Now, that is a ladybird beetle with an attitude

This large ladybird beetle was a visitor on the plant next to me enjoying morning coffee in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

I consider such visits as a forecast of a lucky day. Well, I was in Siem Reap, heading out to visit the Angkor Archaeological Park. That is always a happy experience.

Lucky biodiversity
There are 15 registered variants of Ladybug or Ladybird beetles in Cambodia. Probably there are many more. Neighbouring Viet Nam has 220 variations of Ladybugs registered so far. And the nature, flora and fauna of those two countries are equally rich and exciting.

When it comes to biodiversity, Cambodia is a well known hotspot in Southeast Asia. And there are still discoveries to be made.

Like in most of the world, these Ladybugs are considered to be a sign of good luck here too.

Natural pest control
Unless of course you are one of the insects lady bugs like to feed upon, as they are natural pest control animals. Aphids, scales, mealy bugs, white flies, mites and thrips which often is a threat to flora and micro fauna can be effectively controlled and kept at an acceptable level when lady bugs are taking action.

They are an amazingly effective natural way of handling and reducing the threats from pests.

The family Coccinellidae is a large family of lady beetles. Globally there are 6 000 variants divided into 360 under groups.

And this one was on the larger side.


#2019CE #animalphotography #art #beetle #biking #Cambodia #citylife #coccinellidae #fortune #goodluck #Harmonia #axyridis #insect #visitcambodia #khmer #ladybird #Ladybug #macrophotography #marihøne #roadtrip #SiemReab #SiemReap #southeast #asia #southeastasia #visitsiemreap

Smoking good Khmer BBQ street food

When you want to buy street food in Asia, you will not lack choices.

Like chicken, quail, sausage, pork, pineapple from this happy chef.

Trick is to follow a local chef and her fav street food joint. Or – the joint with the longest queue.

And your nose, of course.

You can feed yourself well and have left overs for lunch the next day for 5 USD. Or take away for when to visit Khmer friends for drinks and talks, a meal for a large group or family is around 10 USD.

https://drzinasia.wordpress.com/2021/04/28/smoking-good-street-food-when-you-want-to-buy/


#2018CE #ancient #Angkor #angkorfood #chive #art #BBQ #Buddhism #Cambodia #life #countryside #day #trip #eating #Empire #foodie #greentourism #history #imperial #Kampuchea #Khmer #ladyfingers #squid #shrimps #crayfish #shellfish #localfood #Nikkor #Nikon #Pagoda #prawn #seafood #SiemReab #siemreap #southeastasia #stuengthmeyvillage #SvayDangkum #Commune #visitcambodia #visitsiemreap #worldculturalheritage #food #foodie

An evening with comfort Khmer seafood BBQ

Who says things need to be complicated when produce has high quality?

Tiger shrimps, squids and veggies on the BBQ, freshly steamed local rice and one of M’me Khmer chefs own, home made dipping sauces.

And a beer.

That is great eating and comfort food and drinks. A great Saturday in Siem Reap, Cambodia.


For seafood lovers
Cambodia is a great country for seafood lovers. Or, I think the technical term is aquatic based protein.

In a typical, classical Khmer diet around 60 percent of the protein are shellfish and crayfish from river, lake or sea. All important part of Cambodias geography. Ad some fresh vegetables, and home made dipping sauces mixing salt, sweet, spicy, and umami flavours.

And flavourful steamed Khmer rice.

The Forbes Magazine recently advised people loving good food and unique experiences to travel to Cambodia. For the special cuisine with great flavours and no long queues.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/vickysmith/2026/01/16/visit-this-underrated-country-for-great-southeast-asian-food-without-the-crowds/


#2018CE #ancient #Angkor #angkorfood #chive #art #BBQ #Buddhism #Cambodia #life #countryside #day #trip #eating #Empire #foodie #greentourism #history #imperial #Kampuchea #Khmer #ladyfingers #squid #shrimps #crayfish #shellfish #localfood #Nikkor #Nikon #Pagoda #prawn #seafood #SiemReab #siemreap #southeastasia #stuengthmeyvillage #SvayDangkum #Commune #visitcambodia #visitsiemreap #worldculturalheritage #food #foodie

The mirror pond at Neak Poan temple

A morning bike to Neak Pean/Neak Poan (Khmer: ប្រាសាទនាគព័ន្ធ, “the entwined serpents”) is a fresh morning bike trip. The main temple tower dedicated to Avalokitesvara is this one in the mirror pond is worth the trip itself.

Neak Pean was built as a retreat and healing place at an artificial island. This island was put in the centre of a man made Baray/lake and water-reservoir.

In memory and honour of Dad
The surrounding Jayatataka Baray lays due east of the Preah Khan temple. This is the large temple complex J7 built in honour of his father.

Jayavarman VII had clear visions as mighty ruler of the Khmer Empire. This was the most beautiful of the more than 110 hospitals he initiated build for his people all over the core parts of his Empire. It is an architectural and water engineering marvel. Placed close by the large temple built in memory of his dad.

