Sunset, rays and clouds over top rice

Sunsets are interesting phenomena. Like when the sun making out with a particular wild cloud before setting for the night.
Not exactly the calming mood sunsets from the clichés.
The soothing part here are the rice fields, full of green plants growing to be delicious rice.

Top notch rice
Cambodia is said to have several hundred, even thousands, types of rice. Often changing main type from one village to the next.

Rice from Cambodia is in the top tier every time rice experts taste where in the world the best rice is grown. Like they did last year.

The upside being in the Kingdom is not only the great produce and the delicious variations of food and dishes. The good thing is the fragrance and taste of Cambodian rice make for a quick meal or a snack. All you need is a bowl of freshly steamed local rice. And a drop or three of your favourite condiment sauce. Or sauces. And some fresh chilli.

It is chhnang ឆ្ងាញ់ៗ – delicious – all by itself!

https://www.irri.org/where-we-work/countries/cambodia

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Visit to an impressing off the main track citadel temple

Banteay Thom, the big (Thom) Citadel (Banteay), is 10 km north of Angkor Wat and 15 km out Siem Reap City limits. It is accessible by motorbike or a proper bike only.

This temple was built during the rule of Jayavarman VII "the Great" in early 1200s CE. There is one main entrance to the east, and a gate blockaded by debris to the west. Remains of a moat surrounds the old temple.

As a temple built by a mighty god king, it is of stately qualities including some very advanced arts and stone carvings.
After the anteroom and Gopuras, the main three towers are of impressive sizes. But in some need of restoration.

Being outside the main Angkor Park area, there is no need for an Angkor temple pass to visit. It is a truly quiet place with spots and details to study closely, without the queueing and crowds in the more famous temple from JVIIs reign.
Unfortunately, its solitude location means that the temple has been a target for looting into quite recent times.

Banteay Thom is surrounded by rice fields. Visiting during harvest season means meeting and surprise a lot of locals tending to their fields. Including the field where the young Khmer works, where you can listen to the latest in Khmer pop music.

That is not a bad thing. Kh-pop is patent, modern pop worth listen to. And makes a nice cultural contrast to the old Archaeological structure.

#angkor #siemreap #visitsiemreap #cambodia #offthebeatentrack #kingdomofwonder #angkortemples 🎶🎶 #bikingintheangkorwonderland 🎶🎶 #AOTBT #offthebeatentrack #Banteay #thom #Banteaythom #bike #rice #ricefield #dirttrack #backcountry #greentourism #Jayavarman #VII #JVII #J7 #Angkor #Thom #1250CE

Inside this great collection of green is the remains of one of the oldest temples in Angkor Park

A colourful memory from that time I had lunch near Prasat Kôk Svay Pream. I had visited four temples in old Hariharalaya/Roluos group covering 400 years of architecture. Finally found this well covered, very old pre-Khmer empire temple site.

Nearly a 100 year older than Khmer Empire
Prasat Kôk Svay Pream, ប្រាសាទគោកស្វាយព្រាហ្មណ៍ in Khmer, is mostly covered by vegetation.

Only some small remains of a brick wall, an entrance gate and a lingam basin are relatively easy to be found. In front there of this is an entrance platform facing eastwards. The thick growth of green trees, palms and thick foliage including thorn bushes covers the rest of the site. It looks like it has been a moat of sort around the elevated area where this temple remains are.

When Prasat Kôk Svay Pream first was rediscovered, three lintels where found. They show the bridging of architecture and design from Sambor Prei Kouk of Chenla kingdom to Prei Khmeng and Kulen of early Khmer during the 700s CE.

The Chenla kingdom was the last Khmer kingdom before the Khmer empire was declared in 802 CE. Its capital was near Kampong Thom.

