It was Diwali weekend and I want to celebrate this Diwali with cultural heritage and looking to head somewhere for a couple of days, where I want to cram in culinary feasts, cultural delights, beautiful beaches and some seriously superb temples, only one country came into my mind – CAMBODIA ..land of largest Hindu temple ANGKOR WAT.
Our journey started with direct flight to Phnom Penh which is the capital of Cambodia if you are an International budget traveller then opt to select this destination only else direct flight to Siem Reap is a costly affair.
We booked suv car to Siem reap from Phnom Penh and it cost us 100 USD for 6 people which is still a decent cost. It's going to be 5 hours journey, so first we stopped for breakfast, in Cambodia you can find Indian restaurant easily as they share a common culture, finally we able to reach Siem reap at evening 4 pm, we directly went to take the 1-day pass of Angkor Wat, as it is mandatory to take travel pass if you want to explore Angkor Wat and nearby temples, you get passes on 1,2,3 days basis. after check-in to the hotel which is a decent 3-star hotel costing 1000 rs per person for 2 days, after exploring the night street we slept early as next day was Diwali and we want to start the day with worshipping biggest Hindu temple of the world and inheriting cultural values.
If you want to take a sunrise silhouette photo then you have to reach Angkor wat as early as 5 am, we were lucky enough to reach there
And took a decent position near the pond there to capture the majestic image. Angkor Wat is a mountain temple build to represent Mount Meru, the centre of the world in Hindu cosmology. The temple’s five sanctuary towers represent the peaks of the sacred mountain, while the moats represent the oceans that surround Mount Meru. King Suryavarman II built Angkor Wat in the early 12th century, at the height of the Khmer Empire’s reign. The sun began to rise at 6:15 and it was a magical moment the whole pond turned into light red in colour and image of the temple on a pond is stunning. Our main purpose of offering sunrise prayer in worlds biggest Hindu temple completed with a collection of the amazing photo collection. Then we explored the temple and it took almost 4 hours even we were quick enough as we want to cover maximum temples today. So after Angkor Wat, we had breakfast then headed toward the next destination.
Our next destination is Ta Prohm Temple, it is the second most popular temple in Angkor Wat, thanks largely to its reputation as the “Tomb Raider temple.” It is famous for the ancient trees and root systems growing right out of the temple.
Next, we visited Bayon temple, which is crafted for a Mahayana Buddhist King, the Bayon Temple is around 600-700 years old. Make sure you take a look at some of the upper terraces where many of the stone faces have been carved – they really are too beautiful to miss. The Bayon is best known for the massive stone faces carved into the sides of its towers. Although it’s unclear exactly how many there once were, it’s estimated there were about 200 of these faces.
Ta Prohm is one of the most popular temples for tourists in the Angkor region because of the atmosphere created by the trees and plants which have been left to grow in it.
Banteay Kdei has a similar design to Ta Prohm but is smaller and is being restored to remove most of the trees and rebuild the collapsed parts of the structure.
Banteay serai temple is over 35 km away from Siem Reap. The drive took us through the Cambodian countryside where aids view is lush green fields and some broken historical monuments and temples.
Once at the temple, we couldn’t help gasping in disbelief. The intricately carved buildings, made from a delicate pink sandstone, resemble a tapestry. This miniature temple is picturesque.
Almost 1,00 years of, Pre Rup is one of the temples in Siem Reap that is believed to have been used for historic funerals and passing ceremonies. This alone makes it one important site for Cambodian. If you like to see the magnificent sunset of Cambodia then must visit here at sunset time, unluckily when we reached there it was raining so we missed the sunset view, but still the view from the top is mesmerizing. This was the end of our day in Siem real as next day morning, we are having a trip back to the capital Phenom Penh .
After 5 hours of journey in the morning 9, we reached the hotel in phenom Penh, as today was our last day we started the day with Cambodia museum.
The National Museum of Cambodia is home to a massive collection of Khmer art and artefacts, a testament to the grandeur of the once-powerful Khmer empire.
one of Phnom Penh’s most important attractions is the Royal Palace. Even though it is the official royal residence for Cambodia’s king, visitors are still allowed to visit certain parts of this extravagant palace complex. Much of the complex is made up of pretty and well-maintained gardens, not to mention quite a few dazzling golden temples.
our next destination is one of the black marks in human history. For many people, the only thing they know about the history of Cambodia is the terrible stories that came from the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s. This horrific period of history and the genocide that took place under Pol pot made the Killing Fields a place that many have heard of. South of the city, these fields were where hundreds of thousands of people were executed by the regime. By no means, an enjoyable experience, visiting the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center at the Killing Fields is an emotional but important experience.
after the sadistic place, we want some positive vibes so we went to wat phenom, Wat Phnom is a Buddhist temple located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It was built in 1372 and stands 27 metres above the ground. It is the tallest religious structure in the city. The pagoda was given the name of Wat Preah Cheney Borapaut. Wat Phnom is the central point of Phnom Penh. Then we had delicious Cambodian cuisine and directly airport to the airport.
Our journey to Cambodia ends with so much knowledge of Hinduism and cultural heritage with adventure and a variety of cuisine Indian and Cambodian.
