Travel Blog: Phnom Rung Historical Park - Buriram Thailand

Prasat Phnom Rung is situated on the top of an extinct volcano in Buriram province. It is one of the most beautiful and important Khmer ancient monuments in Thailand. 
This religious monument was devoted to Shiva, one of the supreme divinities of Hindu religion. Therefore, Phnom Rung hill and its sanctuary are symbols of the mountain Kailasa with Shiva's Patheon, and symbolizes the center of the universe. The monuments on Phnom Rung were built between the 10th and 13th centuries A.D.
The name "Phnom Rung"is from an ancient Khmer word, "Vnom Rung"in Khmer inscriptions, and means the name of Prasat Phnom Rung's creator Narendraditya. He was a descendant of the Mahidharapura dynasty and related to King Suryavarman II, the creator of Angkor Wat.

In The Eyes of A Child - Siem Reap, Cambodia

They said, kids don't tell lie. In the eyes of a child all things seem kind, innocence left undefiled. They give us the ability to see the world through their eyes.

Believe it or not, children have much to teach all adults of the beauty of life. All the pictures below are my collections of children's photos in Siem Reap Cambodia.

I learned that there are a lot of underprivileged kids in Cambodia. Some, have just grown up in the orphanage without knowing their parents at all.

Orphanages in Cambodia are scattered around, some are being run by foreigners.

                                                In the Eyes of the Child

In the eyes of the child, there was wonder and joy,
You could see his excitement at this sparkling new toy.
In the eyes of the parents, you could see their pride.
The love for their child, they did not try to hide.
In the eyes of the child, his parents were tall,
They would always be there should mishaps befall.
In the eyes of the parents, this time would not last.
This child became a teen-ager, and a man all too fast.
In the eyes of the child, his time had now come,
His parents disagreed, now he thought they were dumb.
In the eyes of the parents, he still needed to be led,
They could not understand what went on in his head.
The conflicts would come with the shouts and the screams.
Both the child and the parents thought, "There go our dreams."
But their love was still there though it lay deep beneath,
It was hard to see through harsh words and clenched teeth.
In the eyes of the child, life slowly became clearer.
And the love they shared once again drew them nearer
In the eyes of the parents, he began to mature,
Now he would make it, of that they were sure.
Then slowly and subtly, life started to change,
The mother showed behavior that seemed really strange.
A burnt pan at first, and then misplaced names,
It was clear that she was no longer the same.
This child's now a man and the roles are reversed.
It's a brand new act; they had no time to rehearse.
This parent, once strong, is now frail and weak,
For her mother and father she constantly seeks.
Her son tries to calm her, with voice ever so mild
But this man's now a stranger in the eyes of the child.

Disclaimer: The above poem belongs to this link " In The Eyes of A Child".

Travel Photos: Tonle Sap Lake (Floating Village) - Cambodia

I went out for a while with my CS guest from Serbia to see what we can see more of this huge lake close to Siem Reap city.
The heat was scorching but it didn't prevent us of going there, it took us a while to reach the place as our tuk-tuk driver drove so tortoise-like. As expected, these are the common sights that you would see in Tonle Sap lake filled with poor mushrooming floating houses and even boathouses.

Travel Photos: Ruins, Monks, People - Siem Reap Cambodia

I am a kind of person who doesn't love much of going to recreation area, so long as I could see touristic places such as ruins, relics, and landmarks of a country.
That reminds me of the time when I was still in Thailand teaching, and no one did dare to come with me just to see those temples in Bangkok.
On the contrary, most Filipinos laughed at me and find me weird because of my tenacious desire to see those temples and mingling with the monks. Well, just as what I would always say, I am a backpacker or traveler not a tourist of sort.
Siem Reap - Cambodia is one of the most visited places in Southeast Asia because of the famous Angkor Wat. Even the re-known travel photographers and travelers in the world, won't mind the long distance trip so long as they could see the famous Angkor Wat and take a snapshot of it.
There's no other temples in the world would match the grandeur and the structure designing of Angkor Wat. It made me so jealous to know the huge numbers of foreign visitors in Siem Reap coming every year just to see the famous temple, with the hope my country Philippines would have the same amount of tourist coming in.
The structure of the Angkor temples would always bring me to a different dimensions thinking how the Cambodians would have thought of creating such a marvelous design. There wasn't technology and other stuff back then to help the Khmers to design it by themselves, yet, they done it perfectly. No doubts, why Thailand and Vietnam were trying to occupy Cambodia back then.

Travel Postcards: Angkor Wat - Siem Reap, Cambodia

The chance of visiting the famous Angkor Wat is no longer an imagination to dream about. I see and saw it myself a couple of times personally since I came here, thanks to the Lord for the opportunity He's given me and I am enjoying it myself.
The temple isn't just an ordinary one that you normally see in Thailand, Vietnam or Myanmar, but the structures done, the designing idea and the engineering itself truly left you in awe and in marvel. Many travelers and tourists couldn't believe on their eyes how such a poor country would have come up of building a huge brilliant structures in the middle of the forest.
Many telltales and speculations that the Asian civilization started in Cambodia since the Angkor Wat is much older than Great Wall of China and the Chinese history. Well, whatever the issue is - Angkor Wat is among  of the world's top 10 landmarks being recommended to see before it's gone.
You would only see the ruins and its relics but, the remains of the old Hindu temples would give you a perfect view of the ancient times.