Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → Cambodia → Preah Khan

  ♦ Intrepid Top Pick!

Location: Siem Reap Area, Cambodia

Time Required: 1 hour

Red Tape/Notes: An Angkor Pass is required to visit all sites within the Angkor Archaeological Park. Passes are sold in one-day ($37), three-day ($62) and seven-day ($72) blocks that must be used on consecutive days. Passes may be purchased at the main entrance on the road to Angkor Wat.

What’s Nearby?: Angkor Thom, Prasat Bayon, Ta Prohm, Ta Som, Angkor Wat

Less famous than nearby Ta Prohm, Preah Khan has been left similarly “unrestored” and has fabulous and picturesque amounts of vegetation growing on and around it. The outer wall of the site has great carvings of garudas (bird-like creatures) holding nagas (beings which take the form of large snakes, usually king cobras), and there is a very interesting two-story structure with round columns that looks rather Greek or Roman-esque. Scholars are unsure of the purpose of this building, but it’s the only surviving one of its kind, although traces of a similar building can be found at Ta Prohm. The temple site is actually larger than Ta Prohm, originally featuring four separate enclosures, a House of Fire, a Hall of Dancers, and two libraries.

We visited this temple as the first stop on a rather fabulous death-defying jungle cycling adventure, discussed in somewhat more detail in the Ta Prohm post. The death-defying bit hadn’t happened yet, since this temple a very short distance from the north gate of Angkor Thom and we had yet to delve into the jungle.

Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → Cambodia → Preah Khan