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expedition to remote cambodian temples

By Author: caroline nixon
E-mail: chinacaro@yahoo.com

Submitted on Saturday 20th May 2000

This is a travelogue written by Sok Thea,an adventurousCambodian with a real love for his country's architecture andculture.It recounts his trip to visit some isolatedtemples,which have received only a handful of visitors sincethe Khmer Rouge holocaust.

Any queries / enquiries very welcome.

EXPEDITION TO KOH KER.

It was on April 8, 2000, just 5 days before the beginning ofChul Chhnam (Khmer New Year, April 13-15), that a 4WD carcollected us at dawn from Bakong Guesthouse, Siem Reap town.We and our armed companions began our adventurous journey,after filling the back of our car with pots, pans, safedrinks and food stocks. On National Road 6 we drove, thenthrough numerous villages where we were greatly impressed bythe way of life of the locals, their fruit gardens, and othersights uniquely different from those we had encountered inthe cities. As New Year was drawing closer, the villages weremore active and colorful. Decoration was seen on local woodenstilt huts , for welcoming the turn of a New Khmer God (TheYear of the Snake God). Both children and adults dressed upcolorfully, and they were cheerful. The village roads are noteasy. No concrete, just soil and sand, broken with hugeholes. Despite these difficulties, our powerful 4WD car wentthrough successfully and we arrived at Chao Srei Vibol at10am. Lisa Cox, from Australia, an amazingly adventuroustraveler, and sponsor of our trip ,offered alms to the headof the Buddhist monks residing at the monastery in thecompound of Chao Srei Vibol. This act helped reinforceBuddhism, whose Lord Buddha was given alms by a generous ladyamidst the forest, when he had just started to eat after along period of fasting, which taught him an answer to lifeand to gaining enlightenment. Just as Buddha blessed thelady, the monk then blessed all of us in his prayer, in Palilanguage beyond our comprehension.

After that, we climbed the northern hill toward the maintowers of Chao Srei Vibol , built in the 11th century inBaphuon art style, and dedicated to Hinduism. Atop the hill,a few sandstone towers stand in their amazing art style, andreliefs, while other towers are totally collapsed. Walkingaround, we were thirsty and hungry. Suddenly, we were given asurprise by a kid who was shaking a mango tree. I waswondering what was in the tree. Was it a chipron (a kind oftree dwelling rodent) or monkey ? No, it was the kid, and heclimbed down with mango fruits. He gave the fruits to us, weate them and they were so sweet. I found myself no longerthirsty and hungry ! Walking down the pyramid steps on theeastern side of the hill, we climbed down to photograph animpressively ruined gopura, and while climbing down we cameacross a beautiful free standing relief of lions, nagas andmore. Next we walked on the base to the cruciform building,then to the pool which we would not have discovered withoutthe guidance of the local kids, and finally to our car. As wewere thirsty again, the monks gave us coconut fruits, andlychee fruits. It was at noon , when the weather is so hot,that we bade farewell to the kids and the monks, and set off,on the advice of the monks, on an ancient road , which iseasier than the previous one, to Beng Mealea.

We were not concerned about the state of the road ,as it iscommon off the beaten track. Villages along the ancient roadclose to the Eastern base of Phnom Kulen (Kulen Mountains)are very remote and in a poor state of development. This ismade evident by the sight of local huts and schools, simplymade of leaves. After an hour and a half, our car drew intoBeng Mealea village. Before proceeding to the temple, we weregreeted by a military engineering unit that was stationed atthe gateway to the temple, to look after the temple, and tocheck on Travellers. As the arrangement of our trip wasassisted by the Cambodian government officials whoaccompanied us, we were given a warm welcome, and courteouslyoffered a place as canteen for our lunch in their militaryunit.

After lunch, we proceeded to the temple of Beng Mealea builtin late 11th century by King Suryavarman II, and dedicated toHinduism, in Angkor Wat art style. By size, history, art andarchitecture ,and nature, Beng Mealea has been considered tobe among the top three temples, after Angkor Wat andBayon.
A team of armed soldiers guided us through all the attractivebuildings, and reliefs , and the three ponds. We were highlyimpressed , with its style, huge size, the long causeway,natural settings of tree trunks covering the buildings,Apsara reliefs, and several artistically styled nagas. Onceinfrastructure is improved, Beng Mealea is one of the must -see sites.

