TRAVEL NEWS FROM PREAH VIHEAR
Preah Vihear Province is opening up rapidly. It is becoming easier to reach the Big Three temples of Preah Vihear, Koh Ker, and Bah Khan. These places have been described in detail elsewhere, so I will not go into all the details, historical or otherwise, concerning the temple sites. I found Jacobson and Visakays book, Adventure Cambodia, quite useful and accurate on most counts. The main news is the alternative routes to reach these sites. There is also a good account of a visit to Koh Ker in the April Bayon Pearnik (the free monthly magazine that appears in Phnom Penh. But things are changing so quickly that material is out of date almost as soon as it is printed. A year from now there will probably be roads and guided tours to these temple sites.
But part of their charm is their remoteness. The thrill of discovering a lost temple after a three-hour moto ride through jungle trails will be lost if you can pull up in an air-conditioned bus.
Tbeng Meanchey Town
The capital of Preah Vihear Province has not changed much since I visited it a year ago. The last stretch of road from Kampong Thom is as bad as ever. Illegal logging continues apace; we passed perhaps 100 trucks loaded with huge freshly-cut logs coming down from Preah Vihear Province, so they are cutting the big trees at the rate of hundreds per day. Both I and Jacobson reported long ago that the hotel would soon be open, but as of April 2002, they are still working on it with no sign of a name or of an opening date. There are a couple of new Guest Houses in town. Since I was boycotting the May 27 after being cheated last year, I checked into the Maluop Trasek, which I found very comfortable. As before, the town has electricity only from 6 until 10 in the evening, but if there are several people, the nice family at the Maloup will turn on their generator a bit early on a hot afternoon.
I went to my favorite restaurant, the Stung Sen near the market, and was later reading and agreeing with Jacobsons description of the three lovely daughters and how the food is cut above the others and local NGOs like to ear here. Then I found he was describing another place altogether, and that the Stung Sen was not even on his town map.
Jacobsons listed price of $10 per day for motodoup hire appears to be out of date. The drivers all knew the book, but insisted on $15, which I was forced to pay. But my driver was pretty good this time about accepting the correct amount at the end. Last year they tried to raise prices from the agreed rate after the ride was over. By the way, no one up this way uses the name Tbeng Meanchey. They just call it Province or Kaet in Khmer.
Koh Ker Temple Complex
It seemed that everyone I talked to had been to Koh Ker. Lindsay Watt had written his long piece in the Bayon Pearnik just one month prior to my visit. Then in the taxi from Battambang to Phnom Penh I met a MAG deminer who had just been there. He had gone in from the Siem Reap side via a new good road from Kampong Kdei to Kwow (love that name!), and then from Kwow into Siyong, the forest village near the temples. He was quite impressed with the big trees and the beautiful forest along that road - a good sign of an enlightened mentality by local Khmers. Here was a Khmer who liked trees and forests instead of thinking only of how to cut down the trees to make money!
But from the Tbeng Meanchey side I bargained for a $15 day out to Koh Ker. I pronounced it wrong and at first they didnt know what I was talking about. Pronounce it Kaw Kay (as in day). I had been told that these long moto rides through the bush would hurt. So to break up the journey, I set out at 6 am and got an hour or so under my belt before stopping for breakfast in Kulen (not to be confused with Phnom Kulen north of Siem Reap). We later found, contrary to Jacobsons description, that food, petrol, and water were available further on in Siyong village near the ruins. Jacobson was right, however, in pointing out the turnoff to Kulen, which you might miss as there is only a sign in Khmer over the turnoff road. Some people in the village didnt even know the name of their own village, but others referred to it only as Crossroads Village or Phum Tnal Bambaek in Khmer.
After the turnoff, the road becomes quite sandy and difficult to negotiate. Interestingly, this is not a forest zone as far as Kulen, so its not too interesting. But after Kulen the forest becomes more and more dense and is quite beautiful by the time you reach Siyong some 30 km further on. But dont try this in the rainy season. There are some quite useless bridges that some NGO built but forgot to build ramp access to the bridges, so you have to go around.
