After a whole day tour
of the outer circuit of Angkor Wat, I still have enough energy for a Cambodian
sunset adventure. The famous locations for sunset viewing are Pre Rup and
Angkor Wat. Since I just got back from Pre Rup, I decided to go to Angkor Wat
to experience the sunset on this side of the planet. I hired a tuktuk to take
me to Angkor Wat who is willing to wait for me and bring be back after dark or after the sun has completely
set. We were a few meters away from the temple when I noticed the massive crowd
in front of the temple. The driver told me that this was normal and he suggested
if I want to try another site. At first, I was hesitant since I was alone and I
don’t normally trust strangers (that’s what my mom taught me LOL). But without much
of a choice, rather than squeezing my way through the crowd, I just agreed to
the recommendation given by the tuktuk driver.
So off we went to this
unheard name of the temple at the top of the hill. We drove past the pub street and night market,
along the green rice fields until we reached the foot of a hill where a
stairway can be found. It took us around 20 minutes and around 10 kilometers to
get there. I was a little worried when we got there, since there were no traces
of tourists in the area but mostly locals. The place reminded me of a secluded sitio or barangay in one of the remote
provinces in the Philippines. The driver then told me to climb the stairway and
follow the path to the hilltop where the temple is located.
 |
So I made my way to the
top of the staircase, it was not that high and steep but tiring just the same.
Upon reaching the end of the staircase, I was expecting to see a temple or
ruins but instead, I was greeted by a dirt road leading to the top. Confused on
where to go and what to do, I then looked for a person to ask where the dirt
road will take me but found none. There was nothing but just an empty makeshift
shed and birds flying above my head. The sun was about to set and the skies
turned into a bright yellow color, reminding me that I have little time to look
for the temple.
| With that view as inspiration, there's no stopping me to continue walking on. |
I was unsure to continue and just wanted to go back down the
stairs. But decided against it and mustered enough courage to walk on and hike
to the hilltop. Moments later I found myself in a concrete road and another set
of staircase leading to God knows where and what. Since I was nearing the top of
the hill, I just continued to walk up and decided to trust my instincts. A few steps from the
top, I saw a modern era temple where a couple of monks were in
the middle of praying and a few kids playing on the ground.
| Modern era temple with some monks walking around. |
| Modern era temple view from the side |
| Statue of angels (?) posted at the entrance of the temple |
I then spotted a
couple of western tourist walking up in another set of staircase (again?) on
the left of the temple. I immediately followed them and was surprised to see
the temple ruins at the hill top.
| The temple ruins at Phnom Krom Hilltop |
Prasat Phnom Krom consists
of three towers situated on a hilltop. It is a Hindu shrine dedicated to Shiva,
Vishnu and Brahma and was built on the end of 9th century. This is
one of the three hilltop temples built in Angkor region (the other two are
Phnom Bakheng and Phnom Bok).
| Pretty amazing towers (prasat) at the hilltop! |
Although the upper
portions of the towers have collapsed and the facades degraded, it still intact
and most importantly they look beautiful and magnificent especially with the
sunset as the backdrop.
| Setting sun peeking between the temple towers! Simply amazing! |
A few walks away from
the tower ruins is a viewing area where you can set up your tripod and camera
for the perfect sunset pictures.
| Vast green rice fields and the Tonle Sap Lake on the left side! |
From here you can see the north end of the
Tonle Sap Lake and the vast rice fields. There are a number of tourists around
the area but not as much from those that can be found at Angkor Wat.
It was already dark
when I made my way back to the foot of the hill where my driver was waiting for
me. It might not be as grand as the sunset view from Angkor Wat but the
serenity and exclusivity of the place made it all worth it for me.
Another 10 minutes on the road and I was back in front of Mandalay Inn. Since it was already dinnertime and the memory card of my DSLR almost reach its limit, I then went to Pub Street and Night Market for dinner and some shopping!
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