After having breakfast at the hotel, Horn, our tuktuk driver was already waiting for us outside.
Since we have already finished visiting the nearby temples in Angkor, we decided to go to the Roluos Group which is 16km away from Siem Reap. The group is composed of three temples -- Preah Ko, Bakong, and Lolei, which we visited in this order.
Preah Ko --There are six towers in the Preah Ko complex, all of them on a sandstone platform. Three in the front to represent paternal ancestors, and three at the back to represent maternal ancestors. We saw that the carvings on the temples were very well preserved. These are one of the few temples that was built using bricks giving off a reddish shade in appearance so they are very nice to photograph as well. Preah Koh means "Sacred Bulls" and this was named as such because there are statues of bulls in front of the towers.
Our first shot together using the the timer function of our camera... I really miss our ML-L3 remote!!! ;D
This temple is famous for its lintel (horizontal block between two supports in ancient architecture) carvings. This lintel shows warriors, horsemen, and a diety.
The three towers in front:
Bakong - a lizard greeted us on our way to the temple.
Bakong is the most impressive and beautiful of the Roluos Group. Its outer shell used sandstone instead of bricks. Bakong is said to represent the first application of the temple-mountain architectural formula on a grand scale, making it a very high temple. Some of its intricate carvings can still be seen, but because it is not as famous as some of the other temples, restoration work would have to wait.
D keeps on climbing as I take a shot of him while I catch my breath... Taking pictures of him is always a good excuse for me to stop and pretend that I am not panting... yet!!! Hee hee hee!!
Lolei -- there is a young boy with cupped hands waiting for alms at the entrance of the temple complex. This temple was supposedly an island-temple in the middle of a "baray" or a body of water, which is now dry. We didn't spend much time here as it was not that big and by this time we were already having what they call temple overload. This was the last Roluos group temple on our itinerary.
On the way back to the tuktuk, Horn was not there, but was at a little store outside the temple buying something. All temples have little stores outside with ladies and kids shouting "Lady, you like cold drink?" where they sell all kinds of canned drinks, water and snacks.
Apparently, Horn was buying some mangoes for himself. He shared his snack with us and I must say they were delicious. The Cambodian mango was very much different from the Philippine mango -- it was still a little green but still it was very sweet.
A slice of the Cambodian mango, with some salt, sugar and chili. This tastes different from my usual fish sauce-vinegar combo or "bagoong" (Filipino fish or shrimp paste). Something to try on the local mangoes when I get back.
As it was nearing lunch time, and no decent restaurants in sight, we decided to go back to town. We asked Horn to drop us off at our hotel so we can take a short rest.
Lunch was again in the alley parallel to Pub Street. We ended up getting a table in Amok Restaurant.
Again, Chicken Amok in its best interpretation...
And of course, spring rolls!
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