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Preah Khan Kompong Svay
An account of a
journey to a remote temple in Northern Cambodia
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Panorama of the
central sanctuary ruins; taken in February 2008
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Situated to the East
of Siem Reap; Prasat Bakan is also known Preah Khan Kompong Svay.
Contained within
concentric earth dykes 5kms on each side, the complex is of
gigantic proportions; covering an area 4 times that of Angkor
Wat. It has a 3 km long Baray, or reservoir, as part of the site
and a large number of towers or Prasats within the area. Largely
unknown and very rarely visited; the temple has been neglected
and badly looted in recent years.
We took an
exploratory visit at the end of May 2005 to see this incredible
site and find out whether it would be possible to run future
tours here.
This is the story of
our first trip there in 2005
I have included
updated pics with white borders and info in March 2008 |
May 2005, with time on
our hands, at the end of the tourist season; led to a plan
between myself and our guide Ta Elit to go to one of the
largest Khmer temple complexes ever constructed.
Ta had asked our driver
Chher to take us to this remote Region. Chher had been there before;
which was something of an advantage as the journey to Prasat Bakan
had a reputation of being a hard one and not for the inexperienced
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The road north
from Stoung
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We planned two
days for the journey with an overnight stopover in a village near
Prasat Bakan. We decided to offer the opportunity for
one or two friends or guests to join us. There were no takers for
the trip until the night before we left when I had a chat over
dinner with an English guy Bob Mellor. Game for a bit of adventure,
Bob ; who had only just arrived here; was keen to join us and
forgo his first day introduction to Angkor Wat.
We were joined by
Sorn; one of our regular guides; he had a couple of free days; so
now we were five. A final phone call to Chher confirmed our
arrangements; Chher and Ta had now suggested a slightly different
route going to Stoung Near Kompong Thom and taking a route north to
the Temple and returning to Kompong Thom. We would stay
overnight at a hotel and visit the 10th century temples of
Sambor Prey Kuk the following day. it seemed less adventurous; but
would give the chance to see Sambor Prey Kuk for the first time and
a night in comfortable hotel.
Well that was the Plan!
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Clearing the
route |
We drove to Stoung where
we turned off the tarmac to the dirt roads into the jungle. The
route wasn’t too bad at the start; but after passing through a few
villages we had to negotiate a confusing network of tracks
which led across rice fields in the clearings.
One would normally take
the most heavily used tracks. By doing so, led us into
floods and trees that has fallen across the route; many times we had
to retrace our route to to the junction and start again.
We came to a point where
we passed a wide track crossing our path at right angles. We had not
a clue where to go. A group of farmers nearby provided the answer
“you can go either way?” this didn’t make any sense at all so Ta
managed to persuade a farmer to direct us. He got into the vehicle
and showed us through a convoluted route meeting his wife and family
on the way. They helped clear the route for us
Which Way??
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Only a half
day walk from here!
We passed a few small
villages where we asked directions. A man told us that the
temple was half a days walk form that point.
We reckoned 20 kms at
the most if the man was correct, so we were now thinking more
optimistically.
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We left the farmer and
continued at little more than walking pace; as chest height bushes
were growing in the centre of the track. Many times we had to get
out to hack down vegetation or clear part removed logs from the
tracks.
Most tracks split
and rejoined a few tens of metres to avoid obstacles. Usually the
best looking one ended up at a downed tree or flood; so we would
have to go back. At one point we had no choice but to drive through
a deep flood. I was expecting water to pour through the doors but we
made it OK, though the consequences of a flooded engine wouldn’t
bear thinking about.
Chher was not too happy
about the navigation or the possible damage to his Mitsubishi 4Wd
which was tested hard on the steep river banks; these steep muddy
trenches 3 to 5 metres deep approached rivers up to 20metres wide.
Some of the rivers were dry but in the event of a flash flood
Walls of water up to 3
metres high can crash suddenly down washing away everything in its
path. There had not been any rain for a few days; so many of the
rivers were completely dry.
Digging
ourselves out of a hole on a trip here in 2008 |
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Prasat Stung (4
faced temple) |
Elephant
trunk tree at Mebon Temple |
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mysterious face seen
at dusk
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Preah Stung
in the jungle
Prasat Preah Stung was a fabulous point to start our temple
exploration. It was something of a surprise to see it so
close to the road.
Overgrown yet in
good structural order this relatively small temple was a
delight; with 4 main courtyards surrounding the central
Prasat or tower there we symmetrical chambers.
Some were
full of rubble from partial collapse and others easily seen
with most of the corbelled roofs complete |
The inner temple complex
certainly lived up to expectations; being in a rather better state
than I expected given what I have read. Sadly there was a lot of
looting in the post Khmer Rouge era; with a lot of sculpture
brutally hacked off. There are some very beautiful parts of the
ruins still standing and the overgrown nature resembles the Jungle
Temple of Beng Mealea in parts. A coupe of guardians showed me to a
tower to the south with well preserved Naga (serpent) carvings on
the upper corners of the building,
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No Oxcarts!
The Causeway |
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The centre area is strewn with rubble from the central tower
which had collapsed after a disastrous attempt at temple
robbery in 2003. The remaining towers stand defiantly over the
damaged areas. Many of the corner Apsara dancers have been brutally
hacked off as were many of the Buddha images in the lintels.
In spite of the
devastation; there are some complete doorways with some
spectacular carvings. The remaining Bayon style towers were
largely untouched as they had few sculptured carvings. There
is still a lot of atmosphere here and the place is so vast
that we could only see a very small part outside of the
central area |
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Late afternoon shot of the walls and towers |
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We had a few hours to explore this vast ruin and have a
picnic lunch with hot noodles from Chher's gas stove
We discussed options for the return journey. The chances of
finding our way back through the jungle trails to Kompong
Thom looked very slim.
