My Very First Blog

There are two cooled conservatories at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. One is the Flower Dome and the other is the Cloud Forest.

I decided to check out the Cloud Forest first.


The unique looking Cloud Forest building from the outside

After being impressed with the outdoor gardens particularly the Supertree Grove, I was waiting to be impressed again with this indoor attraction.

Read More > My Visit To Gardens by the Bay (Part 1)

Upon entering the Cloud Forest, the first thing I saw was this huge waterfall. Wow!



There was a sudden change in the atmosphere here compared to outside. The air was definitely cooler. The mist from the waterfall immediately made me feel refreshed and relaxed. It's almost like I was in another world.



I stood there in awe of this giant man-made waterfall that must be at least 30 metres in height. I later found out it's 35 metres high, making it the world's tallest indoor waterfall!



Notice the lush greeneries enveloping this 'mountain'? I guess that's what gave this place the name Cloud Forest. It's like a forest growing on the mountain from the foot hills all the way up into the clouds!

Ooh! See that suspended platform with people standing there? I wanted to go up there!





The 'Cloud Mountain' as they call it, is made up of several levels. You can ascend it all the way to the top by lift and then descend via circular walkways in the clouds for an aerial view of the canopy and mountainside below.



The glass walls of this building allowed in some natural light, creating a unique ambience that's both comfortable and pleasant.



There were many different kind of plants in the Cloud Forest, ranging from orchids, ferns and bromeliads to begonias and pitcher plants.



It seems that all these plants are epiphytic and they live on top of other plants, requiring little substrate and are perfectly adapted for growing on vertical walls.



From here, I could see the suspended walkways above. I could hardly wait to set my foot up there!



Look at the circular walkways high above the Cloud Mountain! Awesome.



Then I came upon a few interesting looking totem poles. This is one of them.



I was definitely not alone in taking shots of those totem poles.



Another totem pole.



Below is the same one but at a slightly different angle. I guess I am never satisfied taking a picture from just one angle. LOL.



The signboard showing directions to the lift to go to the Lost World, which is the highest point of the mountain.



How do you like these totem poles?



I have walked almost a big circle round the mountain foot. Can you see the waterfall from here?



Let me magnify for you. Now can you see? Yes, that's where the water came from.



Although I visited this Cloud Forest on Christmas Day, I was glad that it was not overly crowded with visitors. In fact, the Cloud Forest could accommodate up to 1,200 people at any one time if I am not mistaken.



I did not use the lift but instead walked the stairs up the Mountain. I soon found myself standing right behind the waterfall on a higher ground!



Peering out, I could see the very spot below where I stood admiring the waterfall just half an hour ago.



As I ascended another level, I peered out again from behind the waterfall. The humans below were getting tiny.



One more level up. Here I managed to capture some of the plants that were growing on the side of the mountain. It is amazing that some of these plants do not live on soil, but instead live on top of other plants although they are not parasitic.



Can you spot the ferns?



I was high enough to see Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer through the glass walls.



Soon, I reached the Lost World, the highest part of the mountain.



I love the small pond here. Oh these animals on the boats are cute!



If my house have water features like a small pond, I would love to have these as decorations haha!



There were many different types of orchids and carnivorous pitcher plants here.



We are at the top of the waterfall! This is the place where the water flows along the 'drains' and down below creating the tall waterfall you saw in the earlier photos!



Can you see the water flowing out of the drains and down? It's pretty amazing.



To descend the mountain, you can either make your way back where you ascended from, or you can take the Cloud Walk.



I was eager to walk the suspension walkway, but I was wondering if the height would bother me. If you don't already know, I have a fear of heights!

Besides, the safety and health advisory notice placed at the entrance of the walkway did not help much.



Well, I decided to throw caution to the wind and take my first step.

Oh oh! What is this?! I could see right below!



I felt a wave of dizziness swept over me.

To be continued ....

I saw penises in Cambodia. I really did. Possibly a thousand of them.

