Sunrise from a hill top in Cambodia - Phnom Bakheng

The previous post in this series is here.. We are now in Day 5, our third day in Cambodia.

Sarak offered to take us back to Angkor Wat for Sunrise on our last day given my previous time lapse attempt was a dud. However he said that the sunrise from the hill facing Angkor Wat at Phnom Bakheng will be really beautiful. Only thing is that we have to walk in pitch darkness with iPhones as flashlights for a good 25 minutes at 4:30 in the morning to go up 3 km to the temple.

San was ready to drop and started suggesting I do the sunrise and come back to the hotel to wake her up. This was going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Less crowds. Sunrise.. beautiful sunrise.. so I pestered her to join me. Made chai for her at 3:45 AM as an incentive.

She was glad she came and I was just so happy we got to be there together. The photo below was not edited. The sun flare on my yoga shirt happens on the iPhone because of a spec of dust in the lens…. we did get a lot of yoga photos as well.. Saruk encouraged me to do Yoga here and was taking his photography to another level..

We waited a good 30 minutes for the horizon to start brightening. The stars in the sky put on a display as there was no light pollution in the area!

We walked up, got a timelapse as well (it is part of the video highlights reel). it was chilly in the morning and both of us had a cold. We were up and active all thanks to Tylenol. When we came down after the sunrise we saw the temple from the base, a nandi that was still intact and the descriptive boards that we couldn’t read in the darkness earlier.

The video highlights reel including the timelapse of the sunrise..

After this we were dropped back at the hotel. We were to have breakfast, check out and meet our driver back at 8:45AM. We were to see two more temples on the way to the airport….

The romance is still alive and well- a private lunch in Banteay Srei

The previous post in this series is here..

Our hotel had said that we were allowed a packed breakfast if we left very early to sightsee and were also allowed one packed complimentary lunch if we gave them enough notice. Given we were going to be spending 7AM to 7PM on our first day, we had asked for lunch.

Our driver had asked us to hold on for another 45 miinutes after we came back from the 1000 linga waterfall. My clothes were still drying on the way. We made it to a cliff site in Banteay Srei area. Apparently most folks came here in the morning on the way to see the falls in the other direction. They make it one way till Noon. Hence his request. When we made it to the place it was amazing. San called it the grand canyon of Cambodia.

we spent some time taking pictures with our photographer driver giving us creative ideas. He did forbid me from doing any more dangerous yoga stunts after what happened at the falls. I promised to be a good boy and not go near any cliff edge.

After this he told us that if we walk 5 minutes along a path we could get to a private ledge to have our lunch with no one around. We said okay and walked to the spot. No one in sight. Had lunch.. well, San had lunch and I had her smile as my lunch. Somehow did not feel hungry watching her be so happy.

A video highlight reel..

We took some more photos and started towards our next stop.. we were coming down the hill to a big temple.. will pick it up tomorrow..

A lucky escape from falling in a waterfall - Sahasralinga or 1000 linga falls Cambodia

The previous post in this series on the Thanksgiving 2025 trip is here..

After finishing the walk along the 1000 linga river to its source and back, we got in the car to go down to the 1000 linga waterfalls (Sahasralinga falls is the name). It was a short drive and we managed to find parking. The parking lot was getting full as by now a lot more visitors had shown up. It was almost noon. We ate some fruits and started walking towards the falls.

We walked past a bunch of shops that sold herbal remedies and trinkets. There were also a lot of cute dress shops. My attempts to encourage San to buy some failed. Eventually we did buy clothes at the night market the next evening. We were blown away by the width of the falls and the amount of water. Saruk took some nice photos. I showed him the trick of walking towards us steadily and pushing the iPhone between our heads to show the falls. He was impressed. Told him the credit for that doesn’t go to me but our guide in Giza plateau who showed us that. Now Saruk has this in his trick shot list!

Was about to walk back when he said “this is just the upper falls. we have to walk down narrow steps to go to the actual falls!”.. we were thrilled. After walking down narrow steps (which were also wet and slippery and reminded us of the waterfalls in Costa Rica), we were treated to an amaziing view of the 1000 linga falls. Thundering water and a mist that created a fantastic effect with the sunlight going through it.

Did not know that I was going to get in water. My BYSJ shorts was tucked away in the suitcase in the hotel room. But there is a guy making a quick buck here at the falls renting shorts and a changing cabin for a dollar and 50 cents. Rented the shorts and got in the cold water. Was doing yoga poses close to the edge (it was 4 feet deep). Then decided to swim a bit to the rock in the middle of the water and do yoga pose there. Apparently San was not okay with it but in the din of the falls, could not hear her protesting. Saruk was camera ready. That is all I could see. After bobbing up and down to the rock stood up on it and started doing tree pose. It was slippery. That is when the crowd started cheering for me.. or so I thought.

Apparently the wind had changed direction and the mist that was going right to left behind me was coming towards the crowd. That meant a wall of water was going to slap me from behind. Luckily I just finished doing the pose and had both feet on the rock when it hit me with so much force! Had to sit down to brace myself. It almost threw me off the rock.

Got back down safely but as I was trying to climb back up to San, slipped on a rock and scratched my leg. Just decided to let it go and find ointment later in the hotel. Changed back, took some more photos and hiked back up the narrow steps.

Here is the must watch video highlights reel..

We were hungry but our driver said “just hold on for another 45 minutes or so. Will take you to a beautiful spot where you can have lunch”. So off we went to our next stop..