We had no choice but to continue the 70 or so kms to Tbang
Meanchey, where there were guest houses, a hotel and a good
road linking it to Koh Ker and back to Kompong Thom |
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Buddha
Head |
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We had to move on so we
left after a couple of hours stopping at the temple of Prasat Damrei
(Elephant temple) the central tower was very impressive and the area
now overgrown with an amazing tree growing out of the wall shaped
like an elephants trunk
The journey heading north
and west to Tbeang Meanchey proved to be not an easy task. route
finding was even more difficult; with locals who either were
uncooperative or had no sense of direction sending us be a very
roundabout route as fallen trees had made our intended route
impossible. Time and time again we asked for directions; sometimes
floods caused us to make long detours round villages and each time
we asked how far we were from the main road, the numbers got higher
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A street in a large
village Sankum Thmei (or New settlement) was impassable due to
monster ruts; we waited in the street by a sweet stall with a sweet
girl serving with the village kids. They looked on in awe at the 2
white men; Bob and I; the first they had seen apparently! 20 mins
later we caught up with Chher and Sorn who had done a long circuit
through rice fields at the edge of the village.
We followed the road which
ended in yet more dry rice fields with a now frustrated crew trying
to navigate round the edge of yet another village. We did eventually
find a road but the going became worse rather than better; with more
deep ruts and vegetation closing in around us.
Welcome in a remote
village in Mach 2008
Late afternoon drifted
into dusk with no realistic prospect of reaching the road
which had gone from a claimed 5 kms to 20 kms away within the
previous hour. The light dropped rapidly in the dark jungle. We
continued until around 7:00 when we came to a halt. One track led
into impenetrable bush and the other led down into a steep morass
which looked impassable in the dark, Ta and Sorn went off to
investigate the route. Ta and Sorn were mindful of
landmines as they picked their way carefully along the path. Flaming
torches appeared as a small group of villagers came to investigate.
Bob and I remained in or
near the vehicle. We speculated on the prospect of an ice cold beer
and a good meal; probably not wise in the tropical heat in this
jungle. As time wore on we were beginning to resign our self to a
night in the jungle; thankfully there were not as many bugs and
mozzies that we might have have expected. There were many
fireflies and the constant flashing of distant lightning filtered
through the foliage. The storm must have been a bad one as thunder
rumbled on more or less continuously in the background.
Both Ta and Sorn returned
to speak to the villagers. While doing so vehicle lights appeared
from down the dark void in front of us. a heavily laden pickup truck
the first 4 wheeled vehicle we had seen in 5 hours struggled
up the muddy slope. Well the 4 wheeled pick up actually only had 3
working as they had 2 flat tyres but only 1 spare.
Ta asked them about the
route and whether they could assist . There was no chance of this as
the pick up was barely drivable and was near the end of its journey.
We did at least know that the route was passable; so after a lengthy
discussion of which Rob and I played no part in, we dropped down to
the river valley. In the headlights; even minor irregularities seem
like major pot holes and pot holes! well they looked like bottomless
pits that would swallow us whole!
An hour later we struggled
onto a road. a real road; wide; gravel and reasonably smooth. T It
was only 60Kms on good highway from here to Tbang Meanchey. Tbang
Meanchey was a decent sized town by all accounts and Lonely Planet
mentioned a hotel.
We drove on to a village
stopping off at a roadside shop. where we could buy snacks and beer!
Ta and the lads continued negotiating with the shop owner while we
supped canned Crown beer. Crown beer is pretty indifferent at best
but served at 35oC it was bloody foul. Bobs mouth erupted with a
spray of warm beer as he spat it out disgustedly I had already
scoffed down a packet of sweet and salted peanuts quaffing down two
cans in as many minutes.
By 9:50 we were in the
town of Tbang Meanchey; wide boulevards and villas and cafes with
lights. We pulled into the Prum Tep Guest house. With 3 floors; and
30 aircon rooms it was a surprisingly good hotel; with a
bright clean lobby and a fridge full of cool beer and drinks.
We drove off the a nearby
local cafe where food was limited to a baguette with pork pate.
Rob looked excitedly at the pot of boiled eggs until Ta warned him
that the eggs were special Cambodian snacks with chicken embryos
inside (a real chicken on a raft Yuk.) Rob settled for a sardine
sandwich!
The second day was a
rather easier one. We decided to take the route direct to Koh Ker.
We returned to Siem Reap in the Afternoon; giving Rob the chance to
see Angkor Wat and other temples of Angkor. It was certainly an
unusual introduction to Cambodia and one that for all of
us will be highly memorable.
View of the west
Gopura of this vast temple which I saw for the first time in March
2008
Footnote
The
difficulty of
navigation and access with the river crossings will mean that this
tour can only be run in the Dry Season from January. Road conditions
have improved a little with slow progress to rebuild the
infamous route 66 giving easier access from Beng Mealea with
some stunning Angkorian bridges along this ancient route.
The accommodation
options are very limited; however we have an arrangement to stay at
a homestay in the village.
We have run a
number of adventure tours since 2006. Road conditions are improving
but are still poor: so it is still the domain of 4Wd or dirt
bike and in 2008 only one route was available from Stoung for 4Wd
vehicles.
Anyone
interested in going here; ore anywhere else in remote Cambodia;
please email:
info@peaceofangkor.com We can
run tours to most places inc Koh Ker throughout the year.
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