Angkor had been on my travel list long before I ever reached Cambodia. I studied French for about fifteen years through school and university, and the former French Indochina was constantly somewhere in the background: Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Saigon, Annam and, of course, Angkor. By the time I finally reached Siem Reap, I had already…
Beng Mealea is one of the most atmospheric temples you can visit from Siem Reap. Collapsed galleries disappear beneath enormous trees, sandstone blocks lie where roofs and walls once stood, and roots grow directly through sections of the ruins. It feels very different from Angkor Wat. There is less symmetry to admire from a distance…
Angkor Wat may be the monument everyone comes to Cambodia to see, but the architectural idea behind it began developing centuries earlier. About 15 kilometres southeast of Siem Reap, in the Roluos area, Bakong preserves one of the most important stages in that story. Consecrated in 881 during the reign of Indravarman I, Bakong was…
Pre Rup is one of the temples that is easy to underestimate when planning a trip around Angkor. It often appears as another stop on the Grand Circuit, somewhere between larger names on a long list of temples, and many visitors spend only twenty or thirty minutes here before moving on. It deserves more attention…
Phnom Krom is usually described as one of the best places near Siem Reap to watch the sunset. The hill rises above the flat countryside south of the city, with rice fields stretching toward Tonle Sap and an almost uninterrupted view across the horizon. That view is the reason most people come here, but it…