Dear readers and followers,
about a year ago I had the pleasure to discover a rural area southward from Siem Reap.
The local guide Sina is as passionate about places off the beaten path as I am. She had the riveting idea. She suggested taking me and two Spanish guys to the southern part of Siem Reap province. The reason of this choice was because of two things:
To get here, you need to have a trusted tuk-tuk driver. They can safely take you there. My friend contacted her trusted drivers. They picked us up.
Our first stop was the Lotus farm. It consisted of a beautiful chilling walk through the lotus flowers on a built pedestrian wooded-board. Before that time, I did not know that the lotus has some small fruit seeds that you can eat.
Here below there is a photo-gallery of what was the farm:
The leaves of Lotus flower can be used as a hat to protect your head from the strong sun. This is particularly useful in April. It is the driest and warmest month of the year in Cambodia.
After visiting the lotus farm, we moved to Phnom Krom hill. It has an elevation of 140 meters. On top of it, there is an ancient Angkorian temple. The temple was built in the 9th century and is now ruined. To reach the top of the hill you have two possibilities:
- Hiking/Climb up the back side of the hill
- Walk up through the stairs from the front side
We chose the option 2 on the way up. On the way down, we stumbled on the steep rocky path just after sunset. It was challenging, but we made it!
You should enjoy this unbeaten path to realize or just have a taste of how the local unprivileged society lives day-by-day. In particular, observe the loitering local kids begging for money. The kids were staring at us. They were following me and the two Spanish guys. They wanted to convince us to give them some petty money. Another kid I saw was enjoying his time. He was climbing the trees. This clearly shows the enjoyment of life by doing simple things connected with nature!
The only one recommendation is to avoid giving money to kids. If you do so, you encourage them not to attend school. We’d rather support their families by buying some pencils, pens, and exercise books for their kids instead. Some schools lack funds to give kids the studying materials.
Here below there is a photo gallery of the Phnom Krom hill:
In conclusion, this unbeaten tour is ONLY the top of the iceberg because in Cambodia there countless unbeaten spots where the rural society live. I strongly encourage you to check out these two places. They offer a first taste of what Cambodian society is. Siem Reap itself is a lot more than just Angkor Wat. However, Angkor Wat is also a MUST-visit to understand the story of the Khmer empire.
Having said that, more articles about Cambodian unbeaten paths will follow soon!
Feel free to leave a comment and contact me through the contact form for any further detail about the trip.