Continued from: http://happyotrekker.blogspot.com/2007/07/kbal-spean-13-july-2007_22.html
Phnom Kulen is the original capital of the Khmer Empire before Angkor Wat. It is 50 km from Siem Reap and is only acessable by motor vehicle (not tuk-tuk). Before the construction of road, the people used to hike up the hill to pray to Buddha located at the top of the hill (360m). Our proposal to hike up the hill was ditched when told that it would take 3 hours to hike up the trail. At the hilltop, there are hundreds of linga stands in the Seim Reap River, a waterfall and a pagoda. Entrance fee to Phnom Kulen is steep at USD20 pax.
Beng Melea is a sprawling jungle temple over 1 sq km. It is located 63 km from Seim Reap and it takes over 1 hr to reach there by car. The temple is overrun by vegetation thus giving it a 'lost temple ' feel. A nice place to photograph trees growing from the broken towers and galleries. Wooden planks and ladders have been put up to assist tourists to climb over the ruins. A local showed us the right trail through the ruins - which involved lots of risky climbing and scrambling over stacks of tumbled granite blocks, some as high as 20m and ducking through openings. It was fun... a nice departure from the standard temple fare. Our taxi driver Mr Chhon Chhoub (+855012822128 hp) is a very informative person well versed in world affairs also.
For more photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/798.
funny choo climbing down ... this is her usual act :P
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