Got us tickets to move on to Kampong Thom, I was feeling sick for some reason and slept all the way on the bus, had a really bad headache and feeling nauseous. Probably food from the previous day wasn't clean, and even chucked up twice in the morning...bummer!
Anyhow, the bus ride took about 3 hours, heading southwest of Siem Reap, which is on the way to Phnom Penh. Arrived at about 3pm, checked in to a hotel, and continued my snoozing as I was still feeling really off. I had to drag myself out of bed after an hour as I didn't want to waste the day. We headed to Phnom Suntok, a hilltop temple, about 45 mins away from town.
As it was getting late, we raced up the steps to try and catch sunset as we didn't want to be caught there in the dark. And guess what Phnom Suntok is famous for? Its 980 steps!!! And note that I used the word race earlier, gosh...it was some serious crazy 25 minute cardio workout!!! We had to pause for breath ever 20 steps, and can I just say I'm damn proud of myself, having not had any exercise prior to this trip!!! The steps were lined with little guardian statues, girls on the left, boys on the right.
Day 5 ~ 9th April 2007
Sambor Prei Kuk
Started off at 8 am, it took a little over an hour's ride on motorbike to arrive at Sambor Prei Kuk. The only other attraction in Kampong Thom are these ancient temples, older than those in Siem Reap, dating back to 680 A.D. Clusters of small temples that took years of excavation and restoration. Great place for a stroll, with thick forest leaves providing cool shade. Some of these were pretty cool and neat, and doing my cheapskate thing again, stood with some tour group to get to know the temples.
How cool is this?
Talk about transportation, here's a hog on a bike!
Khmer sour soup
Primitive way of preventing ice from melting, using sawdust.No wonder I was sick, remind me NEVER to drink anything that's not out of a bottle.
After our early morning visit to the local temples, we checked out of the hotel around noon and had lunch before heading for Phnom Penh, taking a connecting bus to the capital city. After a 3 and a half hour ride, we checked in to a guest house and just spent the night wandering around town and checking out the local scene.
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