Cambodia Trip

Budget Hostel

2010-12-07T23:58:00.000-08:00

Jasmine LodgeLocation: Siem Reap From: USD 6 onwards
Named after the owner's wife, Jasmine Lodge offers 47 clean and comfortable rooms in two buildings and is very popular with budget travellers and long-term volunteers. Mr. Kunn is also a great source of information if you want to venture off the beaten tracks or do some volunteer work in Siem Reap.

Address: #307, Road #6, Taphul Village, Svay Dangkum Commune, Siem Reap
Comments: we stayed at Jasmine Lodge for one day but that time was fully booked, we were allocated to one of the tiny room and my friend doesnt like the feeling (quite dim in the room) we decided to move out on the second day. Staff there are friendly and helpful. Distance :~15mins from airport.

Palm Garden LodgeLocation: Siem Reap From: USD 7 onwards
Located a leisurly walk from the Old Market, Palm Garden Lodge is a newly opened budget lodge offering a friendly atmosphere in quiet surroundings.

Sunset at Phnom Bakheng Hill

2007-08-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

A perfect way to round off the day is to walk up Phnom Bakheng Hill for a view of the spectacular sunset over these sandstone monuments.

Tourist can take elephant ride to the summit

This is our territory !

View from the top

Waiting for sunset...

Finally...!

Banteay Srey

2007-07-31T01:46:00.001-07:00

Built at a time when the Khmer Empire was gaining significant power and territory,the temple was constructed by a Brahmin counselor under a powerful king,Rajendravarman and later under Jayavarman V. Banteay Srey displays some of the finest examples of classical Khmer art. The walls are densely covered with some of the most beautiful,deep and intricate carvings of any Amgkorian temple. The temple's relatively small size,pink sandstone construction and ornate design give it a fairyland ambience.

Thommanon

2007-07-31T01:31:00.000-07:00

Thommanon temple was constructed in late 11th -early 12th century CE.It's a small,attractive temple in very good condition,built at the same time as Angkor Wat.The Angkor Wat style is more easily seen in the style of the towers and carved devatas.

People

2007-07-27T03:04:00.001-07:00

Though temples and castles ruins at Angkor are remarkable, but the people there will still captivate your heart and brighten your day...

Though they are poor but they could teach any one of us what being happy means...

Land-mine victims playing traditional music to make a living...

Siem Reap

2007-07-27T03:02:00.001-07:00

Life and Hope Association (LHA) is a Cambodian non-profit, non-governmental and non-political organization run by Young Monks of Wat Damnak(wat=temple). They work with several active villages in and surrounding the Siem Reap and Bakong District, with aim to alleviate poverty/difficulty of poor families, especially Cambodian Children by supporting them with basic needs such as foods, clothing, school supplies, health services, education, accommodation, etc.

I visited them during my stays in SiemReap and had some understanding of how they run the few organisation under the LHA umbrella to help the children,youth and HIV victims. Please pay them a visit when you go Cambodia or alternatively you can also support them by making donation to their fund. Please visit their official website at http://www.watdamnak.org/lha/

A small temple in Wat Damnak

Ven. Hoeurn Somnieng (Executive Director) explaining how does LHA works to me.

Free hostel for young adult from Sewing Training Center
(one of the project under LHA,they provide free training to vulnerable girls and women between aged 14-35)

Children's hostel

Building secondary school for the children.
The monk of top is "Cheng",he can climb very fast...;)

Children & me

Traditional apsara dance by children from Children's Development Village

They use solar kettle to boil water (sponsored by Germany school)

Apsara Dance and Art

2007-07-26T23:49:00.001-07:00

Traditional Dance and Shadow Puppet Performances
Cambodia has a long and rich tradition of classical dance also known as "Apsara dancing".I attending one at Phnom Penh by "Sovanna Phum Art Association".

Slow and graceful unique dance style

They are from Sovanna Phum Art Association

Buddha statue

Candle light

Phnom Penh

2007-07-26T23:48:00.005-07:00

Royal Palace

Preah Tineang Tevea Vinichhay (The Throne Hall)

Preah Tineang Phochani

Her Royal Highness Kantha Bopha's Stupa

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum(SR21)

Angkor Thom

2007-07-26T23:48:00.003-07:00

The capital city "Angkor Thom", not far from Angkor Wat is one of the largest of all Khmer cities. It was founded by Jayavarman VII and probably remained the captial until 17th century. For most visitors, the first sight of this monumental construction is the magnificent South Gate, with its towers with four faces pointing in each of the cardinal directions and elephant.

There are many castles in this city area, "Bayon" is one of the most enigmatic and powerful religious construction in the world. The temple is extremely complex both in terms of its structure and meaning.It uses,uniquely, a mass of face-towers to create a stone mountain of ascending peaks.

The South Gate of Angkor Thom

Main entrance to Bayon castle

Ta Prohm

2007-07-26T23:48:00.001-07:00

Built in the mid 12th to the early 13th Century by Javavarman VI, Ta Prohm was a temple monastery built to honor the the king’s mother. It featured a set of concentric galleries with corner enclosures. It is best known today in that trees had become interlaced among the ruins when discovered in the 19th century. While restoration work is being painstakingly undertaken today, as the trees had become an integral part of many of the structures, they have been left undisturbed.

Angkor Wat

2007-07-24T02:02:00.000-07:00

This is one of seven World amazing!Angkor Wat was the grandest and most sublime of all the Khmer temples, and a city in its own rights. Built during the reign of Suryavarman II in the first half of the 12th century, it is a true Khmer architectural masterpiece, among the best preserved monument in Angkor and the most photographed subject in all of Cambodia.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat lake

stunning Angkor Wat

Yes, it's that steep...

Doorway...

Painting on the wall