Phnom Kulen often lies shrouded in mist but on a clear day one can see the loaf like shape on the horizon across the flat plains of Siem Reap province. You will rise early and travel through picturesque countryside to reach your destination in the mid morning. The sites atop Phnom Kulen include a Buddhist Pagoda with giant Reclining Buddha, Hindu carvings in the stone river bed and an impressive waterfall under which swimming is possible.
Your afternoon destination, the stilted community of Kompong Khleang is located on the northern edge of the Tonle Sap lake approximately 55km east of Siem Reap town. Accessible in both dry and wet season, visitors to Kompong Khleang during the dry season are universally awestruck by the forest of stilted houses rising up to 10 meters in the air. When the monsoon comes the waters rise up to one or two meters of the buildings. This is a permanent community with subsistence fishing as the main source of livelihood.