About halfway to Siyong is a good bridge over a clear, shaded stream where I stopped for a cool dip in the heat of the day. It was quite a refreshing break for my aching backside. At Siyong we bought water and petrol before turning right along the last 8 km to the temples. The Black Lady Temple (Prasat Neang Kmao) is a welcome sight after miles of jungle tracks, and is worth a stop to look around. But the real show is down the road a few kilometers further. The beautiful Red Temple or Prasat Krohom has just the atmosphere of lost temples in the jungle that provokes that romantic feeling that may be lost when (not if) it becomes a tourist mecca. I had a feeling that somehow this was real, and that Angkor Wat is becoming just another Disney theme park. Angkor has been reconstructed to such an extent that they might as well have built a new artificial one. And why not, as the Disney credo is that artificial is better than real anyway.
I liked the atmosphere of the ruined complex around the Red Temple better than the main attraction of the great pyramid further back. The pyramid is out in the open and not really in a jungle setting. But still, you can stand in the silence and solitude and listen to the birds. Listen and look for the beautiful flameback woodpeckers behind the pyramid. On the right side the deminers are still removing landmines, so dont stray off the beaten paths.
The trip back to Province is pretty rough on a hot afternoon at Khmer New Year. On two occasions we were stopped by some village girls who painted us with talcum powder and lipstick as is traditional at New Year. Pretty childish, but it provided a break from the moto journey. It was good to have a shower waiting at the Maloup Trasek when I arrived back in town.
Preah Vihear Temple
Jacobson states in his description of the trip to Koh Ker that at the turnoff to Kulen, going straight is supposedly a shortcut to Preah Vihear Temple. I took that as a challenge, especially when my moto driver confirmed that that was the real way to get to the temple by bypassing Choam Ksant. But I certainly didnt want to cover the full 107 km to the base of Preah Vhiear, climb the mountain, and then return all the way to Province in one day. No problem, he said; Just stay on top of the mountain and return the next day. This sounded like a good idea, so thats what I did.
The road is the same one that goes out to Koh Ker, only you continue straight after 21 km at the Kulen turnoff of Tnal Bambaek Village. This will eventually be the main road up to the temples. Government work has begun for the first 10 km out of town, but it will take a long time to finish that road all the way through the forest. There is a large new bridge over the Stung Sen under construction a short ways past Crossroads Village, but after that the road becomes just a one-lane forest track suitable only for motos, not cars. We met no one along the way, and there are no villages or even houses for the next two hours before you reach the road to Choam Ksant. The road itself is not mined, but I wouldnt walk off into the bush for fear of landmines. All in all its a rather smooth ride compared to the Koh Ker trip.
Jacobsons map includes a town called Preah Vihear right in the middle of this jungle. I cant imagine that it exists, since the track we were on would have passed through it, or else we would have crossed some other road or track going there. We crossed nothing and saw no evidence of any village.
The T-junction at the road to Choam Ksant is apparently not the one from Choam Ksant directly to the temples. To the right, this road goes to an important village called Saaem - important because that is where the new road comes in from Anlong Veng and Siem Reap Province. They are working hard on this road, and soon it will be possible to travel easily from Anlong Veng directly to the base of the temple mountain. In fact, the locals showed me where in 2003 the new road will go right up the mountainside to the temples. This is hard to believe, given the steepness of the mountain and the prevalence of landmines.
But the Cambodian government is banking heavily on Preah Vihears becoming the next tourist cash cow. There is a lot at stake politically as well, since both Thailand and Cambodia believe that the temples are on their soil. This dispute was resolved by United Nations arbitration in favor of Cambodia. But the decision has rankled in the minds of the Thai government.
Now one of the amazing sights after a five and a half moto ride followed by a two hour climb up the cliff is the sudden sight of a beautiful tar road coming in from Thailand. The Preah Vihear temples have become a popular tourist destination for Thais over the past couple of years, resulting in a lot of tourist dollars flowing into Cambodia. But in January of 2002 the Thai government closed the border. No more tourists come in from Thailand. So even more bizarre than the tar road from Thailand is the total absence of vehicles on the road, as well as the total absence of visitors to the temples despite drinks stands, expensive floodlights for night viewing, and a host of Cambodians selling souvenirs and food to no one. I was the only visitor to the temples that day.
How did this happen? The ostensible reason given by the Thais is that the Khmers living along the border were polluting the water flowing into Thailand. If you believe that, Ive got a bridge to sell you! The more conventional wisdom runs something like this: a Cambodian Minister made a private deal with the Thais in which he would authorize Thai expenditure for tourism, for example the floodlights, and allow Thai tourists to visit in exchange for a large sum of private money. The Cambodian government did not benefit from the arrangement. But speculation is that the Minister did not pay a high enough kickback to the Cambodian higher-ups, who promptly sacked him and the deal fell through. The Thais in retaliation closed the border.
