22 March 2019
With temples and ruins spread out over a large area, most visitors planned their trips based on a “small circuit” or “big circuit” route. We did likewise. The “Small Circuit” or “Small Circle” route would include key sites concentrated within Angkor Thom (in local language means Great City) and Angkor Wat (City of Temples), while the twenty-six kilometer “Big Circle” route is an extension on the Small Circle route, focusing on sites spread out further away from Angkor Thom.
We bought the 3-day temple pass for USD 62 per person that allows us to visit the temples within the Angkor Archaeological Park for up to 3 days (no need to be consecutive days) within 10 days from issue date. After doing the Small Circle route (trip report), plus a day to cover some of the more distant temples like Banteay Samre, Banteay Srei and the Roluos Group (trip report), we finally did the Big Circle tour.
Our itinerary for the day includes Ta Prohm (also known as the “Tomb Raider Temple”), Ta Keo , Preah Khan, Sras Srang reservoir, Neak Pean, Ta Som and ending with a visit to Rep Rup at sunset.
Ta Prohm Temple
We chose to go to Ta Prohm first as this temple is very popular. Like Angkor Wat or Bayon temple, Ta Prohm will be very crowded later in the day and there are good reasons for this. Ta Prohm is one of the uniquely amazing places on earth and there is no other quite like it.
We entered Ta Prohm through what was left of the ruined east gate. Like most Angkorian temple structure, the site is rectangular and aligned to the East-West axis.
A small ruin just outside Ta Prohm main complex.
Layout of Ta Prohm. We entered from the east (left side of diagram above).
Our guide told us this area, which was just east of Angkor Thom, used to have thousands of inhabitants during the time of the ancient Khmer empire. Now, all around us were the jungle.
Ta Prohm was built by the same king that built Angkor Thom, namely King Jayavarman VII. He built this monastery during the 12th-13th century, and it was also a place for the king to worship his mother. After the fall of the Khmer empire, this site was abandoned and overtaken by the Cambodia jungle for several centuries.
Entering the main complex.
Giant tree near the east entrance.
This is one of the few temples where the effects of the Mother Nature on the man-made structures were left intact. Today, we could still envisage what it looked like when the French explorers stumbled upon the temple ruins in the jungle, more than a century ago.
Strangler fig tree at Ta Prohm temple.
The monster-like silk-cotton and strangler fig trees grew through the buildings, in some cases causing their collapse and in some cases actually holding the loose pieces of stones together. It is good that these trees have not been cut down. In some cases, the massive roots are artificially supported so that they would not cause further damage to the ancient buildings.
Due to its popularity, there are wooden walkways, one-way routes for visitors to follow and ropes cordoning off some places. There were plenty of photo opportunities all round, in spite of the crowds that flood through this place.
Everyone wants a photo with the giant roots of trees that looked like tentacles of a giant octopus, serpent or even someone’s butt.
There was an informal but orderly queuing system at some popular photo spots. It was nice to see visitors helping to snap photos for fellow visitors who they had never met before.
One of the few intact bas reliefs at Ta Prohm.
This fascinating place is also the filming location of the movie "Tomb Raider" starring Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft, the main character. Since then, Ta Prohm temple has been more well-known to the world and is known as the “Tomb Raider Temple”.
The Tomb Raider tree is a popular photo spot. Engulfed by a strangler fig tree, this doorway was where Lara Croft picked a flower before falling through a crack in the ground in the movie.
The temple itself contains a maze of courtyards and galleries. It was good that we had engaged a licenced guide and she was able to guide us through the maze of dark corridors and ruins.
I hope the ancient structure would not collapse on us while we were exploring the ruins.
A small face peeking out from behind roots of a tree. I shot this using a zoom lens while walking through a dark corridor somewhere inside Ta Prohm.
In the centre courtyard, there is a tower that is supposed to be where the King worshipped his mother. We went inside the tower for a look.
Inside the tower of the King’s mother. Our guide says the holes in the wall used to hold pieces of jewels. There was an interesting Christmas tree shape opening as well. Does this mean the ancient Khmer folks celebrate Christmas?
Another interesting piece of conjecture is that of the “dinosaur” found in a piece of bas relief on the western side of the Ta Prohm.
Close up photo of the “stegosaurus” that is part of the bas relief containing pictures of animals like deer, monkey, parrot and water buffalo in addition to the what some claim is a “stegosaurus”. A stegosaurus is a dinosaur with plates protruding from its back.
Some claim this figure is that of a stegosaurus, hence feeding theories of time travel, ancient aliens and advance ancient civilisations etc. While I believed that some of the above theories could one day be proven true, I think this carving shows an image of a local animal, such as a buffalo or even a pangolin. The blades protruding out from the stegosaurus’s back are probably just depicting leaves of a plant in the background.
We left Ta Prohm from the west gate and we could see the similarity of this gate with the south gate of Angkor Thom. After all, both structures were built by the same King.
