AWA 3: Phnom Kulen National Park

The original idea was to visit floating village but we changed the plan and went to Phnom Kulen National Park, around an hour's drive from Siem Reap city. The road to the mountain inside the park is one way, and you can go up only till 11 AM. So we left early. The ride was a bit bumpy inside the park but very manageable.

We watched a thousand lingas carved on the rocks in the Kbal Spean River. Some are simple, and some are ornate. I am unsure if there are one thousand, but there are lots. We also saw the motifs of other gods carved on the stones forming the river's floor.

Then, we visited the Reclining Buddha at Preah Ang Thom Pagoda. We had to climb several stairs to reach the top and see Buddha. It's a statue of a sleeping Buddha carved into a natural sandstone boulder. It's about 30 feet. They have stairs up to the statue. Appa was a bit tired when climbing it, but he was happy to see Buddha.

Then we went to a Phnom Kulen waterfall. It has two stages; the first stage is easily accessible; for the second stage, we need to go down at least 100 steep stairs. Appa and Aunty came down and climbed up without complaining, though they struggled a bit, understandably. I think waterfalls make indians do anything. There was enough water to make our effort worthwhile; I think it will be much prettier in the rainy season.

On our way back, we paid a visit to the mine museum. It explores and displays the effect of mines and the work that has been going on to eliminate them in Cambodia.

As we reached Siem Reap, it started raining properly. I was glad we were back and also happy it cooled the temperature.