The saddest thing about this failed wheeling and dealing is that perhaps a couple hundred Cambodians had moved to Preah Vihear and had set up their shops and restaurants, only to find three months later that they had lost their livelihood. They sit around all day up there on the mountain with nothing to do and no income. I ate in the restaurant and got soundly ripped off (would you believe 25 baht just for ice in my coke/). But I was able to spend the night on a mattress with mosquito net for 100 baht. This enabled me to view the temples at sunset and at sunrise.
The Cambodian government is going to extremes to point out that Preah Vihear is theirs. As the Thai tourists climb the steps to the temples, they immediately see a very large Cambodian flag flying over the first of the four temples. There are several signs that say, Preah Vihear is Khmers Soul, but I thought the real message can be read by changing the u to an i.
The Cambodia Daily of April 18 reports that Chea Sophara, mayor of Phnom Penh, is setting up a radio tower for a new radio station to broadcast from Preah Vihear mountain. He says there is no Khmer language station for Khmers in the area to listen to. But I would ask, first, what business is it of the mayor of Phnom Penh? And second, I would point out that there are precious few Khmers in this remote area who might be able to listen. I suspect, rather, that this is another ploy to solidify Cambodias claims to Preah Vihear mountain. The construction reminds me a bit of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.
I have little to add to the voluminous information on the Preah Vihear temples. I liked the atmosphere and appreciated the fact that some friezes and carvings have not been looted, including a nice Churning of the Sea of Milk, and one of Siva and his consort riding his famous lion-dog. Another rather different attraction not described in the tour guides is a crashed government helicopter shot down by the Khmer Rouge. On the path over to the temples, the blue rudder is now used as a bridge over a small bulley.
And speaking of the path, one is constantly reminded to stay on the paths by the numerous red Danger, Mines! signs. Every time they find a mine, they mark it with a red stick marked with the kind of mine found. In some patches of maybe 5m by 5m you can see 10-20 such sticks. This sends the message that if you step off the path in an uncleared patch you face almost certain death.
Despite the five-hour moto ride and the two-hour climb, after which I was thoroughly exhausted, I enjoyed the eerie atmosphere of being alone on top of the mountain with the wind blowing through the unique temples. If you want to see the ruins in greater comfort, wait a year or two, when you can drive on a smooth road all the way to the top from either Tbeng Meanchey or from Siem Reap via Anlong Veng. But you will miss something of the wonderful atmosphere at the sense of accomplishment at reaching these lost temples, which will no longer seem quite so lost.
Bah Khan Temple Complex (also called Preah Khan)
Jacobson and other sources describe the trip from Tbeng Meanchey to Bah Khan (also called Preah Khan) as passing through the District seat of Sangkum Thmey. But I looked at the big old map at the roundabout at the entry to Tbeng Meanchy, and noticed an old road leading almost directly to the ruins from Phnom Daek. If that road existed, it would pare at least 50 km and a couple of hours from the trip to the temples. I asked a local English speaker about this road, but he said no one goes that way because it is too dangerous. I couldnt get him to elaborate further.
I had also learned from taxi drivers that there is a guesthouse in Rovieng, a town some 13 km to the northeast of the turnoff from the main road at Phnom Daek. So I decided to go to Rovieng and ask whether that short cut to the temples was passable. A further contribution to my decision was the existence of two ruined temples along the road south from Tbeng Meanchey. One is supposed to be just a couple of kilometers south of town, but I looked for it and no one seemed ever to have heard of it.
The other temple is quite worth a short stop. Prasat Krapum Chhouk is located in Tnal Kou district about 30 km south of town, only a kilometer from the English language sign marking the longer 56 km road through Sangkum Thmey to Preah Khan. The temple is made of laterite and along with the large surrounding wall is in rather good condition, although of course any semblance of carvings has long ago looted. But the jungle setting is quite peaceful and romantic. As in other temples in the area, there were coucals (birds) softly cooing in the background, creating an even more restful feeling.
Before I even reached Rovieng, at the Phnom Daek intersection I met a Westerner working in the area. He said he had just driven his car on the road and that there was no trouble for motos to pass. So no sooner had I arrived in Rovieng than I had hired a motodoup to take me to Bah Khan.
