Preah Vihear from the Cambodian Side

A few months ago I posted a letter from The Bangkok Post about some crazed traveler who actually reached Preah Vihear from Siem Reap, and it was a bitch of a journey. Now, another Westerner, with help from a Thai-based travel agency, has done the trip. And it doesn't sound any easier.

Supported by John Watson, CEO of Diethelm Travel in Bangkok, I decided to take the risk and challenge to survey and ascend Preah Vihear from the Cambodian side just at the time, when UNESCO was in the process to accept and list the temple as a World Heritage Site. So, on June 29, I boarded an overland bus from Chiang Mai - where I live - to Surin, a provincial town in I-San or the Northeast of Thailand. The bus from Nakhonchai Air Company (581Baht for a ticket!) left Chiang Mai at 14.15, reaching Surin via Chaiyaphum the following morning at around 5.00. The bus continued to Sisaket and Ubon Ratchathani. I had to wait another hour for the departure of the first mini-bus (65Baht!) to the Thai-Cambodian border at Chong Chom. After more than an hour ride I reached the border, where there is a visa on arrival service from 7.00-20.00.

Entering Cambodia at O’Smach, where there are two operating casinos, I had breakfast at the market and singled out a motorbike driver (moto), who took me for 10USD to Anlong Veng, the late stronghold of the Khmer Rouge, who ruled Cambodia between 1975-1979. The adventurous ride on a dusty road along the Dangrek mountain range lasted some three hours with short stops at some small villages. In Anlong Veng, there are some 5USD guesthouses to spend the night. Next morning at 7.30, I boarded a local bus (5USD) to Siem Reap, as the road to Preah Vihear going further east is still under construction and in bad condition.

When I arrived in Siem Reap at 11.00 on July 1, I realised that to reach Preah Vihear must be carefully organised to be successful. After contacting the local office of Diethelm Travel in Siem Reap I decided to take some rest days before leaving to Preah Vihear on a newly constructed road going east from Siem Reap. After staying at the majestic City Angkor Hotel, which is often frequented by Thai tourists, I chose to leave Siem Reap to Preah Vihear on July 10 - just after the successful listing of Preah Vihear as a new UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Under guidance of Choup Lorn, Manager of Diehelm Travel’s Siem Reap Office, we left Siem Reap at 8.00 in a Pajero four-wheel car on National Road 6 towards the village of Damdek. From there, a new but not yet surfaced dirt road goes north to reach the temple sites of Beng Mealea as well as Koh Ker and finally the provincial town of Tbeng Meanchey.

After a break at the entrance of Prasat Beng Mealea, a kind of prototype of Angkor Wat and overgrown by jungle, we continued straight to the old temple complex of Koh Ker, which we reached at 10.30. Koh Ker was the capital of the Khmer Empire from 928 - 944 AD under King Jayavarman IV and located some 100km away from Angkor. There are to be found a myriad of well preserved temples and monuments, surrounding a huge water reservoir or “baray” called Rahal. The most important Prasat Thom is an enigmatic seven-tiered temple pyramid - echoing Mayan or Egyptian architecture. After a picnic in the shade of the ruins we left Koh Ker at 13.30.

The last stretch of the road to Tbeng Meanchey passes the small market town of Kulen. We reached Tbeng Meanchey, the capital of Preah Vihear Province, after a 200km drive at 15.30. Before checking in at the Heng Heng Guesthouse (rooms for 10-20USD), we took the effort to visit the Carol Cassidy Silk Weaving Centre in town, where - from the red earth of Preah Vihear - a community of determined land mine survivors is creating a sustainable income through traditional weaving. The silk comes from China and Vietnam, while the finished products will be mainly exported to USA and Singapore. In the evening, there was a firework to celebrate Cambodia’s newest world heritage site.

Next morning at 8.00, we left Tbeng Meanchey back to Kulen and continued on a very bad road to Prasat Preah Vihear heading Northwest – altogether some 120km away from Tbeng Meanchey. Approaching the mountain of Preah Vihear, we passed the beginning of a footpath leading right through the forested area to the top of the cliff, which marks the site of the temple. But signboards warn of entering a mined area and to stay on the well-used tracks, avoid areas that are overgrown by vegetation, do not pick up strange things and ask local people for advise. The footpath ends at the eastern side of the first “gopura” or entrance gate of Preah Vihear temple.

At 11.30, we reached the small market place, where foreign tourists can get an entry pass for 10,000Riel= 2.5USD and valid for one day only. From the market place, motorbike drivers (moto) can bring tourists up on an 8km meandering steep mountain road for 5USD. As we came in a Pajero and with one of the best drivers in Cambodia, we tried our luck to drive up on the only partly surfaced road, which disappears sometimes to give way to the jungle. At 12.00, we had finally reached the western side of the first “gopura” of Preah Vihear.

As the border gate with Thailand at the foot of the temple site and not far from the beginning of the lion staircase was closed, we met only a few Cambodians to visit the temple. We had a picnic first before climbing up the mountain cliff. Towards the northern direction, we saw the actual Thai border and approaching street, which was empty and deserted. There were only a few guards around, mainly stationed down at the disputed border market.

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