That same afternoon we headed to Svay Le District. On theway, we stopped to visit an ancient sandstone quarry whereAngkoreans are said to have mined the stone for building theAngkor monuments. This is where the Japanese Government Teamfor Safeguarding Angkor (JSA) extracted sandstone for theirconservation projects at Bayon, Prasat Suor Prat and alibrary at Angkor Wat. Then we arrived into Svay Leu district,where we stayed overnight after we were received courteouslyby the governor Sin Ron, who briefed us on security updatesbefore we continued to Koh Ker the next morning. We stayed ina local wooden house, owned by a family whose father was avictim of a landmine accident ,but who has survived, and iswealthy by the standards of this remote town. We were guidedto visit another temple Prasat Bot in the compound of aBuddist temple. Then, kids and other villagers took us to abathing area at the base of Phnom Kulen, when the sun wasabout to set. Lisa and I walked with the kids and the villagemen all the way (3kms) until we arrived at the bathing area ,with creeks and cool water. There, other villagers togetherwith local personnel of the Hallo Trust, the British foundedde-mining team, were having their bath, while others werecarrying water from this clean source to their houses. It isa great evening meeting spot! Lisa joined the locals for abath and a chat. At night, to end our day, we walked by torchlight to a cultural show (dance and drama) in an open field,that attracted the locals from all the nearby villages.

KOH KER

Next morning, April 9th, we set off for Koh Ker. The governorgave us two more armed companions, led by the policecommissioner Min Chantha. So we had more confidence aboutsafety from bandits for our onward trip. After just fifteenminutes drive, we reached the dense tropical jungle, where wewere in the middle of nowhere; no established road, novillages, no person in sight. We were on an ox cart pathcovered all along by leaves fallen from evergreen trees ofthis vast tropical jungle. This jungle is inhabited bydifferent kinds of wildlife, such as deer, tortoise, cock,chipron, and other birds. Before we left Svay Leu town, wesaw local men carrying deer carcasses , no doubt hunted fromthis jungle. On and on the car moved and our eyes feasted onthe beauty of the jungle , with evergreen trees andattractive birds of different colors , that are not seen inthe cities. The commissioner also took his turn to explain tous about the paddy fields we came across ,even in the heartof the jungle. These paddy fields have been abandoned since1970, when Cambodia started to suffer civil war. He alsopointed out to us a hideout of bandits, that no longer existnow that his troops have wiped them out. Once in a while, westopped the vehicle to rest, and on the way we saw no passers-by.

It takes 4 hours to drive the 50 km from the town Svay Leu tothe village Siyong ,gateway to Koh Ker. We had done 30 kmsalready. We were wondering if other teams had also conqueredthis jungle like us. We were not the only ones. After ourcars moved up and down the dried stream bed, and over thehills, we approached a team of ox carts, on which yellowrobes and other clothes were hanging. I asked myself who theywere, and what they were doing in the heart of jungle. We sawthat Buddhist monks ,and other laymen were resting, and theytold us that they were making their way to Siyong. It wouldtake them a full day by ox cart. Then one of the laymenjumped on the back of our car, and he made his way with us tothe village. Several times were left in the middle ofnowhere, not able to recognize the path. We would not havebeen able to make our way to Siyong had the commissioner andhis men not guided us to the paths, one by one. On the way,we talked about the absence of communities in the jungle. Weunderstood that it is not because of the jungle that thelocals don’t settle to make a community. It is becauseit is a drought area, there is no source of water, neithercan wells produce water. It is a matter of lack of water,rather than safety and jungle. In the dry season, it isimpossible to spot the existence of water in any form ofpuddle or stream in this jungle at the base of Phnom Kulen.In the rainy season, the streams store water for only one ortwo hours ,then rush off toward the vast plain area below.While we were talking, our car reached the border of thevillage , where we could see huts, fruit gardens and somesigns of cultivation of beans. Next we stopped at the officeof the Siyong commissioner who we met briefly. Also, we tooktime to visit the locals in their huts. The locals looked atus as strangers that they saw for the first time. “Hey!Come and look at “Barang”, one girlshouted.” She referred to Lisa ,a western tourist withsharp pointed nose and white skin similar to the formercolonial French. The word Barang means French. “Ah!Barang Srei (French Woman)!”, a boy shouted to hisfriends.


