Koh Ker

---

Koh Ker was briefly the capital of Cambodia during the 10th century. It was mainly inaccesible until several years ago when a new tollroad was built. Our guide, Mr Ouk Sophearin told us that the Cambodian people were very proud of the road when it was built. Hard to fathom a road could cause such nationalistic sentiment. I doubt many people were shouting "Ozzie, Ozzie Ozzie" or singing Waltzing Matilda when the Bruce Highway opened in Queensland.

Anyway we set off via car around 6am. The drive took about 2 hours. We had to pay 5USD to enter Boeng Mealea and 10USD for Koh Ker. There was also a road toll of 5 or 10USD I think which our driver paid. This I'm told, goes straight into the pocket of some government offical. Interestingly, after the toll the road gets much worse, so I'm not sure exactly what you're paying for. We stopped off for breakfast in a small, quiet town in Svay Le District.

Once we arrived at Koh Ker a short time later, the only people around were us and the park officers that guard each temple. This was in stark contrast to the hordes of people that greeted us at Angkor Wat.

Being basically inassessible until 2002, the temples at Koh Ker still look as though they have just been uncovered recently. Although some of the area around has been cleared to allow access, the temples are still very much integrated within their natural surroundings. You get a stark reminder of this once you get a cobweb in the face or see a horde of giant black ants carting away their lunch. You also can see the Cambodian Mining Action Centre still active in the area clearing mines. The remoteness and the fact that the area is pretty much devoid of tourists, gives you a "lost temple" type feeling that isn't present at Angkor Wat in my opinion.

The most eye catching temple is the Prang at Prasat Thom which is a 7 level sandstone pyramid. In the past you could climb the stairs to the top, however this is now off limits to tourists. Behind the Prang is a man-made mound which is where the White Elephant is supposed to be buried. You can walk up to the top of the hill but the view isn't really worth the walk. Plus there are a while bunch of mossies waiting for you at the top.

A short drive from Koh Ker is the Boeng Mealea temple. It is well worth a visit as much of the site is engulfed within the surrounding jungle and another spectacular example of where wood meets stone.

On the way back to Siem Reap our guide asked us if we wanted to go and see the floating village. We said ok but the he said something about it being $20 each so we declined. I think he wanted to take us to Chong Khneas which I read was a bit of a tourist rip off place. We were planning on going to see one at Pursat anyway later on. As it turns out the next day when we caught the boat to Battangbang, we passed the floating village anyway so we got to have a bit of a look.

---

Photos

Road Toll
The road tolls generally consisted of a poll attached to a piece of string.

Svay Le District
We stopped here for breakfast.

Neang Khmao Temple
Apparently means "pretty black female".

Park Officers Buying Earings
For some reason a woman was going around on a motorbike selling earings.

Prasat Krahom - Prasat Thom
Prasat Krahom meaning red temple, is the second largest structure at Prasat Thom.

Black Ants - Prasat Thom
Getting take-away.