There was not a single blade of grass could be seen in the endless, perfectly plain landscape that expanded towards the horizon in front of Shakambari Temple. The earth was flat as though a road roller ran amok for ages until the smallest aberrations were pressed in and done away with. The monotony of a dry, drought-struck earth was broken by a few deeply entrenched tyre-marks forming a line that extended to infinity. Our driver descended gently into the flat, testing the firmness of the ground with a bit of uncertainty, wondering if the car would sink into the ground.
The dry lake-bed of Sambhar Lake. Seen far behind at the base of the hill is Shakambari Devi Temple.
It took less than a minute for him to realize that we were on a ground as firm and clear as a runway. He gently pressed on the pedal, not slowing down until the speedo hit three figures. In the back seat, it was such a smooth ride that we did not realize the speed until we were mentioned about it. We slowed down, stopped in the middle of the flats where we could start seeing a few trees and buildings on the other end. We were now in the center of Sambhar Lake, a large salt water lake that was mostly dry in the winter season.
It was nearly a thousand years ago when Khmer Kings commissioned the construction of gigantic temples on the edge of Tonle Sap Lake. They probably never had envisioned a future where people from across the world would come to visit their creations even centuries after their kingdom ceased to exist.
Siem Reap, the gateway city to the temples of Angkor receives more than two million visitors every year. This means, unless you go in the sweltering heat of summer months, you will never be able to find a lonely spot devoid of crowds anywhere in the large temples spread across the landscape. This has become such an important consideration for some travellers, a few travel agencies claim to keep informers in every temple and help their clients find less crowded spots!
With the crowds growing every year, Siem Reap’s attractions are no longer limited to the ancient temples. Travellers suffering from temple-fatigue can pick from a wide choice of activities and entertainment geared towards the tourists – such as a circus, joy-rides on all-terrain vehicles, visits to crafts villages and much more. And when the darkness falls, there is always the pub-street where an amazing choice of restaurants serve up food and drinks from across the world.
I just discovered: AirAsia now connects Bengaluru directly with Bangkok, starting September 1st, 2015. This would make it convenient for Bangaloreans travelling to several locations in South East Asia.
This morning, I was looking up for air tickets to a few destinations in South-East Asia on AirAsia website. At one point, I was searching for Air Tickets out of Mandalay, Myanmar to Bangkok. In the list of destinations that AirAsia tickets can be booked out of Mandalay, Bengaluru also popped up to my surprise. This wasn’t the case when I was searching for travel options in the region a few months ago, early in May.
A quick research revealed that it is indeed possible to book Mandalay to Bengaluru (via Bangkok) on Air Asia in one reservation (single PNR), thanks to the fact that Thai AirAsia has started flying Bangkok to Bengaluru and return. The flights have commenced only recently, starting from 1st September 2015. They had announced this as early as end-June and perhaps started ticket sales immediately, but this had skipped my attention. What really makes me excited about this is not the connectivity to Bangkok alone, but how easier (and cheaper) it will become to fly from Bengaluru to some remote locations in South East Asia.