Siem Reap: A day to visit to the Lost City of Koh Ker & Beng Mealea Temples
Depart Siem Reap for a two-hour drive to the lost city of Koh Ker passing through pleasant countryside and villages.
Upon arrival, you will drive on a clockwise circuit around the temples to take advantage of the morning light. The first temple you will see on this full-day tour is Prasat Pram, with its 5 towers, some of which are draped in tree roots. Next is the Prasat Chin, or the Chinese temple, is in a state of ruin and its blackened laterite tower is open to the sky. Continue to visit the small reservoir of Andong Preng (the sacred well of oil) before finishing the morning part of the tour at Prasat Thom. See the large moat, the 37-meter-high Prasat Thom pyramid, and numerous thousand-year-old brick temples and shrines.
Take a break for lunch in the temple area before heading out on the eastern part of the circuit, which features some of the largest temple lingas of the Khmer Empire. Prasat Krachap and Banteay Pichean are surrounded by forest, and you may see birds of prey, including eagles, circling overhead.
Proceed to the south to the jungle temple of Beng Mealea, situated behind huge walls and dripping with vegetation. Marvel at the huge trees growing out of the ruins. This temple was built 30 years before Angkor Wat, in a similar style, and with a similar layout.
You will have time for an in-depth exploration of this temple, taking an unusual route to see parts of these ruins seldom visited. New ramps and steps have made access easier, but in some areas, you will be scrambling over tumbled blocks, and traversing high walls.
Finish the tour and wind your way back to Siem Reap.