The road leaves Phnom Daek to the west along a scarcely noticeable alleyway just north of the Rovieng turnoff. It quickly enters the forest, where you will not see any sort of human structure for the next 30 km. The road, although pretty bad, is better than I had expected and was quite manageable by moto. We covered the 30 km in under an hour and a half. Thats a lot better than the signposted route through Sangkum Thmey, which would take at least three hours.
Other writers have been caught up in the Cambodian confusion between village names and commune names. You should ask for Ta Saeng Village, which is located in Renaksey Commune. Despite its remoteness, you can find food and drink there. We had an odd mixture of Thai instant noodles and freshly shot deer meat. Villagers will point out the road to the temples, or for a dollar they will serve as guides.
The main temple complex is a few kilometers along a sandy track. There are a half-dozen temples in rather poor condition, but as usual, it is the silent jungle setting bird calls in the large trees that makes the trip worthwhile. The center temple is not mostly just a large doorway with a large strangler fig tree crawling over it, in even more romantic fashion than the Ta Prohm temple in Siem Reap. In fact, Bah Khan has its own Ta Prohm temple with huge four-faced Buddha, the first temple you will pass on your way into the complex.
Bah Khan is the familiar mixture of Hindu and Buddhist religions. The main motif on the few unlooted lintels is a row of five Buddhas, but some of the smaller temples have Shiva or Vishnu themes. The sandstone blocks, along the large four-faced Buddha, date it as contemporary with the Bayon in Angkor.
The elephant temple is out another road from Ta Saeng. Jacobson and company were not overly enthusiastic about it, but I thought the ancient carved elephants were superb, both the larger yellowish elephant head on the corner of the main wall, as well as the two complete elephants higher up. The local villagers worship these statues, as evidenced by orange drapery and burned incense, especially atop the elephant at the rear.
There was a military man in a hut at the base of the elephant temple asking for 5000 riel per tourist to help protect the elephants. My guide told him I was not a tourist, but a development worker, he waived the 5000 riel. No one mentioned any danger in swimming in the lake, as reported by Jacobson.
But if you want a swim, you can break your return journey a short way after leaving Ta Saeng. Similar to the trip to Koh Ker, this trip has a nice stream for swimming. There is not much shade, but the water is clear and cool, welcome refreshment from the grueling moto ride on the hot, bumpy track.
Rovieng
I returned to Rovieng in late afternoon and checked into the Guesthouse (with its English language sign in front). It is well past the market and the shops, almost all the way to the white Bayon roundabout. Its a large enough town, where you can find enough to eat and drink. but not much else. The guesthouse is not much to write home about either. There are no mattresses or fans, and my tin-roofed room against the west wall was hot as blazes in the early evening after being heated by the sun all afternoon. When I arrived, the landlady apologized that there was no water available, but she quickly remedied that situation by going out to her wooden treadle pump and producing enough water for me to bathe. Electricity in Rovieng goes on at 6 pm and goes off at 9. However, during my stay some rich family with a generator was having a late night Khmer New Year party at the usual zillion decibels. This forced the majority of the population, who had gone to bed around lights-out at 9 pm to stay awake most of the night listening to the Khmer disco music. In Cambodia, conspicuous consumption means demonstrating to others that you have the power to make them suffer and realize that you have the impunity to do what you want to inconvenience. That sends the more insidious message that the rich could take land, money, or even children away from the less powerful with impunity.
On a more positive note, the people in Rovieng were quite nice to me. I had a few friendly chats hanging out in a drinks shop and later in the towns only restaurant. In fact, next morning, I met the taxi driver along the street, and he told me to go ahead and have my breakfast while he picked up more passengers. There are not many countries where I would entrust my bags to a taxi driver while I walked up the street to have my breakfast.
I returned to Phnom Penh in an easy days trip. The road to Rovieng is excellent, and it continues past Rovieng to Chae Sang. There are reportedly stretches where the road is pretty bad after that, but on the whole, the logging road goes all the way up past Chhaep to the Lao border.
In all, my trip to Preah Vihear lasted 6 days, including one day of travel from Phnom Penh to Tbeng Meanchey and another for the return to Phnom Penh from Rovieng (changing taxis in Kampong Thom both ways). I took one day for Koh Ker, two days for Preah Vihear, and one day for Bah Khan. Now that it is pushing it. I would have preferred to hang out a bit in the towns. Besides, ones body needs to rest after those long, bum-busting moto rides. But while six days is a minimum, you could easily spend 8-10 days.
