Chenla ruins of Sambor Prei Kuk

People i met here, who contributed to and improved my trip: Juliana (Russia), Jim (England)

Julia and I caught the morning bus to Kompong Thom, which Jim missed, but luckily he was only an hour behind us. So after a bite to eat, we hired 2 motorbike drivers to take us out to the nearby Chenla ruins of Sambor Prei Kuk. Pre-dating Angkor ruins by 3 centuries, the site is sadly in pretty bad shape. Many of the temples are crumbling and one of the most important temples had recently collapsed. All that was been done in response, was putting a cover over some of the ruins when it rained! Another reason for the sad decline of these temples, like many in this area of Asia, was due to US bombing attacks in the 60s and 70s.

We wandered the 3 main areas with the highlight of the complex been Prasat Tao, a temple guarded by 2 lions and the largest structure left standing. We also walked down to a nearby river for a brief encounter with some local kids before jumping back onto the bikes and heading home. We spent the night watching rugby and football on TV and enjoying a couple of beers, sad in the knowledge we were finally leaving the temples of Cambodia behind.