Today, Caitlin and I took a short day trip to see the sights at Phnom Kulen National Park. This park is about an hour and a half away from Siem Reap’s town center over some very rough roads (I was actually told not to go there by my hotel concierge because it’s so rough), and the journey took us through villages, rice fields, and up the mountain that comprises the national park.

I signed us up for a tour that was led by a local guide named Chenda. He was a lot of fun and filled most of the long journey with information about Cambodia’s culture and history.

Our first stop within the park was Kbal Spean, or the River of 1,000 Lingas. The riverbed is carved with an extraordinary number of lingas (a phallic symbol for the Hindu god Shiva) as well as depictions of various Hindu gods and animals. These were carved during the 11th century, and the idea is that every drop of water that passes over the lingas becomes blessed – thereby creating an entire river full of holy water. This is still a very powerful religious site.

It is hard to understand how extraordinary this river is without seeing it in person, as photos can only capture so much. The carvings stretch for the length of the river, and though many of them have been worn down over the years, there is still so much to see!

We then went to Preah Ang Thom Pagoda, stopping to eat some coconut rice pancakes and waffles on the way. This pagoda is known for housing the largest reclining Buddha in Cambodia. We had a few stairs to climb to get here as the pagoda is at the top of the mountain, but the tranquil temple and sightings of monks meditating in their mustard yellow robes were worth it.

It was then time for the highlight of the trip: the waterfall. We spent about 45 minutes swimming in the pool at the base of this gorgeous waterfall. Again, there were tons of tiny fish that kept nibbling at any body part that was accessible while we were in the water! This was such a strange – though not unpleasant – sensation.

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In the evening, we walked over to the Made in Cambodia Market along with the Angkor Night Market, both of which were pretty quiet, though the former had some beautiful goods for sale.

Then we walked to the bustling backpacker’s area at Pub Street and had dinner there for finish off the night.