Phnom Chhngok is not remarkable because it is large. It is remarkable because the cave itself became part of the temple. Inside a limestone hill near Kampot, a small pre-Angkorian brick sanctuary was built around a natural rock formation associated with a Shiva linga. The shrine is usually described as a 7th-century temple, although archaeological…
Banteay Samré belongs to roughly the same architectural period as Angkor Wat and uses many of the same visual ideas, but everything is compressed into a much smaller space. Galleries, naga balustrades, carved pediments and sanctuary architecture are all here, yet the temple is compact enough that you can understand how the different parts fit…
Once you learn to recognise a few mythological figures, Angkor begins to look completely different. A creature that first seems like decorative stonework suddenly tells you which deity is important, which myth is being referenced or whether you are approaching a sacred threshold. The same figures appear again and again across the temples: multi-headed nagas…
Most visitors arrive at Angkor Wat looking up. The lotus-shaped towers dominate the skyline, the moat creates the first dramatic view, and the scale of the temple makes it easy to keep moving toward the centre. But some of the most interesting stories at Angkor Wat are not above you. They are on the walls….
Angkor is easy to imagine as a civilisation obsessed with temples. That is what survives most visibly: towers, galleries, stone faces and enormous religious monuments. But under Jayavarman VII, the Khmer state was also building something less spectacular and perhaps even more revealing: hospitals, centres of learning, reservoirs, roads and institutions supported by large networks…
When you stand in front of Angkor Wat, the obvious question is not only who built it, but how anyone managed to build something this large in the 12th century and keep it standing for nearly 900 years. The five towers get most of the attention, but some of the temple’s most impressive engineering is…
Ta Prohm is one of the few places in Angkor where the passing of time is still part of what you see. Huge roots spill over sandstone walls. Trees rise directly from ruined galleries. Doorways disappear beneath trunks, while carefully carved blocks sit at impossible angles underneath them. It is tempting to describe Ta Prohm…
Preah Vihear had been sitting in my notes as one of the places for a future trip to Cambodia. I first heard about it from a local guide in Siem Reap after a long day around Angkor. We were discussing where to go once the main temples were already covered, and she suggested Preah Vihear:…
After three full days around Siem Reap, I still had one place written in my notes for “next time”: Banteay Chhmar. We did not manage to visit it on that trip, so this is not a personal trip report. It is a route I researched after local guides repeatedly recommended it as the place to…
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…