Phnom Kulen: Having seen all of the major and many of the smaller temples at Angkor the previous day, we decided to take the 48 km (30 mile) trip to Phnom Kulen (Kulen Mountain), located in Phnom Kulen National Park. The road leading up the mountain is one lane wide, so those headed to the top must be there by noon, when the road direction changes, allowing those at the top to descend. Phnom Kulen is considered the birthplace of the Khmer Empire, when King Jayavarman II proclaimed independence from Java in 802. It was also the last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge regime before it came to an end in 1979.
Wat Kulen: Our first stop on the mountain was at Wat Kulen (Kulen Temple). We ascended the stairway leading to the temple from the parking area, which was crowded with beggars. We passed out many 100 riel (2.5 cents) notes. We were escorted up the steps by a couple of young girls, eager to watch our shoes while we saw the Preah Ang Thom, a reclining Buddha carved into the top of a very large boulder.
Thousand Linga: We then made our way over to the Siem Reap River. This river is considered especially holy because Jayavarman II bathed here and had the waters diverted so countless numbers of yoni and linga carvings could be made in the stone riverbed. The yoni is square in shape and represents the female reproductive organ. Located in the middle of this square is a carved cylinder representing the phallus. Yoni is also symbolic of Sakti, while linga of Shiva. Statues of these symbols also exist in the temples and are prayed to. However, many of them were replaced by statues of Buddha when the temples were converted from Hindu to Buddhist places of worship.
There is also a carving of the god Vishnu laying on his serpent with his wife Lakshmi at his feet. Protruding from the navel of Vishnu is a lotus flower bearing the god Bhrama. The water flowing over these religious symbols is considered holy, and those bathing in the Siem Reap river are spiritual cleansed.
Kulen Waterfalls: Just downstream of the carving of Vishnu is the first of two waterfalls. The upper falls are smaller than the lower. There is a small pool between the two, which Peep and I walked in to get a better view of the falls. The lower falls are much taller and require a hike down a wooden staircase and then a trek upriver. We had to be careful on our journey, for the river was high and swift running, the rainy season having just ended. We spent some time admiring the beauty of the falls before hiking back up to the parking area for our trip back to Siem Reap.
Poipet: After returning to Siem Reap for a late lunch, Peep and I met up with our taxi for the ride to Poipet. Peep had to visit a couple of Cambodian towns on the border with Thailand, both with casinos, for work. Attempting to determine which one to visit first, Peep researched it on the internet and read travel blogs saying the trip to O'Smach took 5-6 hours with decent roads and the trip to Poipet took 6-7 hours with bad roads, so she made plans to meet her co-workers at O'Smach. I thought the reports might be old or not accurate, so she asked our guide who said the upgrading of the road to Poipet was just completed and now the trip only took 2 hours, so we changed our plans.
We arrived in Poipet first and waited for the others to arrive, after which we toured many of the casinos in town. We spent the night there, toured a couple final casinos the next morning and then crossed into Thailand. We drove to O'Smach and I waited at the border while Peep and the others went into Cambodia to see the two casinos there. We then started the trip home, stopping for the night in Surin, Thailand. Finally, on Wednesday, we completed our trip and arrived back in Laos.