Tips for visits
Neak Pean is normally part of the Grand Circuit Tours of Angkor Park. It should be visited early after sunrise, before the soft breeze of the day breaks up the internal mirror pond tranquillity.

https://drzinasia.wordpress.com/2024/12/25/neak-poan-hospital-temple-for-peace-of-mind/

#1250CE #ancient #angkor #wat #AngkorHeritage #angkorpark #apsara #architecture #mirror #forest #archive #art #artificial #lake #Asia #Avalokitesvara #ប្រាសាទ#នាគព័ន្ធ #biking #bikingadventures #bluesky #Buddhism #Cambodia #citylife #countryside #daytrip #Empire #greentourism #Hinduism #history #imperial #J7 #jajavarmanvii #Jayatataka #Baray #jvii #Kampuchea #khmer #kingdomofwonders #mirror #pond #NeakPean #neakpoan #Temple #Pagoda #Prasat #PreahKhan #roadtrip #Sculpture #SiemReap #southeastasia #theentwinedserpents #travel #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

No free lunch.
But the view and surroundings are worth paying for.

Along the road to Tonlé Sap Lake, Cambodia, the rice fields, open farmland and wetland give a splendid outlook. It makes for a very relaxing area to have lunch. Several places along the road have these sheds with straw roofs. They offer cool shade, fresh air, Khmer food and drinks - and hammocks.

In the background to the left here is Phnom Krom, or Kraom/Krom hill. This sacred hill marks the normal highest water mark for the Tonlé Sap north towards Siem Reap at the end of green season.

The east side of the hilltop is a popular spot for younger Khmer and Khmer families for evening picnics. Along the road up to the hilltop, there are plenty of small places offering picnic mats and street food and drinks. The view from those places is partly sunset over Tonle Sap, and mostly peaceful sunset over the farmland and rice fields.

The hill tops temple trio
Phnom Krom is one of the spots near Siem Reap where both sunrise and sunsets can be enjoyed. It has a modern wat, temple and monastery, on the northwest top slope. That is on the right side of the hill in this photo. There are remains of a trio tower temple, Prasat Phnom Krom, in Mebon style at the west top point of the hill.

Prasat Phnom Krom is the southernmost of three hilltop temples built at the same time around year 900 CE. The two others are Phnom Bakheng and Phnom Bok. These three hills form a sacred triangle encapsulating core parts of Angkor Park and Siem Reap city.

It is a 30 minute bike ride out of Siem Reap.

#2016CE #ancient #Angkor #architecture #archive #art #ទន្លេសាប #biking #bluesky #Buddhism #Cambodia #capital #citylife #countryside #daytrip #Empire #greentourism #Hinduism #history #imperial #Khmer #lake #tonle #sap #Lunch #Huts #view #ricefield #rice #paddock #Nikkor #Nikon #Pagoda #people #phnomkraom #pnohmkrom #roadtrip #Sculpture #siemreab #siemreap #village #villagelife #visitcambodia #visitsiemreap #wat #worldculturalheritage

Prasat Bei – Trio of one out of four

Prasat Bei – ប្រាសាទបី – means three temples. On top of a small laterite platform of 10 x 24 meter there are these three towers, where the central one is fairly complete and in order. This temple tower rises 10 meter high.

The two flanking temple towers are not in that good condition, and the north one closest to the city moat around Angkor Thom was probably never properly finished. There are still some lintels with carvings left to see.

This is the largest in a quartet of temple sites on the west side of the Southern gate to Angkor Thom. Just to the east and west of this temple is the rather rudimentary remains of Sâk Krâop Temple I and II. Closer to the main road into Angkor Thom is Prasat Bay Kaek East – ប្រាសាទថ្មបាយក្អែក.

Among the earliest Angkor Thom temples
The temple was built for the Hindu god Shiva during the reign of Yasovarman I early in the 900s. This great King was the god king who moved the Khmer capital from Hariharalaya to Yaśodharapura, the area where we today find most of the most famous constructions and temples of Angkor Empire. The first central location of the new capital was built on the nearby Phnom Bakheng.

This temple is 1,5 kilometre north of Angkor Wat. It is worth visiting to get an idea of the design of the first Angkor imperial capital and its temples.