It is a nice and peaceful place, and not a lot of visitors. Or locals. Some friendly cows, though. Always lovely with something bovine out in the countryside.

https://drzinasia.wordpress.com/2024/09/20/lunch-at-prasat-kok-svay-pream/

#2019CE #ancient #Angkor #AOTBT #offthebeatentrack #architecture #archive #archivephoto #art #ប្រាសាទ #គោក #ស្វាយ #ព្រាហ្មណ៍ #រលួស #backcountry #bike #biking #bikingintheangkorwonderland #bluesky #Cambodia #oldcapital #Hariharalaya #roluos #roluosgroup #citylife #classic #khmer #countryside #daytrip #dirttrack #Empire #greentourism #Hinduism #history #imperial #Kampuchea #angkoroffthebeatentrack #temple #Pagoda #Prasat #KôkSvayPream #rice #ricefield #roadtrip #siemreap #southeastasia #visitcambodia #visitsiemreap #worldculturalheritage

Sunrise greeting at the first grand temple of the Khmer Empire

Mornings are the most pleasant time to visit Bakong Temple. The large stone temple gets very hot later in the day.
Bakong was the first mountain type of temple architecture design in the Khmer imperial era. It served as a state temple for king Indravarman I, in the first dedicated Khmer imperial capital at Hariharalaya.
Today this is the Roluos Group of temples east of Siem Reap City, Cambodia. Other well-known temples here is Preah Koh and Lolei.

Large Hindu influence
The temple was dedicated to Shiva, and its main consecrated image was a lingam called Sri Indresvara. This step pyramid mountain temple draws inspiration from other large Hindu temples in the region built around the same time. Most notably the fantastic Borobudur temple in Java, outside Yogyakarta.
Bakong temple was the last large construction in Hariharalaya. Indravarman’s son and heir Yasovarman I moved the capital to Phnom Bakheng in the early 900s. Bakheng Hill is just south of what we today call Angkor Thom, the big (capital) city.

For those interested in comparative historical timeline, this temple was finished as a state temple in 881CE. In Norway, the first unification of the kingdom under one superior king established the first larger Nordic kingdom.

#Firstcapital #khmer #empire #2018CE #ancient #881CE #Angkor #ApsaraAuthority #architecture #archivephoto #art #Asia #ប្រាសាទបាគងរលួស #backcountry #bakong #BakongTemple #bike #biking #bikingintheangkorwonderland #bluesky #Buddhism #Cambodia #capitalcity #citylife #classic #countryside #daytrip #dirttrack #greentourism #Hariharalaya #Hinduism #history #humanheritage #imperial #Indravarman #Kampuchea #lolei #mobilephoto #monks #morningbiking #Note9 #novices #offthebeatentrack #AOTBT #Pagoda #PrasatBakong #PrasatLollei #PrasatPreahKoh #ricefield #roadtrip #roluos #roluosgroup #SiemReab #SiemReap #southeastasia #sunrise #travel #visitcambodia #visitsiemreap #worldculturalheritage

The reclining lord Buddha

The temple complex Preah Ang Thom is worth a trip to Phnom Kulen/Kulen Mountains in itself. But a large experience within Ang Thom is the 8 meter long statue of a reclining Buddha.

It is the largest in Cambodia and among the 20 largest reclining Buddha-status in Asia. It rests on top of a sandstone formation, and the statue is carved out as part of that sandstone.

Meaning someone saw the Lord Buddha in the stone and carved until he was set free. The classics motivation in art works in any human civilisation.

A holy area
The surrounding Preah Ang Thom temple was built after the Buddha was carved. Getting to this site is easy by car from Siem Reap, and the area carries a lot of other excursion worthy sites.
This includes walking trails for the day trip trekker, a river with a thousand lingam carvings and holy waterfall. The conglomerate of holy sites on the Kulen Mountain was proposed as an official World Cultural Heritage site by Cambodia just when the pandemic started.

An approval of this request seems like a proper next step. This is the national mountains and cradle of Khmer imperial culture after all. Here the first god king of the Khmer Angkor Empire declared the establishment of the Empire in 802 CE, establishing an empire lasting for the next 630 years.

https://drzinasia.wordpress.com/2021/04/07/somewhere-to-run-to-someone-is-eager-to-visit/

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That time I came to a fork in the road, and someone else choose the track most travelled. I felt obliged to choose the other one.

The area in and around Angkor Park and Siem Reap are excellent for off road biking and exploration. It is a healthy and green way to enjoy the marvels of the Khmer Empire, its origin and its later development.

Finding things not seen
I was on my way to find a couple of more secretive temples and old sites. I was trying to do that by a direct route via Bayon and Angkor Thom and north out of the Grand circle. This trip took me into dirt tracks not travelled by many.

