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might be an interesting look/road trip. Prolly a good chance to see some ruins without so many folks like SR. Anybody been?
(bit of a strange title)

Bombed and looted ancient Cambodian city poised for rebirth

Sambor Prei Kuk, which means "the temple in the richness of the forest", boasts nearly 300 brick temples and heaps of ruins across a 25 square kilometre (nine square mile) compound.


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/bom ... ailsignout


Cheers


Bertros

One of my kids went there on a school excursion last month.

Looking at his photos I would say definitely worth getting there now before mass tourism destroys the experience.

I want to go up there soon, not sure what the best way to do it is. Ideally it would be all the way in an SUV, but if that's not practical it could be broken up by staying overnight in Kampong Thom City. Are there any ok guest houses near the temples?

Not really, best to stay in K Thom.

Very old trip report.
If I remember right we were there in 2008 - there was almost nothing there at all so I wasn't even sure it was the same place when I saw it mentioned here.
We got a bus from Siem Reap to Kampong Thom where we stayed the night in a hotel/brothel which looked like the cleanest place in town, then rented a motorbike and headed north on a dirt track where my brother had told us there was some rare pre-Angkor structures to be seen.
Entrance to the park:

We found the site ok, about an hour on a dirt road if I remember, but there were no guards or anything when we got there - not even sure if we paid - however, there were about 3 school kids who were hanging out, hoping to paid as a guide or sell a krama. There had been some French people working there - archeologists I presume - coz the kids all wanted to speak French.
Our "guides".
It was really weird in a cool way. Lots of sort of chimney-like towers in ruin, which all looked like this from inside more or less:
All of them were situated in the forest with no tracks to speak of so we followed the kids around. No other tourists, foreign or Khmer, while we were there so we had the place to ourselves.
Ruins:

[Sorry the photos are taken from a slideshow, saves me watermarking them I guess. ]
I' m sure, and even I hope, that things have changed beyond all recognition now. It deserves better. People were trying to save it at the time, but a steady tourist income will be an enormous help in the necessary reconstruction of these monuments.

I will be going end of August - happy to do a trip report then. Hopefully no Chinese tourists yet.

cambodia has temples?!
you mean theres other things to do than drinking and mongering?
ive wasted the past 5 years!

Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Sat Aug 12, 2017 5:27 am cambodia has temples?!
you mean theres other things to do than drinking and mongering?
ive wasted the past 5 years!

I wasted all my time on my first couple of trips to Cambodia going to see fucking temples. Although to be fair, in those days they weren't being swamped by chinks, Koreans and other assorted tourist trash like army ants on a caterpillar.

Temples are too fucking hot, who wants to walk around in 38 degree heat for fucks sake.