ASEAN Rally visits Angkor Wat temple

Thousands of children lined up the streets, clapping and waving the different national flags, as the ASEAN-India car rally reached the capital city of Cambodia after covering a total distance of 3,232kms across four nations on Wednesday.

Organised by the CII and MEA, the rally, which was flagged off from the Angkor Wat temple, the largest Hindu temple in the world, was given a rousing welcome by the Cambodians.

 Elders and school children lined up the streets throughout the highway to welcome the 124 participants, who had set out to cover around 8,000kms across nine nations from Yogyakarta, Indonesia on November 26.

As the 31 cars moved past the highway, children were seen waiting for the convoy. With paper flags of different countries in their hand, they waved, clapped and even stretched out their hands to greet the participants.

The participants also had a rare chance to cross the Kampong Kdei bridge, which is located in Doeumpor village in Chi Kreng district of Siem Reap province.

Erected in the 12th century, the bridge is 80m long and 14m wide with four naga heads on both its ends. It was a great experience for the participants as they clicked pictures and also marvelled at the archaeological sophistication.

The historic rally, which covered a distance of 322km on Wednesday from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, made a stop at Solar Cafe, where the participants were served deep fried spiders and crickets for lunch and they savoured them with pleasure.

The rally will cover around 250 km on Thursday and make its entry to Vietnam through the Babet border.