Phnom Kulen: The Holy Mountain

Two days before our departure to Vietnam we have one last adventure: a visit to Kulen Mountain. We’ve pushed it so far back in our schedule because it has the potential to be the most physically demanding of our day trips, so we wanted to give Dorothy the most possible time to recover from her fall.

Phnom Kulen has deep historical import to Cambodians, as the birthplace of the Khmer Empire. It’s the site where King Jayavarman II proclaimed independence from Java in 802 AD. It also has a Buddha carved out of the mountaintop, a river with a thousand penises, and a waterfall. No way we were missing all that.

Getting There

The drive out was beautiful, but also our furthest outing from Siem Reap, at about 90 minutes of driving. You have to go in the morning, as the road to the mountaintop is one way: up until 11:00, and then down afterwards. We stopped on the way to take advantage of the gorgeous view of the jungle stretching on seemingly forever.

Bundles of different wood and herbs to be used as medicine. Nothing specific for old.

Land Of A Thousand Lingams

Shiva is considered by many Hindu as God #1, and along with Brahma and Vishnu makes up the Trimurti, the Hindu Super Friends. Iconically, Shiva is portrayed as a lingam, the age-old phallic symbol, representing his boundless power and cosmic energy. *sigh* I remember when that’s what my lingam represented. At least I still remember.

Kbal Spean, or The River of a Thousand Lingams, is part of the Phnom Kulen National Park and is the first stop on our way to the mountain top. It dates back to the 11th Century, with some of the individual carvings dating to the 9th century. Clearly, there was some Shiva love going on here organically before it became a taxpayer-supported art installation.

The river starts from a spring, and the spring is considered holy even before the water flows over the lingams and sanctifies everything downstream. There were quite a few pilgrims, many of them Indian tourists, anointing themselves with spring water and leaving offerings.

An attendant will fill a water bottle for pilgrims.
A temple right behind the spring.
And a place for offerings: Incense, candles, and cash.

Kbal Spean, irrespective of all that lingam, or maybe because of it, is a lovely, peaceful setting.

The lingams here are reduced to icons, circles within squares. Some are embedded within larger squares with an opening, symbolizing the yoni, together representing the totality of all existence. Sounds about right.

Angkor-era temples utilized the combination of lingam and yoni as their primary design conceit, with the central square representing the lingam and the primary entrance representing the yoni.

Here’s the lingam trapped, as is right and proper, within a yoni.

Approaching The Mountain

We can drive to the mountaintop where there are steps up to the temple and the big carved Buddha. The approach is lined with stalls, as it seems all entrances to tourist attractions are anywhere on the planet.

But the stairway up is spectacular, ornate, and beautifully maintained. It’s $20/person for non-Cambodians to enter, and you can see where the money goes.

I think the Garudas have been my favorite motif here.
Although this is a particularly fine Naga.

The Plateau

Up the stairs and past the stalls is a plateau before you take the steps to the big stone Buddha.

I wasn’t close enough to overhear their conversation, although I think it’s clear that the three of them are co-conspirators.
Great big Buddha footprint.
The little temple behind the big foot.
Just below the entrance to the giant Buddha’s stairs.

The Buddha

Up the last set of steps to the Preah Ang Thom pagoda. The pagoda sits atop a massive sandstone boulder and houses a 25′ long carved directly out of the stone. Dorothy passed on the final climb. At least I brought her pictures back.

The final ascent to the Buddha.
The sandstone boulder from which the Buddha is carved.
All 26 feet of Buddha.
His backside. It’s a shame that notice is necessary. People.

The Waterfall

The steps to the falls are, shockingly, lined with vendor’s stalls. Did not see that coming. Just past them is a small upper waterfall that feeds the big falls below them. This spot is popular with families with small children, as it’s super accessible and the water doesn’t really pool. Maybe four to five inches deep at most, as the water heads straight over the edge to become the big waterfall.

The upper falls.
I love the simplicity of the admonition, and the obvious dearth of tort lawyers.

After a long, steep set of metal steps you reach the valley floor, where the action is. This is as much a plunge for locals as it is a tourist attraction, and both groups mix happily together. There are changing booths and lockboxes available for $1 USD each.

The water was pleasantly cool on a hot day, as opposed to heart stoppingly cold, and I got in to mid-thigh. Dorothy was pretty tired from the day’s hiking and climbing, and made the right call to sit the falls out. She waited near the parking area with Khun, and I went down with nothing in my pockets. I didn’t know I could have parked my things safely and gotten all the way in.

I may have missed my chance to stand under the fall, but the setting was gorgeous, and that’s the tallest waterfall I’ve ever been that close to at ground level. The tallest of the two falls is about 60 feet. Which isn’t even close to truly tall waterfalls, but was plenty majestic up close.