Story by Ray Zepp (April 2002)
Preah Vihear Province is opening up rapidly. It is becoming easier to reach the Big Three temples of Preah Vihear, Koh Ker, and Bah Khan. These places have been described in detail elsewhere, so I will not go into all the details, historical or otherwise, concerning the temple sites. I found Jacobson and Visakays book, Adventure Cambodia, quite useful and accurate on most counts. The main news is the alternative routes to reach these sites. There is also a good account of a visit to Koh Ker in the April Bayon Pearnik (the free monthly magazine that appears in Phnom Penh. But things are changing so quickly that material is out of date almost as soon as it is printed. A year from now there will probably be roads and guided tours to these temple sites.
But part of their charm is their remoteness. The thrill of discovering a lost temple after a three-hour moto ride through jungle trails will be lost if you can pull up in an air-conditioned bus.
Tbeng Meanchey Town
The capital of Preah Vihear Province has not changed much since I visited it a year ago. The last stretch of road from Kampong Thom is as bad as ever. Illegal logging continues apace; we passed perhaps 100 trucks loaded with huge freshly-cut logs coming down from Preah Vihear Province, so they are cutting the big trees at the rate of hundreds per day. Both I and Jacobson reported long ago that the hotel would soon be open, but as of April 2002, they are still working on it with no sign of a name or of an opening date. There are a couple of new Guest Houses in town. Since I was boycotting the May 27 after being cheated last year, I checked into the Maluop Trasek, which I found very comfortable. As before, the town has electricity only from 6 until 10 in the evening, but if there are several people, the nice family at the Maloup will turn on their generator a bit early on a hot afternoon.
I went to my favorite restaurant, the Stung Sen near the market, and was later reading and agreeing with Jacobsons description of the three lovely daughters and how the food is cut above the others and local NGOs like to ear here. Then I found he was describing another place altogether, and that the Stung Sen was not even on his town map.
Jacobsons listed price of $10 per day for motodoup hire appears to be out of date. The drivers all knew the book, but insisted on $15, which I was forced to pay. But my driver was pretty good this time about accepting the correct amount at the end. Last year they tried to raise prices from the agreed rate after the ride was over. By the way, no one up this way uses the name Tbeng Meanchey. They just call it Province or Kaet in Khmer.
Koh Ker Temple Complex
It seemed that everyone I talked to had been to Koh Ker. Lindsay Watt had written his long piece in the Bayon Pearnik just one month prior to my visit. Then in the taxi from Battambang to Phnom Penh I met a MAG deminer who had just been there. He had gone in from the Siem Reap side via a new good road from Kampong Kdei to Kwow (love that name!), and then from Kwow into Siyong, the forest village near the temples. He was quite impressed with the big trees and the beautiful forest along that road - a good sign of an enlightened mentality by local Khmers. Here was a Khmer who liked trees and forests instead of thinking only of how to cut down the trees to make money!
But from the Tbeng Meanchey side I bargained for a $15 day out to Koh Ker. I pronounced it wrong and at first they didnt know what I was talking about. Pronounce it Kaw Kay (as in day). I had been told that these long moto rides through the bush would hurt. So to break up the journey, I set out at 6 am and got an hour or so under my belt before stopping for breakfast in Kulen (not to be confused with Phnom Kulen north of Siem Reap). We later found, contrary to Jacobsons description, that food, petrol, and water were available further on in Siyong village near the ruins. Jacobson was right, however, in pointing out the turnoff to Kulen, which you might miss as there is only a sign in Khmer over the turnoff road. Some people in the village didnt even know the name of their own village, but others referred to it only as Crossroads Village or Phum Tnal Bambaek in Khmer.
After the turnoff, the road becomes quite sandy and difficult to negotiate. Interestingly, this is not a forest zone as far as Kulen, so its not too interesting. But after Kulen the forest becomes more and more dense and is quite beautiful by the time you reach Siyong some 30 km further on. But dont try this in the rainy season. There are some quite useless bridges that some NGO built but forgot to build ramp access to the bridges, so you have to go around.