Western Gate of Ta Prohm with a large face sculptured onto the tower.
We meet up with our driver outside the west gate. He served us bottles of cold water that we truly appreciated. Exploring Angkorian temple is a hot and tiring activity.
Stopover at Ta Keo
Enroute to Preah Khan, we did a brief stop at Ta Keo. Ta Keo is big multi-step temple that looked similar to Baphuon and Bakong that we had previously seen. Besides myself, only one other person from my travelling group was interested (or has the energy) to alight and take a closer look at Ta Keo.
Ta Keo
From Ta Keo, our van entered into Angkor Thom via the Victory Gate. Once again, we get to see the Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King from our van. We exited Angkor Thom via the North Gate to arrive at Preah Khan which was located north of Angkor Thom.
Preah Khan
While Ta Prohm was built by King Jayavarman VII to honour his mother, Preah Khan was built in the 12th century by the same king with the goal of honouring his father.
Preah Khan was a temple city occupying a large area surrounded by a moat. The rectangular shape site is aligned to the East-West axis like most other Angkorian temples.
We entered from the West gate. Like most other temples, the temple is surrounded by a moat. A long causeway, flanked with mostly headless stone figures holding a multi-headed naga (serpent) as if they were engaged in a tug of war, led to the gate.
West gate of Preah Khan.
Headless stone figures holding a multi-headed naga (serpent).
The boundary wall next to the west gate were decorated with large figures of garuda (a creature from Hindu mythology that has a mix of eagle face and human body) and also devatas. (female goddess).
Approaching Preah Khan’s temple centre complex after entering through the west outer wall.
A pair of headless statues guard the entrance to the building.
Entering the temple, we walked through a long corridor that is aligned to the west-east axis. Statues of headless figures and lingas could be seen from time to time as we passed though rectangular doorways adorned with carvings of devatas, dancers or other religious figures.
Long corridor perfectly aligned to the East-West axis at Preah Khan temple. A linga stone is in the forefround.
There were also towers along the way and other corridors leading in the north-south axis that intersected the main east-west corridor. Some North-South corridors were obstructed by stone blocks from collapsed walls and roofs.
Somewhere near the middle of the structure, we could see the effects of change of rulers and their corresponding religion. King Jayavarman VII who built Preah Khan was a devout Buddhist and Preah Khan was built as a Buddhist temple. The next king, King Jayavarman VIII, was a Hindu. With the new king and new religion, most depictions of the Buddha had been destroyed or changed into Hindu figures during the 13th century.
Buddhist images on the wall on our right side had been removed.
At the same location, the Buddhist images on the wall on our left side had been changed into Hindu images of praying rishis.
There is also a Buddhist stupa where natural light shone through a hole in the wall. One of the staff loitering at this place volunteered to help my wife with a photo.
Feeling a little like a tomb raider inside Preah Khan temple.
We liked the photo so much that we gave him a tip for his service.
Preah Khan translates to “Holy Sword” in Khmer. Our guide led us up a small stone structure and told us a sword used to be stored here. I wonder if this sword was used by King Jayavarman VII when he won a battle against the invading force from the Champa kingdom (now Vietnam) in 1191. There is no sword seen on top of the structure now.
Next to this structure is an interesting 2 storey building that looked a little out of place. It has round columns set in rows that made the building looked like very Greek or Roman.
Our guide told us a sacred sword used to be stored in this raised structure, guarded by stone lions.
A strange two storey building with large circular columns that looked more like Greek or Roman design than Khmer.
Some of my friends exploring the building with circular columns.
Well preserved Hall of Dancers with beautiful devatas carved above the entrance doors.
We left the site from the east gate. There is a giant tree growing out from its building structure near the east gate which is a good photo spot.
Preah Khan is also a temple with giant trees growing out from its building structure.
Vendors offered souvenirs and cold drinks for sale at the exit of Preah Khan. We met a couple of young kids selling stuff as well. We made it a point not to buy from the young kids as advised, since they should be in school and not peddling stuff at tourist spots. Hopefully when the buying stops, the child peddlers will too.
The east exit from Preah Khan led us to the edge of the Jayatataka Baray, which is a man-made reservoir. While we rested in the shade, we could see our next destination Neak Pean from where we stood.
The reservoir is now almost dry. Our guide said it is being drained so that enhancement works could be done. The works include construction of piers for boats to carry tourists on the reservoir from Preah Khan to Neak Pean in the future.
We met up again with our van driver. More bottles of cold water was served by our driver each time we returned from our temple exploration. I must say I had not drunk so much water in one day before. Siem Reap is unusually hot in March this year. Signs of global warming perhaps.
Neak Pean
A short drive took us to Neak Pean. Neak Pean, “the entwined snakes” is a small temple located on an island in the center of the water reservoir that we saw from Preah Khan. This temple was also constructed by King Jayavarman VII.
There were vendors selling souvenirs and cut fruits at the entrance to the site. We could not resist the small local pineapples. They were safe to eat since they were freshly cut.
