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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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