Day 16 Tuesday 7th April, And then there were Four

Last night we returned to Pub Street for a dinner to say goodbye to a lovely couple, aged in their mid-40’s from WA. We had hit it off with them and despite the age difference and they had been wonderful company. Rob and I, and Trevor and Marilyn who had also become good travelling buddies, all went into town on Tuk-tuks and enjoyed a fabulous meal and a few drinks. Today all of the group bar Rob, myself, Trevor and Marilyn, were leaving. They had various pick-up times to be taken to the airport during the day from early morning until just after lunch, depending on where they were going. We had opted to stay for an extra two days and were so glad we did. Our group of sixteen became four. Our guide Ons, and our driver picked the four of us up in a very comfortable van at 8.30am We were being taken to Phnom Kulen National Park. We drove through traditional small villages, and the remnants of the dried paddy fields, before climbing up a winding rocky road to the top of the mountain. Along the way we stopped for magnificent views over the jungle. We also stopped at a sacred river where there were many carvings on the rocks, in the river. The river was called the River of 1,000 Lingas. These ancient carvings were 1,000 years old, and men and women would bath in the scared waters to become parents. We continued to the top of the mountain where we ascended many steps to visit the Buddhist Pagoda and the large reclining Buddha statue. Our guide was keen for us to taste the different foods being offered by the villagers at their shops on our walk back down to the waiting vehicle. We tried all sorts of different fruits, some delicious beef strips, and even some cakes made from rice. Our guide paid for the food, and it really was a good way for us to try things! Following this, were driven to the waterfalls of Kulen. We all walked to the top of one of the falls and thought we could just paddle there but then Ons said that the swimming hole at the bottom of the waterfalls was a much better place to take a dip. This would involve a walk down quite a few stairs and both Rob and Trevor were not that keen as the walk out might be a bit hard and hot! Both Marilyn and I said we’d walk down to the swimming hole with Ons and we did. We enjoyed a refreshing dip in the waterhole and the trek back up was not that bad. Back in our van, we started driving back towards Siem Reap and our hotel. We stopped at a lovely roadside restaurant and enjoyed another delicious lunch. Our final stop on the way back was to a small village farm, where palm sugar was being produced along with many other things. The farm had pigs, chickens, numerous fruit trees, including cashew nut trees and palm trees. On’s excellent knowledge once again was appreciated by us and he explained that as a young boy, his family had a farm, and he worked on the farm so knew quite a lot about the work involved. Today it reached 40° in Siem Reap so by travelling to the mountains, the temperature was a couple of degrees cooler which was a slight blessing. Returning to the hotel, we once again spent time relaxing in the pool!



















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