APAD 107: Life in the countryside
Just sharing another picture of rural Cambodia. I took this during one of our previous road trips last month.
On the way to Phnom Oudong (background), an old man and his cow.
Turning into this dusty road on the way to Phnom Oudong, we drove slowly following this old man, walking barefeet. My husband was driving slowly, carefully, so as not to stir the red, sticky dust and envelope the old man it. With the stifling heat at that time, I was amazed at how he went about his chore. When we passed him by, I rolled the window down and politely said, “chum riep soo, lok ta.” Hello, grandpa. My husband chimed in, in perfect timing.
Lok ta turned his head to us and smiled, broadly revealing a toothless mouth. From what I saw, lok ta looked genuinely surprised and pleased at a barang‘s (foreigner’s) greeting in his own language. “Baa, okun”. Thank you, he replied. I asked him where he was going. He’s taking his wayward cow back to the herd a hundred metres away. And he went on his merry way.
I know this is just a random encounter but I wonder what was he thinking afterwards. Would he remember the day these two foreigners (us) stopped by and talked to him? What did he think about us? For sure, I’ll remember him and his toothless grin. I pray that he be healthy to be able to do his chores and that he be safe in doing so.
APAD 088: Temple-hunting
It was the Chinese New Year and my husband and I wanted to escape the city. We finally pushed through with our plan last Sunday. My husband, younger brother and I drove 30-40kms northwest of Phnom Penh and found ourselves heading to Phnom Prasith. There we spent the whole day temple-hunting (and kite-flying afterwards).
Despite the heat and the bumpy and dusty ride, we found what we were looking for, a pre-Angkorian wat (temple) – or what’s left of it, anyway – that sits on top of Phnom Prasith and tucked in the lush vegetation.
There’s just so much more temples to explore if only you are game enough to go off the beaten trail.
Since it is perched up a hill, it is cool, very quiet and offers an excellent panoramic view of the area. Local villagers come here often for their daily prayers and offerings to monks-in-residence. During special Buddhist holidays, such as the Khmer New Year and Bon Pchum Ben, the number of visitors increase as the villagers are joined by local tourists who’ve come to offer prayers and food to the monks and spirits of long-gone ancestors to earn extra merits for their next life.
Although we preferred exploring the area by ourselves but we also didn’t turn down the offer to be toured around by a villager. He really gave us interesting details about the area, for example, behind the altar (picture on the top right), is a tunnel about 16kms long and connects this wat to Phnom Oudong, the old capital of Cambodia (1618-1886) before it was moved to Phnom Penh.
Here are some more pictures:
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- This side of the temple is being overrun by the vegetation.
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- Details of the wall carvings.
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- An altar between huge boulders is housed inside the ruin.,
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- Giant reclining Buddha, in the state of Nirvana.
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- A close up view of the giant reclining Buddha.
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- Eerie – a tree growing out of the wat.
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- A very old stupa, a few meters away from the temple ruins.
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- A relic lying on the ground.
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- A Buddhist angel kneels in prayer.
Please click the individual photo for a larger view.
Don’t forget to come back next week. I will feature another wat. Not as old but equally interesting, too.
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