A Visit to Wat Vihear Sour in Prey Veng
Prey Veng is a Cambodian province not usually mentioned in tourist guides, and for some reason places like these appeal more to me. So when my sister-in-law suggested we go there, visit some family friends and also visit Wat Vihear Sour, a well known pagoda, I was all set to tag along. We also heard that in this pagoda, there is one temple that is home to a deity, said to be generous in granting wishes of good luck, wealth and specially fertility. I think this is one of the reasons why my in-laws wanted to make the trip. My younger brother-in-law and his wife have been trying for a baby for some years already and now they wanted to make an offering in that pagoda and ask for help to make their wish come true.
When I heard about this I was mighty curious. I’m not Buddhist but that doesn’t mean I don’t try to learn more or understand more of their beliefs. I always try to keep an open mind about these things and who knows if your wish can be granted. We’ve also been talking about having a second child, with the kiddo very eager to wear her little nurse uniform and be a ‘baby sitter’. Lol. So it wouldn’t hurt if we pray for one while we are there. And besides this reason, drives to Cambodian provinces is always delightful for me. You never know what you’ll see or encounter, aside from the lush, almost undisturbed countryside.
We left about 9 am and the drive was really pleasant. Just under 2 hrs with the roads all new and paved. To say that it was a picturesque drive would be an understatement. Most of the places around Phnom Penh are vast and unpopulated. Most are farmlands. Which makes me realize that Cambodia really has a smaller population compared to other places or perhaps majority are just concentrated on urban areas. Anyway, I’ll let the pics tell my story now…
Wat Vihear Sour has this huge ‘lake’..
This pagoda complex is huge and has several temples you can offer prayers and receive blessings. One can offer food, flowers, incense. In this pagoda you can also get some blessed water and wash your face with it for good luck.
Read MoreSleepy, Picturesque Kampot City
We’ve been to Kampot a year or so before but it was only a passing visit. I didn’t even get to take photos and I had been forever lamenting that little incident and bugging Hi-ace about when we’ll go back there and soak up on the Kampot atmosphere. We finally made the trip three weeks ago during the Water Festival holidays. It was a rather spur of the moment trip with no real itinerary except going to Kep and Kampot and just wandering about. This is a pic heavy post, so be forewarned, it’ll take a bit of time to load up. 
Kampot is a leisurely 2-3 hour drive from Phnom Penh. National Road #3 is newly re-built? and is in great shape so the drive is smooth and very very picturesque. I love unspoiled, green landscapes and I was seriously tempted to ask Hi-ace to stop driving and let me get down and take photos but I just had to restrain myself. Lol.
Here’s some gorgeous riverfront snapshots..
Cambodia Snapshots: Colorful Pagoda
Have you ever wondered how the interiors of the pagodas look like? It’s actually one of my favorite things to see. I’m used to tagging along with my mother-in-law whenever she visits the pagodas and I think I’ll be forever in awe of the colorful and totally unique styles of each pagoda we visit. Most are really ornate and I gather they are not shy about using really bold colors. Which I think is cool and absolutely fascinating.
This snapshot was take from a pagoda in Kandal province..
Read MoreCambodia Snapshots: Alley Street, Siem Reap
Alley Street, Siem Reap
Small sidestreet (right beside the famous Pub Street in Siem Reap) lined with small restaurants, bars and hotels. Love the cozy ambiance of this street and one of my fave things to do while in Siem Reap is to sit on a cafe and people watch )
Living in Phnom Penh: Cruisin’ Through The Week
You know it just occurred to me that I have really adjusted to living in Cambodia. For one the things that were ‘novelty’ to me seems to be commonplace now. Before, I see a lot of curious things. I have tons of things to blog about, to take photos of, but now I seem to think that everything is as it should be. Gone were the days when I could sit outside and marvel at everything, motorbikes careening everywhere, how Khmers could actually fit 6-8 persons in a moto. Now it seems I’m more interested in reading about gps trailer tracking and other inconsequential things.
Hi-ace says maybe I’ve started to see things the way locals do. He’s right, I think. Now that I think about it, I’m pretty comfortable about living here already. Sure there are things that are still foreign to me, but most of the time I feel like this place is so much part of me, it really is my home now. Whilst before I would be terrified to ride a moto taxi, now riding them seems like second nature to me. Lol. Even rapidly spoken Khmer is like a normal thing to hear now. And I was pretty much amazed coz now I could easily identify spoken Khmer from other language, where before I just think it sounds the same as other languages I don’t know. Now, I only get the old amazed ‘I’m in a foreign land’ feeling whenever we venture to the provinces.
This week has been rather uneventful, that’s why I feel like the week has just cruised by. After a whirlwind drive through Kep and Kampot last week and the two week Philippine vacation we had, I was actually glad of the reprieve. For once I didn’t want to go out. I just did the laundry, cleaned the house, did some errands. And oh, I renewed my visa. The travel agency said the prices increased so I paid $285 for a 1 year multi-entry visa which is $10 more pricey than last year. The processing is a bit long though, the agent said to expect the visa after one week coz the long holidays sure left a big pile up of visas to process at the immigration office.
I also got the chance to get down and do some work online. At least on my other blogs that needed updating. And I’ve been inspired enough to go back and do some digi scrapping kits again and reviving my crafting blog – My Crafting Den. At least now I’ve got my creative juices flowing and the blogging mojo back. I also have tons of photos for editing and I’ll be sharing Kampot photos soon.
And to end this post, let me just share a photo I shot of some geese wandering in a pagoda in Kandal province. Pretty aren’t they? I might not find things Cambodian or the Khmer landscapes as novelty anymore, but I would always think this country and everything in it is beautiful.
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