About halfway to Siyong is a good bridge over a clear, shaded stream where I stopped for a cool dip in the heat of the day. It was quite a refreshing break for my aching backside. At Siyong we bought water and petrol before turning right along the last 8 km to the temples. The Black Lady Temple (Prasat Neang Kmao) is a welcome sight after miles of jungle tracks, and is worth a stop to look around. But the real show is down the road a few kilometers further. The beautiful Red Temple or Prasat Krohom has just the atmosphere of lost temples in the jungle that provokes that romantic feeling that may be lost when (not if) it becomes a tourist mecca. I had a feeling that somehow this was real, and that Angkor Wat is becoming just another Disney theme park. Angkor has been reconstructed to such an extent that they might as well have built a new artificial one. And why not, as the Disney credo is that artificial is better than real anyway.
I liked the atmosphere of the ruined complex around the Red Temple better than the main attraction of the great pyramid further back. The pyramid is out in the open and not really in a jungle setting. But still, you can stand in the silence and solitude and listen to the birds. Listen and look for the beautiful flameback woodpeckers behind the pyramid. On the right side the deminers are still removing landmines, so dont stray off the beaten paths.
The trip back to Province is pretty rough on a hot afternoon at Khmer New Year. On two occasions we were stopped by some village girls who painted us with talcum powder and lipstick as is traditional at New Year. Pretty childish, but it provided a break from the moto journey. It was good to have a shower waiting at the Maloup Trasek when I arrived back in town.
Preah Vihear Temple
Jacobson states in his description of the trip to Koh Ker that at the turnoff to Kulen, going straight is supposedly a shortcut to Preah Vihear Temple. I took that as a challenge, especially when my moto driver confirmed that that was the real way to get to the temple by bypassing Choam Ksant. But I certainly didnt want to cover the full 107 km to the base of Preah Vhiear, climb the mountain, and then return all the way to Province in one day. No problem, he said; Just stay on top of the mountain and return the next day. This sounded like a good idea, so thats what I did.
The road is the same one that goes out to Koh Ker, only you continue straight after 21 km at the Kulen turnoff of Tnal Bambaek Village. This will eventually be the main road up to the temples. Government work has begun for the first 10 km out of town, but it will take a long time to finish that road all the way through the forest. There is a large new bridge over the Stung Sen under construction a short ways past Crossroads Village, but after that the road becomes just a one-lane forest track suitable only for motos, not cars. We met no one along the way, and there are no villages or even houses for the next two hours before you reach the road to Choam Ksant. The road itself is not mined, but I wouldnt walk off into the bush for fear of landmines. All in all its a rather smooth ride compared to the Koh Ker trip.
Jacobsons map includes a town called Preah Vihear right in the middle of this jungle. I cant imagine that it exists, since the track we were on would have passed through it, or else we would have crossed some other road or track going there. We crossed nothing and saw no evidence of any village.
The T-junction at the road to Choam Ksant is apparently not the one from Choam Ksant directly to the temples. To the right, this road goes to an important village called Saaem - important because that is where the new road comes in from Anlong Veng and Siem Reap Province. They are working hard on this road, and soon it will be possible to travel easily from Anlong Veng directly to the base of the temple mountain. In fact, the locals showed me where in 2003 the new road will go right up the mountainside to the temples. This is hard to believe, given the steepness of the mountain and the prevalence of landmines.
But the Cambodian government is banking heavily on Preah Vihears becoming the next tourist cash cow. There is a lot at stake politically as well, since both Thailand and Cambodia believe that the temples are on their soil. This dispute was resolved by United Nations arbitration in favor of Cambodia. But the decision has rankled in the minds of the Thai government.
Now one of the amazing sights after a five and a half moto ride followed by a two hour climb up the cliff is the sudden sight of a beautiful tar road coming in from Thailand. The Preah Vihear temples have become a popular tourist destination for Thais over the past couple of years, resulting in a lot of tourist dollars flowing into Cambodia. But in January of 2002 the Thai government closed the border. No more tourists come in from Thailand. So even more bizarre than the tar road from Thailand is the total absence of vehicles on the road, as well as the total absence of visitors to the temples despite drinks stands, expensive floodlights for night viewing, and a host of Cambodians selling souvenirs and food to no one. I was the only visitor to the temples that day.
How did this happen? The ostensible reason given by the Thais is that the Khmers living along the border were polluting the water flowing into Thailand. If you believe that, Ive got a bridge to sell you! The more conventional wisdom runs something like this: a Cambodian Minister made a private deal with the Thais in which he would authorize Thai expenditure for tourism, for example the floodlights, and allow Thai tourists to visit in exchange for a large sum of private money. The Cambodian government did not benefit from the arrangement. But speculation is that the Minister did not pay a high enough kickback to the Cambodian higher-ups, who promptly sacked him and the deal fell through. The Thais in retaliation closed the border.