We heard music from speakers nearby. One local explained tous about a Buddhist temple that is to be established soon forthe village of Siyong. The locals have just moved there tosettle in their village of rich land after the civil war hasdied out, and they want to have their Buddhist pagoda as thecore of their community. So monks from nearby districts,particularly Svay Leu are invited to settle down at theirnewly established temple. We then understood why we met theox cart team of Buddhist monks on our way. The major economyof Siyong is the cultivation of beans and rice , and hunting.Rice and hunting are just good enough to support the needs oftheir community, but beans are produced for export. So thestrength of Siyong is beans. Twenty one years ago, Siyong wasa fierce battle zone where the Khmer Rouge forces clashedwith the government’s in an attempt to attack the townsof Preah Vihear Province. This is the reason why the localshad to abandon their villages until recent days.

After talking with the villagers, we proceeded to Koh Ker,and the local commissioner joined us, to guide our team. Ittook half an hour to drive the 7km through the jungle. Wethen crossed the Baray, the man-made lake of Koh Ker. We sawthe locals carrying water from the Baray. I understand whyKoh Ker was chosen as a former ancient capital ,and why thelocals now chose Siyong as their village. It is because ofwater , source of life, and the heart of the community. It isa testimony to the wisdom of the Angkorean kings , that theyare famous for building their moated cities, with Barays,ponds and canals ,without which the existence of crowdedcommunities is not possible.


We then arrived at the main complex of Koh Ker, one of theKhmer ancient capitals, built in 928 (10th century) by KingJayavarman 1V,after turmoil took place at the main complex ofAngkor, and dedicated to Hinduism. Lisa and I went insidewith the local commissioners Him and Eun to the maincompound, while our armed companions and driver stayed behindwith the car ,to do the cooking in the area shaded by thelaterite enclosure wall. We walked by the inner moat, theninto the main compound, with overgrown, pyramidal seventiered foundation towers. We climbed ,one by one, thesandstone staircases, largely broken due to theft and naturalerosion. Reaching the top of the main ,tiered temple PrasatThom, we stood looking around. We were amazed by thebird’s eye view of the landscape. Koh Ker is borderedby vast evergreen tropical jungles , and the mountains PhnomKulen and Phnom Dangrek. It is easy to understand why Koh Kerremains isolated and totally undiscovered. This was also thereason why King Jayavarman IV chose Koh Ker as his hideoutduring the turmoil at Angkor. We were also amazed by thecarvings of large garudas ,and at the same time sorry to seeevidence of theft, and illegal excavation. After climbingdown, we were taken to visit the temples nearby such asPrasat Andong (Well temple), Prasat Khmao (Black temple),Prasat Kraham (Red temple),and Prasat Kohak whose carvings ofdeities, animals and flowers ,on colonettes ,lintels andfrontons amazed us beyond description. We felt deeplysaddened by the illegal excavation and destruction ofsculptures ,and theft of ancient Khmer treasures from alltemples. After that we went back to our car ,where our escortteam was ready to serve several courses, of Thai noodles,grilled chicken and rice. Before having our lunch, Lisadistributed crackers to the local kids and other villagerswho come to carry water from the moat of the temple. On ourway back, we visited another impressive temple, Prasat NeangMao ,made of laterite, where we were greatly impressed withthe beautiful detailed carving on its lintel, reflecting theunique artistic style of Koh Ker. At 3 pm, we headed for theprovincial town of Preah Vihear province, again through avast jungle. “There are about 130 temples in Koh Ker,requiring a 2 week stay if we want to explore all thetemples,” said the local commissioner. After a two hourdrive, we passed through the jungles ,into villages. Thevillages here, however, looked rather temporary. Somefamilies were moving, others were not yet established . Wewere wondering why. The commissioner explained to us thetrend of moving back to Siyong after the war, and we thenunderstood. It is because the source of water there is soscarce, that it is impossible to establish a permanentcommunity. We realized we were now on the very northwest ofCambodia ,on the high latitude and were close to the Thaiborder. After another four hour drive, we arrived at Bakanguesthouse in the Provincial town of Preah Vihear at 9pm ,foran overnight stay.