#AncienT #1020CE #Angkor #PrasatBei #Angkorwat #architecture #archive #archivephoto #art #Asia #ប្រាសាទថ្មបាយក្អែក #bike #biking #bikingintheangkorwonderland #bluesky #Buddhism #Cambodia #capitalcity #citylife #classic #khmer #countryside #daytrip #Empire #greentourism #Hinduism #history #imperial #Kampuchea #leaveonlyfootprints #offthebeatentrack #AOTBT #angkoroffthebeatentrack #2019CE #Pagoda #Prasat #BayKaek #EastPrasat #BayKaekEast #ប្រាសាទថ្មបាយក្អែក #pyramid #roadtrip #SâkKrâop #Temple #SâkKrâopTemple #Sculpture #SiemReab #SiemReap #southeastasia #takeonlyphotos #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/

#Phnom #Kulen #Mountain #KulenMountain #Khmer #ភ្នំគូលែន #Phnum #Kulên #Lychee #Mountain #Preah #AngThom #Reclining #Buddha #classickhmer #angkor #siemreap #visitsiemreap #cambodia #dirttrack #backcountry #Apsara #ApsaraAuthority #siemreab #reclining #buddhism #stairs #statue #hinduism #cambodia #nationalpark #worldheritage #cultural #architecture #2018CE #classic #Phnom #Kulen #recliningBuddha #cultural #craddle #Kambuja #khmerempire #Ancient #art #ភ្នំគូលែន #Bluesky #Countryside #daytrip #mountainPagoda #roadtrip #Sculpture #southeastasia #visitcambodia #worldculturalheritage

Srah Srang, the dual peaceful sunspot

An October morning bike return to Siem Reap via Srah Srang reservoir. Peaceful and far from crowdy are the qualities of this place in Angkor Park. It carried the promise of a nice, sunny day after the green season.

The Srah Srang reservoir, meaning ស្រះស្រង់, "Royal Bath", is one of those spots deserving a couple of visits. Like in the morning and in the evening. It is a place both to enjoy sunrise and sunset.

Along the reservoir on its north and southwest side there are a lot of cafes, restaurant and street food stalls. Open for both breakfast, lunch and dinner. Or for snacks and coffee breaks.

In the northwest corner, the two main routes of sightseeing of the core Angkor Park meets. This is the Angkor Park small circle of Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Keo and Ta Prohm temples. And the Grand Circle of Angkor Thom, Royal Palace/Leper King, Preah Khan, Neak Poan, Ta Som, East Mebon and Pre Rup.

Today Srah Srang measures 700 by 350 meter. There is a platform in the centre of the Baray, meaning there might have been a larger temple there originally. Now there is a small tower with a spire showing that location.

This reservoir and its small temple were supervised built by the only known Khmer imperial architect by name, minister and guru Kavindrarimathana to the King Rajendravarman II in approximately 950 CE. He is accepted as the main architect behind East Mebon Temple, Prasat Bat Chum and probably the first architect designing Pre Rup Temple.

https://drzinasia.wordpress.com/2025/06/15/srah-srang-the-dual-peaceful-sun-spot/

#2019CE #ancient #angkor #angkorpark #angkorwat #apsara #architecture #archive #art #Asia #biking #bluesky #buddhism #Cambodia #citylife #countryside #daytrip #Empire #greentourism #hinduism #history #imperial #khmer #leaveonlyfootprints #offthebeatentrack #prasatbatchum #prasatbanteaykdei #Rajendravarman #SiemReab #Siem #Reap #visitsiemreap #srahsrang #temple #visitcambodia #worldculturalheritage

The triple hidden tower temple at the end of red road

Prasat Bat Chum is easily accessible via a red, new dirt road from the south near Prasat Kravan.

Known architect
One unique aspect of this temple is that the architect is known by name. Normally, the god kings are the ones who got their names connected to the temples built during their reign during the 630 years of the Khmer Empire.

Bat Chum was supervised by the architect, minister and guru Kavindrarimathana to the King Rajendravarman II approximately 952CE.

Kavindrarimathana is also accepted as the supervisor behind East Mebon Temple, Srah Srang and maybe the basic designer behind Pre Rup Temple. Meaning that he designed the main reservoirs and elements of most of the Southeast Grand circle Angkor Park.

Mahayana Buddhism
The other unique aspect, Bat Chum was built as Mahayana Buddhist Temple when the Khmer Empire still had Hinduism as the main religion. Another interesting glimpse into religious pluralism early on in this powerful empire.

The three towers are in poor condition when I visited, undergoing a several yearlong restoration project. The three towers are dedicated to Buddha, Vajrapani and Prajnaparamita. Simplified one is for the Buddha, the second for the bodhisattva symbolizing Buddhas power and relentless determination in conquest of negativity, and the third perfection of Wisdom.

This temple is a 12,5 km bike ride from Siem Reap Old Market on mostly flat roads and bike tracks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_Chum

#2019CE #ancient #Angkor #angkorpark #apsara #architecture #archive #art #Asia #batchum #biking #bikingintheAngkorWonderland #bluesky #Mahayana #Buddhism #Cambodia #citylife #countryside #Khmer #Empire #greentourism #Hinduism #history #imperial #offthebeatentrack #Pagoda #prasatbatchum #RajendravarmanII #ricefield #roadtrip #Sculpture #SiemReab #SiemReap #visitsiemreap #srahsrang #statetemple #takeonlyphotos #temple #travel #visitcambodia #worldculturalheritage