It is a lonely business building this library, travelling so far. This Christmas I am alone in Phnom Penh, but yet again I see something that knocks me out. A Christmas miracle.

A very Merry Christmas to you all that have been supportive over the past year, it means the world to me.

MR B

Thanks for sharing this little Cambodian wonder with us, Mr B.
and espesh thanks for your words of simple acceptance about the solitariness that comes with the explorers life that a number of us here have chosen.
Alone again at xmas. A simple detail of the deal - not carrying the heavy sadness that we are sometimes tempted to feel. a priceless sentiment

I see that this temple gets some big raps, some say it is one of the best outside of the greater Angkor Wat complex.

Heavily bombed apparently, and i think that shows quite clearly in your vid. It looks like around 50% has been reconstructed or totally rebuilt - from all the mismatches of materials. ??.
You can understand the bombing/war damage i suppose. Takeo province was a highly and deadly contested area for the few years pre-1975. Those mountain temples would have absolutely commanded the flat rice lands all around.
No wonder they were chosen as redoubts, no wonder they were bombed.

I once spent a bit of time during the wet season at Phnom Tamao zoo way back in about '06. The mountain temple there also has quite spectacular views.
Lots of trees in parts - so it is a really cool breezy place in the steaming hot afternoons. I used to ride up there for my long seista lunch some days.. and just trance out at the flat world below from way up in this high eagle's roost.
Transcend. They certainly are set up to help one do that.

merry xmas, mate