Kulen Mountain
02/10/2026
We did a tour to Phnom Kulen National Park about an hour north of Siem Reap. It was pretty cool… not exactly what we typically think of when we think of a national park. There were beautiful waterfalls and mountains and nature, but also temples and rural communities and villages throughout the park grounds. It was really big - 373.76 sq km. The whole park is considered a sacred mountain and the birthplace of the Khmer Empire where Jayavarman II declared independence in the year 802, marking the birth of the empire.
Our first stop was in a little village at a roadside vendor that made and sold some interesting dessert like foods. We watched how they made palm cake (a steamed dessert made from ripe palm fruit pulp, rice flour, and coconut milk – sort of donut like). We also tried these weird (yummy) little dumpling things that were covered with fresh coconut.
Next we headed up to a gorgeous mountain lookout. This mountain is where the large rocks were carved out for the cliffs and taken back by elephants and slaves to build the temples in and around Angkor Wat. It was spectacular!
Our next stop was the River of a Thousand Lingas, where hundreds of lingas - phallic symbols (yep, you read that correctly!) representing the Hindu god Shiva are carved directly into the sandstone riverbed. Apparently all these phallic symbols were believed to sanctify the water. The pictures don’t look like much because these symbols were under the water… but there were literally hundreds of them. Near the penis river there was also some other little shrines near a natural spring that is considered sacred. Apparently the water holds spiritual significance and purity (of course it does!).
We then ventured to another little village/shopping district that we wondered through and out to Preah Ang Thom which is a 16th-century Buddhist monastery featuring a giant, 8-meter-tall reclining Buddha statue carved into a massive sandstone boulder.
Our final stop of the day was at a pretty incredible waterfall where we hung out on the rocks for a while and drank a couple beers.
Below you can add a comment: type your text in the white box and then Post Comment. If you get a second panel, you just need to enter your name and then hit ‘comment as guest’.
Be nice with your comments, we can always delete them 😊
