{"id":3356,"date":"2006-05-12T11:55:33","date_gmt":"2006-05-12T11:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalwanderings.co.uk\/new\/?p=3356"},"modified":"2020-09-24T11:07:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T11:07:31","slug":"on-the-road-to-angkor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalwanderings.co.uk\/new\/2006\/05\/12\/on-the-road-to-angkor\/","title":{"rendered":"On the road to Angkor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cambodia is home to everything Khmer, right? Well actually when the Khmers were at their peak, building Angkor Wat etc, they also ruled plenty of Thailand and in May 2006, I went to see some of the lesser known, but really impressive Khmer ruins, close to the Cambodian border in Buriram<\/a> province.  (There is another interesting Khmer ruin \u2013 Prasat Meuang Singh in Kanchanaburi province \u2013 which is covered on that page of my website)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best of these are Phanom Rung<\/a> (or to give it its full title Prasat Hin Khao Phanom Rung) and Muang Tam, both of them most easily reachable from the town of Nang Rong. There is next to no info on Nang Rong in the guide books, but it is a sizable town and there are plenty of direct buses from Bangkok\u2019s Mo Chit bus station (5 hours, 150 \u2013 250 Bht depending on class). There is also a line of great little food stalls which set up on the main road in town (by the Krung Thai Bank) and also a number of eateries in the night market area.  Having said that there is not much of interest in the town by day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stayed at the P. California Inter Hostel<\/a> which is a great little place which is run by a friendly retired Thai couple. There are views over the countryside and very comfortable rooms. They also hire out motorbikes, bicycles and a Suzuki jeep. We took the motorbike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trip out to the ruins goes through typical Thai countryside of paddy fields. Soon you can see the ancient volcano on which Phanom Rung is built, because it is the only thing which rises above the palms in the pancake flat landscape. The hill itself is pretty small and although forested there are great views from the top over the paddy fields to the mountains of Cambodia in the distance. Because of the vegetation you can\u2019t see the temple complex until you get in through the gate, but once inside it\u2019s really impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make sure you find entrance 2, as here, upon entering the site your eyes follow the 400m promenade and then up the stairs that lead to the temple. The avenue is paved with laterite slabs and towards the end there is a Naga (mythical snake) bridge. This first one is built in classic Angkor style with 16 of these five-headed creatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n