The saddest thing about this failed wheeling and dealing is that perhaps a couple hundred Cambodians had moved to Preah Vihear and had set up their shops and restaurants, only to find three months later that they had lost their livelihood. They sit around all day up there on the mountain with nothing to do and no income. I ate in the restaurant and got soundly ripped off (would you believe 25 baht just for ice in my coke/). But I was able to spend the night on a mattress with mosquito net for 100 baht. This enabled me to view the temples at sunset and at sunrise.
The Cambodian government is going to extremes to point out that Preah Vihear is theirs. As the Thai tourists climb the steps to the temples, they immediately see a very large Cambodian flag flying over the first of the four temples. There are several signs that say, Preah Vihear is Khmers Soul, but I thought the real message can be read by changing the u to an i.
The Cambodia Daily of April 18 reports that Chea Sophara, mayor of Phnom Penh, is setting up a radio tower for a new radio station to broadcast from Preah Vihear mountain. He says there is no Khmer language station for Khmers in the area to listen to. But I would ask, first, what business is it of the mayor of Phnom Penh? And second, I would point out that there are precious few Khmers in this remote area who might be able to listen. I suspect, rather, that this is another ploy to solidify Cambodias claims to Preah Vihear mountain. The construction reminds me a bit of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.
I have little to add to the voluminous information on the Preah Vihear temples. I liked the atmosphere and appreciated the fact that some friezes and carvings have not been looted, including a nice Churning of the Sea of Milk, and one of Siva and his consort riding his famous lion-dog. Another rather different attraction not described in the tour guides is a crashed government helicopter shot down by the Khmer Rouge. On the path over to the temples, the blue rudder is now used as a bridge over a small bulley.
And speaking of the path, one is constantly reminded to stay on the paths by the numerous red Danger, Mines! signs. Every time they find a mine, they mark it with a red stick marked with the kind of mine found. In some patches of maybe 5m by 5m you can see 10-20 such sticks. This sends the message that if you step off the path in an uncleared patch you face almost certain death.
Despite the five-hour moto ride and the two-hour climb, after which I was thoroughly exhausted, I enjoyed the eerie atmosphere of being alone on top of the mountain with the wind blowing through the unique temples. If you want to see the ruins in greater comfort, wait a year or two, when you can drive on a smooth road all the way to the top from either Tbeng Meanchey or from Siem Reap via Anlong Veng. But you will miss something of the wonderful atmosphere at the sense of accomplishment at reaching these lost temples, which will no longer seem quite so lost.
Bah Khan Temple Complex (also called Preah Khan)
Jacobson and other sources describe the trip from Tbeng Meanchey to Bah Khan (also called Preah Khan) as passing through the District seat of Sangkum Thmey. But I looked at the big old map at the roundabout at the entry to Tbeng Meanchy, and noticed an old road leading almost directly to the ruins from Phnom Daek. If that road existed, it would pare at least 50 km and a couple of hours from the trip to the temples. I asked a local English speaker about this road, but he said no one goes that way because it is too dangerous. I couldnt get him to elaborate further.
I had also learned from taxi drivers that there is a guesthouse in Rovieng, a town some 13 km to the northeast of the turnoff from the main road at Phnom Daek. So I decided to go to Rovieng and ask whether that short cut to the temples was passable. A further contribution to my decision was the existence of two ruined temples along the road south from Tbeng Meanchey. One is supposed to be just a couple of kilometers south of town, but I looked for it and no one seemed ever to have heard of it.
The other temple is quite worth a short stop. Prasat Krapum Chhouk is located in Tnal Kou district about 30 km south of town, only a kilometer from the English language sign marking the longer 56 km road through Sangkum Thmey to Preah Khan. The temple is made of laterite and along with the large surrounding wall is in rather good condition, although of course any semblance of carvings has long ago looted. But the jungle setting is quite peaceful and romantic. As in other temples in the area, there were coucals (birds) softly cooing in the background, creating an even more restful feeling.
Before I even reached Rovieng, at the Phnom Daek intersection I met a Westerner working in the area. He said he had just driven his car on the road and that there was no trouble for motos to pass. So no sooner had I arrived in Rovieng than I had hired a motodoup to take me to Bah Khan.
