Siem Reap - Views from Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm was one of King Jayavarman VII's first major temple projects which was dedicated to his mother. Ta Prohm was originally constructed as a Buddhist monastery and was enormously wealthy in its time, controlling over 3000 villages, thousand of support staff and vast stores of jewels and gold.

Ta Prohm was intentionally left partially unrestored. While the massive fig and silk-cotton trees grow from the towers and corridors offer a "jungle atmosphere" and some of the best "tree-in-temple" photo opportunities in Angkor, massive number of tourists and recent installation of wooden walkways are distracting the "jungle atmosphere" feel.

Siem Reap - Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom (also known as Big Angkor) is a 3km sq walled and moated royal city of King Jayavarman VII and was the last capital of the Angkorian empire.

Bayon, a state temple of King Jayavarman VII, was constructed during the late 12th century AD under Buddhism influence. The giant stone faces of Bayon have become one of the most recognizable images connected to classic Khmer art and architecture. There are 37 standing towers in Bayon only 4 are carved faces orientated toward the cardinal points. Who the faces represent is debatable: they may be Loksvara, Mahayana Buddhism's compassionate Bodhisattva or rather combination of King Jayavarman VII and buddha.

Victims of landmine in Cambodia - Khmer Traditional Band

Landmine victims making a living by forming Khmer Traditional Band which the name came about as they are using traditional musical instruments to make music.

Siem Reap - Views from Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is constructed during Early to Mid 12th Century AD under King Suryavarman II with Hinduism influence. Angkor Wat is visually, architecturally and artistically breathtaking. It consists of a massive 3-tiered pyramid crowned by 5 lotus-like towers standing at 65m.

Suryavarman II constructed Angkor Wat in the form of a massive "temple- mountain" dedicated to the Hindu god, Vishnu. Although it served as his state temple, the uncommon westward orientation led others to suggest that it was constructed as Suryavarman II's funeral temple.

Angkor Wat is surrounded by a moat and an 1300m by 1500m external wall. The size of the temple itself is a square km which consists of 3 levels surmounted by a central tower.

Things to note for visiting Siem Reap, Angkor Wat

One thing is to note that in Siem Reap, you must buy an admission pass to visit the temples and sites in the Angkor Archaeological Park. As you can see in the photo, passes are sold in 1 day, 3 days or 7 days blocks that must be used on consecutive days. One day is only enough just to see the highlights of the most famous temples while seven days pass allows you to explore all the temples and visit many minor structures.

Another necessary thing to have is a passport-sized photo when purchasing the passes although free photo taking is provided. This can take up quite some time during peak hours.

It is a must to always carry your pass around and take care not to lose it as it will be checked upon each park entry and major temples.

A sample of a 1 day pass.

Life in Cambodia, Siem Reap, Tonle Sap Lake

Description on the life in Tonle Sap Lake in Siem Reap, Cambodia...

Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater floodplain lake in South East Asia, or rather in the world, and is an ecological hotspot that was classified as a UNESCO biosphere in 1997.

The most amazing thing about this lake is that during the monsoon season in October, Tonle Sap River, which connects the lake to Mekong River, reverses its flow. Water is back flowed from the Mekong into the lake, increasing its size from 3,000 sq km to 12,000 sq km, with the depth increasing from 1m to 14m, flooding nearby fields and forests, which provides a prefect breeding ground for fishes. More than 400 species of fishes have been identified, including many species of mammals and reptiles.

The area is important to the economy of Cambodia as its fisheries provide 80% of the protein consumed with the country.

There are more than 1,000,000 inhabitants (2001) live mainly in the buffer and transition areas with about sixty floating villages located on the lake and lake edges in the buffer zone. Fishing is the main activity but the fertile, flood plain is also used to produce rice and vegetables.

Reference :

The Wildlife Conservation Society

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

The Siem Reap Angkor Visitors Guide

One of the houses in the floating village at the edge of the lake, Chong Khneas, which is the closest and most accessible from Siem Reap.While Chong Khneas is considered to be over-touristed, interestingly it is more scenic and pristine as compared to the floating villages further down the lake.

The girl in pink, clinging onto the boat fetching tourists, hop over from the boat in the photo above while both boats were moving. She is selling can drinks to tourists onboard the boat.

A girl on the bucket begging for money from tourists, with a small cup on her right hand to scoop out excess water in her bucket.

A floating school (Chong Khneas Elementary School) play area.

School children rowing a boat to school.

A typical day in the floating villages.