Koh Ker temple

After a roadside lunch near Preah Vihear, we drove a couple hours south to another set of Angkor ruins called Koh Ker.
Koh Ker was briefly capital of the Angkorian empire in the 10th century. The ruins have been largely left to be overtaken by the jungle, and there are a lot of uncleared mines in the are, but the remaining ruins are quite impressive. Koh Ker’s major temple complex is Prasat Thom, consisting of three enclosures laid out in a row with the sanctuary at the center of the final courtyard. Beyond the moat on the far side is the Prang, a 110 ft-high, seven-tiered sandstone ziggurat that can be climbed by means of wooden stairs on one side.
We also visited a few of the smaller temples scattered around the 40-acre Koh Ker site, including Prasat Pram, with five (pram) towers (four of brick, one of laterite), two of which are being slowly strangled by fig trees.
After the temples, we had a fairly long car ride back to our guesthouse in the town of Preah Vihear.Read more