FuFu World Tour - Bayon Temple & Others, Cambodia
6 ~ 9 June 2007 - Annabel & FuFu - Part Three


The Bayon Temple.


Annabel posed in front of the Bayon Temple.

After Angkor Wat itself, Bayon Temple is probably the best known and rich decorated temple in the Angkor area. 54 gothic towers which represent the 54 provinces of the Khmer empire display 216 enormous faces (resembling the King). Each of the towers has four faces of Buddha, one facing each cardinal point, keeping watch on the Kingdom from all angles.


Oh my Buddha, i am just in love with these faces.


What an impressive Buddha faces.

Anywhere you are in this temple, there are numerous Buddhas smiling down upon you. The most awesome part is all of the Buddha faces were differently made. The layout of the temple itself is also interesting. It is built on more of a circular plan than the other temples in the area which is pretty impressive i guess.


I love this Temple.


All Buddhas smiling to me.


It's time going to see Buddhas' real faces.


The only access way is steep and narrow - hold the handrail.


It's a gorgeous temple.



Without wasting any second, we started to snap.


*zip zap* Ok , next.


I got the Xanga tee from the founder in New York City.


I travelled with Annabel, friend's of my Xanga buddy.


I didn't know i had sweated that much.


A Buddha statue inside a tower.


Yeah the apsaras on the wall of the tower.


This is telling us how the people pay respects to the King.


The King seated with attendants.


There's no more other adjectives to best describe this shot!


I am so impressed by the ancient Khmer architecture.


These Buddha faces are all different from each other.


Wonder how faces being perfectly joined by the sandstone.


No kidding, they are all different, observe well.


The smiling Buddha face - i like this.


This Buddha is so handsome.


This one has a pair of big ears.


This is one gothic tower, another 53 more around it.


Here has several gothic towers.


The dancing apsaras.


The sitting Buddha statue guarding the Bayon Temple.


We're getting closer to the Buddha faces.



Let's taking pictures in front of a tower first.


Amithaba, i kissed Buddha.



Amithaba, Annabel loves Buddha too.


Amithaba, Annabel gave the Buddha a warm hug.


I know i shouldn't do this to Buddha - forgive me please.


Pretty girls on apsara's costumes.


Annabel, we should take more pictures together next time.

After that, we walked to the Elephant Terrace, Royal Palace, Preah Palilay and Sour Prat Towers which is situated near the Bayon Temple.


The entrance to the Royal Palace.


Annabel with the souvenir she bought from kids.


Yeah, it's very hot.


The Royal Palace.


The guardian lion.


The pond of the palace.




The Elephant Terrace.


The ruins in front of the terrace.


Alternating garudas and lion-headed figures.


The Royal Square.


Sour Prat Towers

Here is row of 12 small identical towers lining in front of the Royal Square of the palace of unknown function.Although there are shrines of some sort, they do not correspond to the normal styles of Khmer Shrines.


Close-up of one of the towers.


The Preah Palilay is a small Buddhist sanctuary.


The monks in Siem Reap also spoke good Japanese.


They enjoyed talking in Japanese with FuFu.



Under the Official Development Assistance (ODA), Japan has been significantly contributed to the effort of modernisation of agriculture in Cambodia. In order to have a better communication, Japanese is being taught to the pupils in school since 20yrs ago. It's good for Cambodians because they can speak another language. We can't blame the Japanese as they are


Minefield cleared by Cambodian Mine Action Centre.

Almost every of the temple area itself had been cleared of land mines, but you are advised not to explore any other place yourself without permission since not all the physical activity and bugs weren't enough, the surrounding land just a few metres away from certain temples still contained landmines.


The national costume of Cambodia is beautiful.


You can get any one of these apsaras back home - only for US$5.


We were rushing for the sunset, but we stopped here for a while.


It's worth to see these soldiers lining up guarding the palace.


All of them have their own characters with different expressions.


Some still remaining good.


Whereas few were damaged by wind, rain, mankind.



We had our own faces added with them in the photos.


The signboard.


Monkeys are relatively wild in Cambodia.


The monkey will approach you and seize you food.


Tourist Policemen are everywhere - safe to travel even alone.


The Bakheng Hill.

Phnom Bakheng is often described as the best spot to experience a true Angkor sunset. Perhaps luck wasn't on our side. It's kinda late for us to climb up the hill for the sunset. We refused to pay the guard an exorbitant amount of money thus we just hung around watching the people coming back with the elephants. I surely will be back for the spectacular sunset sooner!


There is a troop of elephants waiting to take you up the hill.


All the passengers were Japanese ladies.


You could enjoy the performance of Khmer folk songs before leaving.


I was sweating a lot - had burnt pretty much calories.


Annabel was thinking when could she be coming back again.


Kids started to beg you spend at least a dollar.


This little boy selling postcards.


This boy told us he didn't manage to sell any book that day.


I bought a guide book of the ancient Angkor with him.


You need to bargain, even with kids.


This boy was so happy to get two books sold in a day.


He has two friends helping him actually.

The kids in Siem Reap somewhat are more independent than those in Phnom Penh. At least, none of them in Siem Reap begging money from us. When the sun went down, i was a little sad as my trip to the Angkor park had ended.



The hawker stall on the sidewalk.


Ouch, the two layers! >.<

We had fired instant noodles and kuey teow.


The shops in Siem Reap at night.

We had only done with the Central Angkor. As far as i know, Eastern Angkor, East and Wast Baray, and Northeastern Angkor have many stunning temples waiting me to visit. I couldn't stay longer in Cambodia as i need to catch my flight back home and get ready for the next journey in China.

I am seriously planning to visit Siem Reap again in May or June. Looking forward to it. :D



Cambodia Part One
Cambodia Part Two