The road leaves Phnom Daek to the west along a scarcely noticeable alleyway just north of the Rovieng turnoff. It quickly enters the forest, where you will not see any sort of human structure for the next 30 km. The road, although pretty bad, is better than I had expected and was quite manageable by moto. We covered the 30 km in under an hour and a half. Thats a lot better than the signposted route through Sangkum Thmey, which would take at least three hours.
Other writers have been caught up in the Cambodian confusion between village names and commune names. You should ask for Ta Saeng Village, which is located in Renaksey Commune. Despite its remoteness, you can find food and drink there. We had an odd mixture of Thai instant noodles and freshly shot deer meat. Villagers will point out the road to the temples, or for a dollar they will serve as guides.
The main temple complex is a few kilometers along a sandy track. There are a half-dozen temples in rather poor condition, but as usual, it is the silent jungle setting bird calls in the large trees that makes the trip worthwhile. The center temple is not mostly just a large doorway with a large strangler fig tree crawling over it, in even more romantic fashion than the Ta Prohm temple in Siem Reap. In fact, Bah Khan has its own Ta Prohm temple with huge four-faced Buddha, the first temple you will pass on your way into the complex.
Bah Khan is the familiar mixture of Hindu and Buddhist religions. The main motif on the few unlooted lintels is a row of five Buddhas, but some of the smaller temples have Shiva or Vishnu themes. The sandstone blocks, along the large four-faced Buddha, date it as contemporary with the Bayon in Angkor.
The elephant temple is out another road from Ta Saeng. Jacobson and company were not overly enthusiastic about it, but I thought the ancient carved elephants were superb, both the larger yellowish elephant head on the corner of the main wall, as well as the two complete elephants higher up. The local villagers worship these statues, as evidenced by orange drapery and burned incense, especially atop the elephant at the rear.
There was a military man in a hut at the base of the elephant temple asking for 5000 riel per tourist to help protect the elephants. My guide told him I was not a tourist, but a development worker, he waived the 5000 riel. No one mentioned any danger in swimming in the lake, as reported by Jacobson.
But if you want a swim, you can break your return journey a short way after leaving Ta Saeng. Similar to the trip to Koh Ker, this trip has a nice stream for swimming. There is not much shade, but the water is clear and cool, welcome refreshment from the grueling moto ride on the hot, bumpy track.
Rovieng
I returned to Rovieng in late afternoon and checked into the Guesthouse (with its English language sign in front). It is well past the market and the shops, almost all the way to the white Bayon roundabout. Its a large enough town, where you can find enough to eat and drink. but not much else. The guesthouse is not much to write home about either. There are no mattresses or fans, and my tin-roofed room against the west wall was hot as blazes in the early evening after being heated by the sun all afternoon. When I arrived, the landlady apologized that there was no water available, but she quickly remedied that situation by going out to her wooden treadle pump and producing enough water for me to bathe. Electricity in Rovieng goes on at 6 pm and goes off at 9. However, during my stay some rich family with a generator was having a late night Khmer New Year party at the usual zillion decibels. This forced the majority of the population, who had gone to bed around lights-out at 9 pm to stay awake most of the night listening to the Khmer disco music. In Cambodia, conspicuous consumption means demonstrating to others that you have the power to make them suffer and realize that you have the impunity to do what you want to inconvenience. That sends the more insidious message that the rich could take land, money, or even children away from the less powerful with impunity.
On a more positive note, the people in Rovieng were quite nice to me. I had a few friendly chats hanging out in a drinks shop and later in the towns only restaurant. In fact, next morning, I met the taxi driver along the street, and he told me to go ahead and have my breakfast while he picked up more passengers. There are not many countries where I would entrust my bags to a taxi driver while I walked up the street to have my breakfast.
I returned to Phnom Penh in an easy days trip. The road to Rovieng is excellent, and it continues past Rovieng to Chae Sang. There are reportedly stretches where the road is pretty bad after that, but on the whole, the logging road goes all the way up past Chhaep to the Lao border.
In all, my trip to Preah Vihear lasted 6 days, including one day of travel from Phnom Penh to Tbeng Meanchey and another for the return to Phnom Penh from Rovieng (changing taxis in Kampong Thom both ways). I took one day for Koh Ker, two days for Preah Vihear, and one day for Bah Khan. Now that it is pushing it. I would have preferred to hang out a bit in the towns. Besides, ones body needs to rest after those long, bum-busting moto rides. But while six days is a minimum, you could easily spend 8-10 days.
Story by Ray Zepp (April 2002)
