Banteay Srei & Kbal Spean

This morning you head 30 kilometers (19 miles) north to visit the captivating and beautiful temple of Banteay Srei or ‘Fortress of the Women’. The journey allows you to experience the beautiful Cambodian countryside as you pass through small typical villages, on-route you will visit Banteay Samre. Banteay Srei is an elaborately decorated temple, embellished with floral motifs and scenes from the Ramayana, all carved from pink sandstone.

Then you head further north into the jungle and foothills heading to Kbal Spean or the ‘River of a Thousand Lingas’. This site was only ‘rediscovered’ in 1969 and is a tranquil, cool place with an attractive waterfall as a back drop. Here you will experience the magical sight of the river bed covered with glistening ancient sculptures of lingas.

We return to Siem Reap and pay a visit to Visit the Landmine Museum on the way, which promotes mine awareness. Mr. Aki Ra, the museum founder, was trained as a child soldier during the Khmer Rouge regime and is working today as a de-miner. The museum serves also as a rescue centre for a number of landmine amputee children that Aki Ra has brought off Phnom Phnom Penh’s streets or from impoverished rural communities.

(N.B. there is a 45-minute moderate 1.5km uphill climb through lush jungle, it is best to wear stout shoes for this climb and some people may find the track leading down to the waterfall quite difficult).