The attraction of Kbal Spean (read: K’bal Speen), of course, was the famous “River of a Thousand Lingas”, which was situated somewhere deep in the forest, somewhere so deep that you have to trek for an hour, for a distance of 1.5km, to get to.

A one and a half-hour journey away from Siem Reap by tuk-tuk (60km from town), the ride to Kbal Spean is definitely not comfortable, but head up early in the morning so you get to enjoy the cool breeze. Also, the sun will be less harsh and will make your hike more enjoyable.

As much as I’m not sure if taking this hike so early in the trip was a great idea, as it definitely got our muscles aching afterwards, I don’t relish the thought of hiking that route at the end of the trip either. While neither extremely steep nor too rocky, there were still parts that were rather challenging, with strangely-positioned rocks that required some careful footwork. Pretty easy if you’re an outdoorsy person, but I admit a lack of exercise in the past months, and my parents, although fit, are also in their 50s.

Smart Traveller’s Tip: Bring your own water and snacks, as there are no vendors selling them along the hike route. Have breakfast before you head up, but be sure to not over-eat, as you won’t want to have to haul a big, full belly uphill!

My parents, still looking fresh at the start of the hike. 1400m to go!

Don’t let the easy parts at the beginning fool you!

Smart Traveller’s Tip: Wear shoes or sports sandals with a good grip, as some of the rocks can be quite slippery. I nearly slipped, myself, in my well-worn pair of Birkenstocks! While there are no mosquitoes here in the day time in May, there may be some in the wet season, so bring along mosquito repellents.

Stopping for a break to enjoy the scenery, which was really, just the top of trees!

And finally, we’re there at the River of a Thousand Lingas, Sahasralinga.

These carvings in the river banks and riverbed are thought to have been done around the 11th or 12th century. The phallic shaped symbols seen in the picture above, are known as linga, and they are an outward symbol of the Lord Shiva. They were supposedly carved in the river bed to bless the waters flowing from the Kulen Mountains into Kbal Spean, and which then flows into Siem Reap, and drains into the Tonle Sap.

More lingas in the riverbed. This river dries up in May-June, so what you see here is really just a small fraction of the actual volume of water that flows through during the rainy season.

There’s a small waterfall near the river.

The hike down was much easier, naturally. We met a bunch of Malaysians, who were on their way up. That was rather fun. Amidst encouragements of “Malaysia Boleh!”, everyone laughed and seemed more energized to have met fellow countrymen.

We had a simple lunch at a small restaurant at the foot of the hill. Really, it was no more than a shed. The food was alright, but rather expensive compared to what you would have to pay for in a proper restaurant in town. Nevertheless, we were hungry, and it was here that I had my first taste of the amazing Khmer curry, also known as the Amok.

photo by David Chin Photo

Amok is varied in taste and presentation all through out Cambodia. You can find fish amok, chicken amok, beef amok, and also pork amok cooked and served in either banana leaf cups or a young coconut shell. Both are equally fragrant and delicious. My mouth is just watering right now as I write this!

Anyway, moving on!

Our next stop was Banteay Srei (Read: Bun-tay S’rai). One of the oldest temples we saw in Siem Reap, this temple, about 30km north of Siem Reap and along the way to Kbal Spean, is small in stature, but one of the most beautiful temples with wonderfully intricate carvings that are mostly well-preserved, considering the fact that it was built in the late 10th century. If it still hasn’t hit you, that’s more than 1000 years ago!

Mom and I, at the East entrance to the temple.

The walls of the temple are mostly gone, but pillars remain, as you can see in the picture.

Carvings on an arch/doorway overhead.

Close-up

In my Siem Reap photosets, you’ll probably see a lot of photos of such arches / doorways. I became rather obsessed with them, photographing them in almost every temple we went to.

I found these beautiful inscriptions on the walls. Whoever did this sure had a lot of patience.

This path, with the stones from a thousand years ago, was once walked by kings.

More arches!

These balusters stood in many windows in temples and palaces of the Angkorian dynasty.

It fascinated me the way they built these doorways in such straight alignment.

Libraries, which were a repository for sacred texts, next to the main temple

Replicas of the mythical guardians that stand watch over the temple. The originals are now stored in the Cambodian National Museum. This move was done to protect the temple from pillagers, I suppose, since such statues are of high historical value, and hence, monetary value! Anyway, I do feel sad hearing about those thefts!

Our next stop was Banteay Samre (read: Bun-tay Sum-rai), a temple surrounded by two concentric walls, between which would have been the unique feature of an inner moat.

Sadly, the moat is now dry, and filled with grass, but you can see clearly what it used to be. Take a walk around the peaceful grounds and stop for a while by the moat, at some parts of which you can see that it used to surrounded by naga balustrades, and imagine a pool of clear water there, the sun reflecting off the surface of the water, like sparkly diamonds.

Interesting fact: Naga are serpent-like creatures much like dragons of Chinese folklore, and what is strange is that naga is the Malay word for what we know as dragons.

I think this was a library too

And this may be the central sanctuary, I think! (They all look the same! Argh!)

It was past 4pm by then, and we concluded the day with the East Mebon, which was also built in the middle of the Eastern Baray, a reservoir, like the West Mebon at the Western Baray that we went to the day before.

This island temple is now accessible by foot, because the old baray (reservoir) has completely dried up. Imagine, just 1000 years ago, there used to be a huge body of water measuring 7.5km by 1.8km, and it’s all gone now! How sad!

This temple is small and not very well preserved, but unlike the previous two temples we saw that day, East Mebon was built with bricks that seem more like what we use today, instead of using huge blocks of laterite (a red, porous, iron-bearing rock).

Ruins of what must once have been a small but grand temple.

Possibly another library beside the main temple sanctuary. Those ancient people sure had a lot of holy scriptures to store, eh?

We ended the day after completing this temple, and headed back to the guesthouse to rest our feet, and freshen up before dinner.

— More photos from Day 2, here, here and here. —

Next: An Angkor Wat sunrise, and even more temples!