Cambodia 2015

Sunday1stNovember

Having left Paris the day before, the three of us meet a friend already on holiday there who is waiting for us. Before arriving, we make a stopover for a few hours in South Korea, in Incheon near Seoul, at one of the best-rated airports in the world...  

We come across a procession promoting traditional Korean culture.

There are even massage chairs available with a nap room right next to it, as well as a shower room, all for free...  

Monday2ndNovember

Waking up in the Cambodian capital: Phnom Penh. Having arrived the previous evening, we will stay 2 nights in the pleasant little Lakeside Guesthouse hotel.

On the left, the view from the hotel stairs of the Al Serkal mosque. On the right, the street at the bottom of the hotel.

We leave for the day with a driver and his car to reach the Phnom Chisor temple, located about forty kilometers south of the capital. Here we are at the foot of the steps leading to the temple, perched atop a small mountain.

Halfway up, a small altar to burn incense.

Arriving at the top, the ticket seller awaits the tourist, and there are few here!

Right next door, a terrace and its Buddhas. The walls are covered with frescoes.

Generally, these frescoes tell the different episodes of the Buddha's life.

A representation of what appears to be Vishnu holding, among other things, a wheel and a conch shell...

Incense sticks

A few coconut trees line the site.

The temple ruins date from the 11th century (it mainly suffered American bombings during the Vietnam War).

The bas-reliefs are practically intact.

An improvised altar inside the temple.

Behind the temple, the superb view of the plain.

Right next door, a Buddhist temple has been rebuilt.

A reclining Buddha. We will encounter many of them during our trip. Here, he is accompanied by three horsemen and their mounts...

The Buddha's posture, lying on his right side, evokes the end of his "physical" life when, ill, he was able to attain "nirvana".

Some details of the fresco surrounding the Buddha.

A garland made with a few pieces of fabric...

A few more steps and a diplopoda millipede...

Then a tettigoniidae grasshopper...

Rama with his bow and arrows.

The water reservoir filled with lotus.

Then an empty basin with its Nagas?

At the bottom of the stairs, another lotus pond and its elephant.

A young monk dressed in his "kesa" descends the mountain four steps at a time.

If this one belongs to another monk, then he's wandering naked in the forest!    

Another small altar and its reclining Buddha.

Back at the foot of the small mountain where we share a meager chicken carcass  

The big bicycles of the little schoolchildren...

Return to Phnom Penh. On the right, the improvised volleyball match in front of the hotel.

The essential little gecko, usual co-tenant of Asian homes... And on the right, our dinner for the day.