Recently I was on a trip to Cambodia for a charitable event but I took some opportunity to go outings in search of the butterflies in Kbal Spean & Angkor Wat, in the Siam Reap District on my free afternoons.

On the first day, I visited Kbal Spean, an Angkorian era archaeological site on the southwest slopes of the Kulen Hills to the northeast of Siem Reap District. It is set deep in the jungle, more commonly known as the ‘River of a Thousand Lingas’, which means ‘bridgehead’. It is unfortunate that my visit there was not timely as the stream was totally dried up and I could not enjoy the spectacular cravings, supposedly with water flowing down the stream.



Luckily, I had a good driver who willingly accompanied me all the way up to the cravings and helped me with the search for the butterflies along the way. He had some fun watching and helping me photographed the butterflies. Without him, I would not have reached the cravings where we had to walk through huge boulders and steep slopes.




As the weather was hot and the stream totally dried up, I could not find many butterflies and only a few worth showing here. I would appreciate for my ID on the butterflies to be corrected (if any) as I understand the species names may differ in different countries.

Common Pierrot (Castalius rosimon)


Red Base Jezebel (Delias pasithoe pasithoe)


Elbowed Pierrot (Caleta elna)


Quaker (Neopithecops zalmora zalmora)


Ciliate Blue (Anthene emolus)



Although a disappointed butterfly outing day, it was a good visit to Kbal Spean to see the cravings of the 'Thousand Lingas'.😊

Cheng Ai