Day Two at Siem Reap (part 3)

In the midst of studying for Media Law and my Final Theory Test (of which I flunked the first!), I had a sudden revelation that I HAD to complete posting my photos of Siem Reap, Cambodia.

I suppose its due to reasons like this that I do not do well for tests. Well, let's just hope and pray a miracle happens for my second FTT tomorrow (:

In case you've not been reading on the Cambodia series, here are the first few posts:
Day One
Day One (part two)
Day Two
Day Two (part two)

Let's continue from the end of Day Two (part two), which was when we left the temples and had a BREAK! Hola, lunch!



Meet the Continental Cafe & Guesthouse, a cheap yet good place to get some local / western eats.

This is my Mixed Fruit Shake - which is seriously yummy, chock full of fruits that sucking on the straw makes you feel like your mouth is getting a workout. Mango is definitely a main component of the shake - and its only $1! (:



Here's a Beef Noodle Soup, also $1, but although it looks good, it apparently doesn't live up to its looks! Oh well, still cheap (:



We also had the Chicken w Pineapple Rice, of which I forgot the price. But so far, the food here is really rather affordable... and we came back for seconds (:



After a short nap (cos of the scorching heat), we were back at Angkor Archaeological Park.

The weary tourists trudge on...



Meet Ta Prohm, famous site of filming for Tomb Raider, I think.



Not that I watched it. But this site was allowed to remain in its overgrown state, with large trees growing out of the remnants. It was pretty much held up by a lot of wood beams.



Which, IMO, spoilt the photos!

The trees had particularly shimmery bark too, which means you should photograph there NOT during noon. As you can see, I was facing a lot of shiny reflective problems.







The ruins were particularly interesting though, as compared to the reconstructed / repaired buildings from the Angkorian era which although beneficial to the public, was not how it looked when adventurers discovered the place.



Rubble and tree roots...



Probably restored carvings:



Pardon the flare here, and stare at the gorgeous humongous tree with its roots encircling the ruins. BIG!!! :D



A place of worship within...



Nature regains its stranglehold on the ruins





A very naughty boy who KEPT HITTING THE ROOTS and making a commotion! I actually wished the tree would kinda come to life and swallow the kid whole like in the Lord of the Rings. Alas, none of that happened except in my vivid imagination. Neither did his irresponsible father give the boy a whooping.



And then, I catch a glimpse of the elusive monks in their saffron robes. Maybe their elusive only to me.



Sure, they are going away from me.



Some even run away, with a polite smile on their face.



Oh well, maybe I look scary to monks (:

The next post will bring us to Angkor Wat!