Preah Vihear Temple - Day Two Siem Reap

In order to visit this temple, we had to be on the road at 6:00 am as it would take 4 hours by car to get there. Not so far due to the long distance (250 km from city) but had to do with the poor road conditions. We saw the many villages along the drive and how locals busy go about their lives early in the morning. 

This temple lies between the borders of Thailand and Cambodia and the two governments are still in dispute for its rightful owner. In fact, war was going on a few years ago for the dispute and soldiers with guns still guarding along the borders. 

The Monumental Stairway is most well known in this temple and it leads down to the Thai border. A set of stairs dropping off into the abyss. The Eastern Stairway used for centuries by pilgrims climbing up from Cambodia's northern plains. It has recently de-mined, rebuilt as a 2242-step wooden staircase. 

Although the locals treated this temple as one of the holy places, due to its remoteness and long distance, not too many people and tourists go there.  We had to switch to another 4-wheel drive after the entrance fee. The road was paved (thanks to the government who paved so that soldiers can reach to the top to defend from the Thai soldiers) but it was very steep with 45 degree angle. Soldiers are posted along the  way to the temple and inside as well. It was breathtaking to reached to the end of the temple and the view was magnificent.  Much of the temple require significant rebuild. 

Afterward, we continued to drive about 90 mins to reach another temple called Koh Ker Site,  one of the most mysterious temples of Preah Vihear Province. There are over 100 temples in various sizes in the area bit most of them have fallen in the jungle. We spent a bit of time exploring the pyramid temple and you can climb to the top to get a grand view of the area. 

The last temple we visited was called Beng Mealea (Lotus Pond). We got to explore the ruins, climbing over fallen rocks and duck under low columns to get a taste of what the structures used to be like. We felt like the explorers going into ruin city to search for treasures. What an amazing experience and opportunity that they allowed us to climb all over the ruins. We found more strangler fig trees than in Angkor Wat and there was one in a square shape. Totally awesome and by far our favorite.