After enjoying the refreshing and sweet pineapples, we took the boardwalk that led to the island. With the reservoir dried out, long grass instead of water flanked the sides of the boardwalk.
Boardwalk leading to the Neak Pean site. This would be more scenic during the rainy season with more water in the reservoir.
The site of Neak Pean is small and some parts were fenced off. The main pond features a small island with two entwining Nagas circling the base.
Small island in Neak Pean with a couple of entwined serpents (Nagas) surrounding the base.
This is a peaceful and quiet place and a visit should not take more than 15 to 30 minutes.
Lunch at Bunzak Restaurant and back to hotel for a rest.
From Neak Peen, we told our guide to bring us to an air-conditioned restaurant for lunch. She brought us to Bunzak Restaurant, located next to the Srah Srang reservoir.
After lunch, we figured that we had enough time to head back to the hotel for about an hour of rest before seeing the last 2 temples that we planned along the Big Circle route, namely Ta Som and Pre Rup. Back in my hotel room, I took a cold shower, changed into a fresh set of clothes and laid on my bed to post a few photos on Instagram.
Just when it was time to leave for Ta Som, I realised that my wallet was missing! The last time I saw my wallet was when I bought the pineapples at Neak Pean and I was very sure I placed my wallet back into my pocket.
A quick search in the hotel room yielded nothing. Fearing that it may have dropped out from my pocket while travelling in the van, I hurried down to the van, waiting outside our hotel, but it was not there either.
Besides the usual credit cards and money, my 3 day Temple Pass was in my wallet. I would need the pass to enter into Ta Som and Pre Rup.
Not wanting to hold up everyone, we continued with our plan and proceeded to Ta Som. I had taken a photo of my temple pass immediately after I bought it. Hopefully, the staff manning the entrances to Angkor Archaeological Park and the temples would accept the photo as the “ticket”.
To my dismay, they refused to accept the photo as proof of my ticket. My guide negotiated and pleaded with them. Finally they advised that I must make a police report before letting me in. Fortunately, the police post was just round the corner and our guide took me there to make the police report. With that, I was allowed into the Angkor Archaeological Park.
But my group had lost about 30 minutes of time and we could miss the sunset at Pre Rup. Despite the risk of missing the sun set at Pre Rup, our group made the decision to proceed to Ta Som to take a quick look before heading to Pre Rup since they are located quite close together.
Ta Som
We arrived at Ta Som just before the closing time. The temple was deserted. This is one of the smaller temple sites in the Angkor Archaeological Park but is definitely worth a visit.
Hurrying into Ta Som from the west gate.
We entered from the West gate and made a beeline for the best part of Ta Som, which was a gate that was engulfed by a huge strangler fig tree. This gate is located right at the Eastern end of the temple, opposite to the main entrance.
Approaching the east gate of Ta Som, located at the far end of the temple.
The same east gate at Ta Som, looking from the east side, engulfed by a giant strangler fig tree. This is the highlight of Ta Som.
Ta Som would be nice place to linger and it offers plenty of photo opportunities. It is mostly unrestored but with well-preserved bas relief. It is also peaceful with few visitors even during normal hours.
Due to the incident with my lost wallet and ticket, we could not linger at Ta Som. We had to quickly make our way to Pre Rup, so we don’t miss the sunset.
Sunset viewing at Pre Rup.
We could see the blazing red sun low on the horizon as our van hurried towards Pre Rup. We arrived at about 6 PM.
Pre Rup temple, 3 tiered pyramid temple dedicated to Hindu God Shiva.
Pre Rup is a 3-tier temple with stone steps leading up to each tier. Several towers with faceless stone lions are on the top tier.
We hurried to the top tier just in time to see the sun slipping behind low clouds in the horizon. So, this was almost a replay of our experience at Phnom Bakheng.
No glorious red sunset on this day as well. Nevertheless, we listened as our guide explained the history of Pre Rup.
One of the towers at the top tier. It has an entrance facing east, 3 false doors on the other sides and carving of devatas on the sides.
Pre Rup is a Hindu temple dedicated to Hindu God Shiva. It was built by King Rajendravarman II in the late 10th century.
Pre Rup is believed to be a temple for funerals. Pre Rup means ‘Turning the Body’ and refers to a traditional method of cremation. Some of the buildings at the base, surrounding the main temple, are believed to be used for cremation.
We stayed at Pre Rup till dusk sets in. Although we did not see the blazing red sunset, seeing the colours and light show in the sky at dusk on top of the ancient temple was quite magical.
Overall, the “Big Circle” tour of the Angkorian Temple was fun and interesting, despite the hot and humid weather. It was a day to remember.
It was a day where we explored five Angkorian temple ruins in one day.
A day where we saw monster trees devouring temples.
And most importantly, a day that ended well when I found my wallet back in my hotel room, buried below the blanket in my bed. Whew!
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