Phnom Kulen Waterfall in Cambodia!

On our last day in Siem Reap, we booked a driver to take us to the Phnom Kulen waterfall where they had placed Lingas in the river bed so that the water is blessed.

Rebecca found our driver, Sam - Angkor Best Driver, on trip advisor. Sam was a few years older than us and was really nice. The first conversation we had was what we knew about Cambodia and he made sure to discuss the real Cambodia with us with some history and how corrupt the people in power were. He even discussed part of his personal life and how he had asked his parents not to put him in an arranged marriage, as it is tradition in Cambodia, as he felt he would be "blocked" (no more freedom) from many things he enjoyed. He met a country girl that does make up for weddings who is his current girlfriend. He said he would never marry a city girl because they would have had too many boyfriends lol.

Our drive to Phnom Kulen was about an hour and the "road" up the mountain was just red dirt and had a shit load of pot holes and bumps and was very uneven. (Side note: the roads at Angkor Wat use to be the same until an Australian? Couple filmed their ride and the road and complained to the government that the roads were horrendous for such a big tourist attraction)

We first visited a Buddhist temple that was in the mountain. It was nothing special. Then we saw the Lingas were in the river before we headed to the waterfall.

At the waterfall, there was a section at the top that had a mini 10ft waterfall before the big drop. We were able to stand in the water and take some pictures. We then walked down the hill to the pond where the waterfall was. It was not that busy but more people started to come shortly after we arrived. We found a spot on the right and I wanted to practice shooting flowing water pictures. I was able to get the water to appear flowing and smooth, but I think my shutter speed was a bit too slow as the pictures seem over exposed. Hopefully some post editing can make the pictures of Rebecca and I better.

I then decided to go into the water and it was so refreshing! And to my surprise, there were small fish in there that would nibble at your legs to eat your dead skin! I brought my GoPro in with me and caught some close up footage of the waterfall. I also recorded myself going under the waterfall and getting hit in the head hard by the water. Video to come!

We somehow spent a couple of hours down there and didn't realize it was 3:30 when we decided to go back up with meet Sam. We drove back into town and decided to go to the Old Market to get lunch and to walk around as we never went the previous evenings. We found a small cafe on a corner and ordered food. Rebecca ordered a chicken Caesar wrap and I ordered curry chicken.

After that we walked around to shop for souvenirs. Again, all the stores sold mostly the same items. Rebecca bought theses small stuffed fabric keychain elephants that are cute.

I wanted to buy a painting, as I've always wanted to buy one from my travels but we were short on US dollars and only had enough left to take a tuk tuk back to our hotel. I visited a few shops and the last one I visited, the price went from $15 to $2-$3 once I walked away! I really wished i had the cash as that would have been an amazing deal. I was even willing to buy them at $12!

We decided that we would go back to our hotel and then come back to shop more and have dinner. But as always, once we get back to the hotel, fatigue starts to set in and Rebecca passes out. So no Angkor Wat painting for me and I ordered a pizza from the bar downstairs.

Posted by Steven