PREAH KHAN, KAMPONG SVAY

Next morning, April 10th, we left the town of Preah Vihearfor Prasat Preah Khan, now known as Prasat Bakan on the mainroad But like other roads, it was in a poor state of repair,and our journey was so rough and bumpy. On the way, we wereimpressed by slash and burn cultivation. The locals burntdown the trees of excellent logs for gardens of bananas, jackfruits, pineapples and other kinds of fruits. After twohours’ drive, we turned right at the corner, with abanner “Welcome to Prasat Preah Khan-Bakan 57 Kms.)into the base of the mountains in the jungle again. Aftergoing through the jungle, we approached the district SrokSangkuk Thmei , where we met with the deputy governor ChumPuy and his commissoner Ou Buntheoun ,who issued us with apermit. We then left them and at one village we were stoppedby a drunken policeman. But after showing the permit, he letus continue. On the way, we paused , and one of ourcompanions climbed a mango tree to pick green mangoes, as avinegar source for lunch in the next few hours. At anothervillage, our companions also requested the driver to stop,for they wanted to purchase Sra Sor (white alcohol made ofrice ,or Khmer Whisky). Our car then moved on and on ,untilat 12pm we arrived at Prasat Preah Damrei .(The Elephanttemple) In front of the temple is a huge Baray with crystalclear , deep water. The size of this Baray is as huge as thatof the Western Baray at Angkor. The guards there told us itwas inhabited by crocodiles - no doubt why the Angkoreanschose the area as one of their hideout capitals. Most of thetemples at Preah Khan were built in the 12th century in Bayonart style, and the areas were the hideout of the AngkoreanKing Jayavarman VII, when the neighbouring Champas looted andburnt down Angkor. After residing at Preah Khan, andregaining full strength, the emperor moved to reclaim thethrone at Angkor .The story of his victory is carvedvigorously on the galleries of Bayon and Banteay Chhmar.

Prasat Preah Damrei was built in pyramidal style, but thechief attractions are the free standing statue of theelephant being worshiped by the locals, Apsara reliefs ,andthe attractive nagas with garudas, symbols of unification ofHinduism and Buddhism. This simple concept was successfullyemployed by the Angkorean Kings to settle social issuesconcerning religious conflict. After that we visited PrasatMouk Boun (the four faced temple), so called because of thetower carved with four smiling faces ,similar to those foundat the Bayon. The soldier guard at Preah Khan guided us tomost corners of Prasat Mouk Boun even though he was weak, dueto suffering from malaria. He asked us if we had any medicinefor malaria, but we had brought none. Then we drove throughthe eastern entry tower of the main complex of Preah Khan. Wewere amazed by the entry tower , which is similar to that ofAngkor Thom, although it is smaller in size. We rested at awooden platform in a field, where the past millenniumcelebrations were held. Our armed partners cooked Thainoodles and rice for us again, while they themselves had aspecial menu of tortoise, the Khmer Whisky, and other Khmerfoods. After lunch, we visited two temples nearby: PrasatKuk, and Prasat Sela Chareok, and then walked into the maintower of Preah Khan, which was very overgrown. We came acrossmany impressive artistic reliefs, and again we were saddenedby the destruction of sculptures and reliefs. Many heads ofBuddha statues and Apsaras have been chopped off. The moat atthe wing of Preah Khan has been totally overgrown. It was notuntil 3pm that we left Preah Khan, through the jungles, andvillages ,to overnight at a guesthouse at Stung District,Kampong Thom province, before journeying back to Siem Reapnext morning.