On our last day at Siem Reap, we got a private car with a driver who offered to take us to Kulen Mountain, Prasat Beng Mealea, and Prasat Bakong for 65 USD1 total. This option is best if you are in a group, however, there were tour options for these locations but they didn’t include all these destinations. Our driver picked us up at around 8.20 AM and we first headed to Kulen Mountain. At around 9 AM, the driver asked if we wanted to stop and try some traditional Cambodian breakfast. We agreed and pulled up to a street food stall. He recommended a pork rice noodle soup or a fish rice noodle soup. Both were coconut-based with lemongrass costing 1.50 USD each and were very tasty. We finished breakfast at around 9.20 AM and then continued onwards for another hour to Kulen Mountain. There’s a ticket office at the park entrance and tickets cost 20 USD each. The last 20 minutes at the mountain is uphill along a narrow dirt road. There are park officials there though who help navigate traffic. Our first stop was at the Tiles of 1000 Lingas which are tiles carved into a stream’s bedrock. The driver told us of the story behind the tiles and then we walked about 5 minutes along the stream to a well. It was currently dry when we got there and the guide said when it fills up in the wet season. The locals believe it to be holy water since Kulen Mountain is considered a holy place.
We then went back to the car and drove another 5 minutes to the parking lot for the temple of the Reclining Buddha. From the parking lot, we walked through a market and up some steps which took about 5-10 minutes. Along the way, several locals have stacks of smaller bills in the local currency to change if you want to leave a donation at the temples. This place has many shrines for both Hindus and Buddhists. There are several cages in the area to leave your footwear if you want to step into the temples. The temples have been built around large rocks, and the reclining Buddha has been carved into the top of the largest rock. We climbed about 4-5 flights of stairs to get to the top where there was a small queue of people visiting the reclining Buddha. From the top, you also get a good view of the national park including a small town inside the park. At this site, it is mostly locals who come for worship but there are also several tourists visiting the area.
Once we were done taking pictures, we went back down to the car and drove a couple of minutes to the car park for the waterfall. From the car park, we walked through a market and arrived at the top of the waterfall. There is a small 5-meter waterfall here and a small stream you can bathe in. There is a trail that goes around the back and down to the large waterfall. It’s about a 10-minute walk and in the end, there is a small boardwalk with a swing that looks out to the waterfall. The locals charge to take pictures with the swing. There are also lockers there that you can rent if you want to go for a swim towards the waterfall. We left our belongings with the driver and jumped in. The water was refreshing but there are lots of small fish in the river, so probably not for the squeamish. There are several boulders in the river you can climb up to take pictures. Some people even ventured to the boulders at the base of the waterfall. Be careful in the water as it’s cloudy and there are several smaller rocks you can hit yourself on. The waterfall was a refreshing destination and a good break from visiting temples. Once we were done, we headed back to the car and onwards to Prasat Beng Mealea.
It took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to the ruins of the temple of Beng Mealea. The driver dropped us off at the main entrance and said he will be at the car park which was at the other end. Tickets to the site cost 5 USD and you’re free to roam around. It’s quite a large site and it mostly lies untouched in ruins. There are paths and bridges for you to get around but walking throughout the site feels as though you’re discovering the place for the first time. There are also not many people at this site so it’s easier to take pictures here. We roamed around for about 30 minutes before heading to the exit to meet our driver.
The final destination of our day trip was Prasat Bakong. This was about a 30-minute drive from Siem Reap and about an hour’s drive from Beng Mealea. These temple ruins are part of Angkor so if you already bought the Angkor Wat ticket as we had, then you don’t need to pay for another ticket. There are several temples in the area but the key one is Bakong Temple. It is in the form of a pyramid with several levels and decorated with stone carvings. We also quickly visited the smaller temple of Preah Koh which can be identified by its 3 towers. We then headed back to Siem Reap and our driver dropped us off at our hotel.
