MangoVine
Adventures in East Asia
Latest Chiangmai posts currently added further down...
10 December, 2009Thursday How the Cambodians Easily Catch Crickets
Whilst on the road, our tuk tuk driver quickly pointed out these hanging sheets and said "crickets" as we sped past them. I whizzed out my trusty DSLR and snapped them. Turns out that these simple contraptions are an ingenious method for capturing crickets. No doubt for serving up, crispy-fried, to tourists as were in Bangkok.
Read more... 10 December, 2009
Thursday Eating in Cambodia
In Cambodia, we tried to stick with local food for our meals and did so effectively for most of them. By local, I mean traditional, as the non-traditional food we had was local, but a local style of burger for instance. I think you know what I mean. Here are some of the things we ate. I make my apologies now since we had no idea what most of these dishes were.
In between visiting a floating village at the Tonle Sap lake and Beng Melea, we stopped off for lunch at a local market. Our driver Marom (above) chose a place that had all the food already prepared in big bowls, so we could just point at what we wanted. The dishes were a mixture of meat and veg (not very unusual) with different tastes.
Read more... 09 December, 2009
Wednesday Filling up Petrol in Cambodia
To me, even the most mundane thing can be beautiful. Seeing the rows of differently coloured petrol sparked this thought, even though it was just a detail of our visit to Cambodia - a moment when our tuk-tuk driver pulled over to fill up.
These petrol stalls are scattered about the roads and seem to point to small scale entrepreneurism along with other stalls selling other goods.
Read more... 09 December, 2009
Wednesday Baked Tarantulas and the Siem Reap Old Market
Linh and I checked out the Old Market (and also the New Market nearby) in Siem Reap a few times but did it with little enthusiasm since we had already seen "enough" in a multitude of markets in Bangkok the previous week. Still, on a different occasion it would be a lovely place to pick up some souvenirs - silk, clothes, textiles, statues and other craft curios. Some bright, bamboo-packaged spices caught my eye.
There's an area of the market for food stuff too and Linh went in search of some fruit whilst I wandered around.
Read more... 09 December, 2009
Wednesday Sunset at Phnom Bakheng
Phnom Bakheng was a Hindu temple in the form of a temple mountain at Angkor. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built at the end of the 9th century atop a hill. We past it several times before eventually stopping on this evening to walk up for the sun set.
Phnom Bakheng always seemed to teem with tourists and today was no exception. It seemed to be especially popular for the sunset views. To reach the temple, visitors first have to climb the hill it sits on by way of a gently sloping path that curves around it.
Read more... 09 December, 2009
Wednesday Bayon-Style Banteay Kdei
Banteay Kdei was another temple at Angkor built in the late 12th to early 13th centuries. It was a Buddhist temple in the Bayon style, similar in plan to Ta Prohm and Preah Khan, but smaller and less complex.
Its structures were contained within two successive enclosure walls, and consisted of two concentric galleries from which emerged towers, preceded to the east by a cloister.
Read more... 09 December, 2009
Wednesday Elephants at the Three Tiered East Mebon Temple
The East Mebon was a 10th century temple at Angkor which stood on what was an artificial island at the centre of the now dry East Baray reservoir. This temple was dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva and has three tiers.
Read more... 09 December, 2009
Wednesday Single-Shrined Ta Som
Ta Som was a small temple, built at the end of the 12th century, just east of Neak Pean. It consisted of a single shrine located on one level and surrounded by enclosure laterite walls. Here's what we saw.
Read more... 09 December, 2009
Wednesday The Medical Pools of Neak Pean
Neak Pean, meaning "The entwined serpents", was an artificial island that sat in the middle of a large baray (reservoir) immediately east of Preah Khan. Originally, it could only be reached by boat.
Neak Pean was perhaps the most unique temple in the Angkor complex, built in the second half of the 12th century as part of a complex that included Preah Khan.
Read more... 09 December, 2009
Wednesday The Comprehensive Preah Khan
Preah Khan, built in the 12th century, was the first temple we visited on our third day of Angkor tours, of which we covered the second circuit of temples.
Preah Khan was the centre of a substantial organisation, with almost a hundred thousand officials and servants including a thousand dancers and a thousand teachers.
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In February 2009, Mark and Linh moved from the UK to the Far East to spend 16 months living in Hong Kong and traveling around East Asia. This website documents their journey.
Find out more on the MangoVine About page.
There are 435 entries on MangoVine.
East-Asian places visited so far:
Hong Kong (Throughout 09)
Vietnam (March 09)
Tokyo (May 09)
Macau (June 09)
Taiwan (July 09)
South Korea (July 09)
Singapore (September 09)
Malaysia (September 09)
Thailand (December 09)
Cambodia (December 09)
China (April 10)
