah Ang Thom is colourful and lively as a modern day temple. The Buddha itself being only 500 years old.

Next was the “Thousand Lingas”. This was also very cool as I had no idea what to expect, having never heard of this attraction. The Thousand Lingas is the name given to the riverbed above the waterfall. 1,000 Lingas and Yoni have been carved into the riverbed, their purpose to turn the river water into holy water for the king to bathe in below. Peering into the clear water of the river unclear of the “attraction”, I was shocked to see perfect, repeating patterns dancing beneath the water. Another marvel from the 11th century.

Our final stop was the temple Banteay Srei. An 11th century temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Another impressive temple with intricate carvings, earthy natural colours and great beauty. I thought I would get sick of seeing temples, but the beauty and unique characteristics of every temple has surprised and impressed me. I loved Banteay Srei as much as the other temples.

We drove back to Siem Reap as the sun set over the moat of Angkor Wat. A perfect ending to what turned out to be a perfect day.