But it's not what you think.

I was not at some nudist beach or anything like that.

I was at Kbal Spean - home of the thousand penises! Or if you prefer a more polite and "kamasutra" term - home of the thousand lingas.

Oh I spotted some yonis too, and if you don't have any idea what a yoni is, well that's another polite term for vagina.

Now don't worry. This is not an 18SX post. Not at all, in fact this post is utterly children-friendly. It's meant to be educational and that's what I got when I hiked up the Kulen Hills with Jam and his friend on our third day in Siem Reap.





That's Jam with his cowboy hat, hiking ahead of me.

After spending a wonderful morning at Banteay Srei, our driver Xiao He brought us to this place where we needed to hike up 1.5 km in the forest to reach Kbal Spean.





Located on the southwest slope of the Kulen Hills, Kbal Spean is about 12 km from Banteay Srei where we came from, and 25 km from the main Angkorian temples.

It was not a particularly difficult climb but there were several spots that were quite steep, so if you plan to visit Kbal Spean, you would definitely need a good pair of shoes!

We came upon funny looking roots of a tree.
































And caught sight of a giant worm ...or is it a millipede?





What is this? Ant's nest?





Since I had walked the jungle trail in FRIM and Bukit Gasing back in Malaysia, this was not too much of a challenge for me.





Nice view along the way up.





400 metres more to go!





They said it would take an average of 45 minutes to hike up the hill. I wondered how long it would take the three of us.

Just 100 metres more and we would be able to see lingas!





Finally, we reached Kbal Spean in 35 minutes! Not bad right? So does that mean we were quite fit? I think we should be proud of ourselves! LOL!

In front of us was a river and there were possibly more than a thousand lingas carved on the riverbed! Can you see them?





Now before you start having any dirty thoughts, let me just say that these lingas are actually considered sacred by the Hindus. The linga is a representation of the Hindu God Shiva and is a symbol of male creative energy.





See the 5 lingas in a square above? That square is called yoni and it represents the Hindu Goddess Shakti and Devi. It is also considered as the origin of life. This linga-yoni structure represents the abstract form of creation.

Besides linga and yoni, there were also carvings of Hindu Gods on the rocks.





This is Lord Vishnu in a reclining repose lying on the serpent God Ananta, with Goddess Lakshmi at his feet and Lord Brahma on a lotus petal.





Kbal Spean is often described as "a spectacularly carved riverbed, set deep in the jungle to the northeast of Angkor." Now that we were there, we could see the truth to this description.

There were serious photographers with tripods taking pictures of the amazing carvings.





A word of caution : Always look where you are going to prevent falling into holes or openings on the ground!





We ventured deeper upstream.





We came across an amazing carvings of Lord Vishnu on the rocks.





The carvings of Lord Vishnu from another angle.





A big linga-yoni structure on the riverbed.





As we moved back downstream, we could see thousands of lingas carved in the riverbed! Can you make out that reclining Buddha pose at the bottom part of this photo?





It appears that the flow of the Kbal Spean river over these religious carvings and sculptures sanctifies the river, which then flows into the Siem Reap River passing through the Angkorian temples and eventually into Tonle Sap Lake and from there into the Mekong River.





A carving on the rock depicting battle scenes perhaps?





Soon we reached a waterfall. I felt like standing below the waterfall like this man, but there was no time for that unfortunately.
































I touched the water though, and it was cooling and refreshing.

On the way down from Kbal Spean, we could see more carvings but I did not take pictures of all of them. Is this a carving of Lord Vishnu? I am not too sure!





There were several lookout points along the hiking trail on the way down. This is a view captured from one of the lookout points and being afraid of heights, I did not dare to stand too near the edge!





We also discovered an individual linga in a yoni carving almost hidden by tree roots.





As we reached the foothill, I began to realise that I was hungry. All those climbing and walking must have taken its toll. It's time for lunch!

Coming Up Next : The Ruins Of Beng Mealea