Among things I did find were stuff like a river not supposed to be there. Some bridge and road maintenance. And a bunch of locals tending to rice fields, surprised by the pink skin visitor. But politely and smiling returning greetings of hello and well wishes for a good day.

As Khmer so often do.

It is, as always, important to respect the local’s privacy and integrity. Acting as a respectful, polite and responsible good guest in their home area are of the outmost importance. And of course, be a sensible traveller leaving only bike tracks and footprints and take only photos. Including not biking or walking into any private area or destroying any crop.

#2019CE #ancient #Angkor #angkorwat #architecture #archive #archivephoto #art #Asia #backcountry #banteaythom #bike #biking #bikingintheangkorwonderland #AOTBT #bikingintheangwonderland #bluesky #Buddhism #Cambodia #citylife #classic #khmer #countryside #daytrip #dirttrack #Empire #greentourism #Hinduism #history #imperial #Kampuchea #leaveonlyfootprints #offthebeatentrack #angkoroffthebeatentrack #Prasat #Komnap #rice #ricefield #roadtrip #Sculpture #Siem #Reab #SiemReap #southeastasia #takeonlyphotos #temple #travel #visitcambodia #visitsiemreap #worldculturalheritage

Hunting red bananas in the woods

The red bananas from Kulen mountains are a treat and a sweet surprise. They are easily available visiting the sacred mountain and cradle of the Khmer civilization.

Along the hillside road to the Kulen sites, including Preah Ang Thom with Cambodia’s largest reclining buddha, the thousand lingams river and the waterfall in these holy mountains, there are market stalls. Here the locals are selling veggies and fruit, as well as food, drinks and miscellanies like flip flops, hats and krama scarf.

Chek!
These red bananas, “chek leak” in Khmer looks and taste great and is a must-have among the produce offered. The Chek Leak is a bit more expensive than the more ordinary bananas, chek, in Cambodia. Expect prices up to 5 USD a kilo.

For the banana lover, Cambodia is where to make out big time. There are at least 27 different chek/banana versions available in different sizes and colours, and they are often very inexpensive. They vary from the immediately snackable to the savoury plantain version best known for different cooked dishes in various cuisines around the globe.

You may even find a typical Cavendish banana in Cambodia, if that is your craving.

It all ads into the extensive list of fresh fruit easily available for people living or travel in the Kingdom of Wonder.

Open markets are affluent on the road to Kulen Mountain, attracting a lot of different customers. It is an hour-hour and a half drive from Siem Reap, depending on traffic.

https://drzinasia.wordpress.com/2021/01/09/reclining-at-the-craddle-of-khmer-empire-3/

#Phnom #Kulen #Kulen #Mountain #KulenMountain #Khmer #ភ្នំគូលែន #Phnum #Kulên #Lychee #Mountain #Preah #AngThom #Reclining #Buddha #classickhmer #archivephoto #angkor #siemreap #visitsiemreap #cambodia #dirttrack #backcountry #greentourism #Apsara #ApsaraAuthority #greentourism #2019CE

Early morning enthusiasm in the forest
That time I had to share the bike track with two very enthusiastic youngsters in the Siem Reap countryside near Angkor Thom.

Culture and nature
Water buffaloes are still of some importance in agriculture in Cambodia. Traditionally used for ploughing the fields and carting heavy loads, those tasks are increasingly done by mechanised tractors and specialised machinery. But for milk, meat, fortune and for breeding they are popular and even exported.
These animals live well of ordinary grass and water plants. All easily accessible food with no need of industrialised special fodder. They return valuable quality fertiliser in return, and they are important in keeping and being a vital part of the cultural landscape.

Respect and distance
These buffaloes are domesticated livestock, and normally quite docile. But they are each still 2 pointy ends backed by 200 kilo+ of bones and muscles, so respectful distance is smart when encountering these animals unexpected.
Me, sitting on my bike in a crossroad in front of these two fellows, continued out of their track on my way after I had taken this shot. I saw these two rumbling on their way crossing the road behind me.
Hope they enjoyed this moment as much as me.

https://drzinasia.wordpress.com/2023/04/10/physical-distancing-pre-covid-times/

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On the way

#dirtroad #dirttrack #mountains #rally #Brazil