After spending most of yesterday on the computer in the afternoon I worked out to have a driver meet me in the morning for a trip to Koh Ker and Beng Melea, but not without some funny confusion. It's actually said like its spelled Koh Kay so the first driver thought I wanted cocaine :-P. After finding someone who knew the area and was willing to make the 3 hour ride there bright and early and then back later, there was really nothing left to do but wait. I knew I'd have a jam packed day, with two separate 3 hour treks and about 5 hours of sightseeing it was going to be hard. But ever since Preah Vihear and hearing my friend talking about going to this rural temple complex with no paved roads that no one goes to.... I just had to go. As for Beng Mealea, I had heard good things and it was on the way.

    Up before the sun to meet th the 7am ride, I was tired by excited and ready for action. Heading to the driver the morning was starting of a little interesting since the driver tried to renegotiate the fare thinking he already had me there. Upon me starting to walk away it all dropped rather quickly though, and we were off. The weather wasn't great, very cloudy and rather damp which was so odd but what can you do. It did make the ride a little dreary though. After an hour or so of paved roads we pulled off for gas, and after filling up we turned off the main road for the start of the real journey. All dirt and rock from here, things are really rough and my bottom takes the beating off its life starting now. Some dirt roads, some rock roads, some wet slippery roads where the back tire almost loses its grip and slides out, some under construction roads, even some drive wherever because there is no road roads.... I had one stop to get up and stretch as I bought my ticket which because of the roads or lack off was bought at a booth still hours away. I treasured this though because until we arrived almost 2 hours later there wouldn't be another. Passing controlled burning of land for miles, cows crossing whenever they please, animals everywhere running across making you slam on the brakes, it seems as if the ride just can't throw enough curve balls.

     The only time I was really nervous was when the back tire swayed left to right through the wet ground, the bike being held up only by the drivers feet hitting the ground. The ride you get used to, but your body doesn't like pressure on one area for too long and theres not much room to move on the small seat so my butt was killing me and my back ached. It takes a long time and patience but eventually we arrived in Koh ker. It had better be worth it, since I had that same ride back later on. But just getting here was part of the adventure and always is. I mean this local map of the area around Siem Reap doesn't even show a road to Koh Ker at all from Beng Melea!

     Koh ker is much older than the Angkor monuments, predating them by over 200 years. This was the capital of the empire for barely 20 years until the king who moved there died and his succesor moved it back. There are over 100 temples here, and even though most are just piles of stone or single ruined towers there are over 30+ sites worth seeing for the visitor. I knew that I couldn't see near that many today and since you can't stay here and being 3 hours away, it wasn't going to happen this trip. Coming from Angkor where everything is either sign posted or the driver knows, here theres no way of knowing just what monument your at. Dirt roads carve there way through the forest down tiny roads leading to the temples. No one is here, and with the monuments restored by nature left alone, I was hoping for a different experience. It didn't help me at the time, but in the evening after coming back I came across a wonderful map of the area which you can use to follow the trail. It also gives me a rough idea of the names of some of the places I'd been. It also lead me to maps of all the other areas! Oh well, better late than never so I edited the posts and added the maps.

     Going down dirt roads that looked the same as the last hour, I didn't even know were in Koh Ker until the driver started looking around as we passed roads and soon after stopped along the side of the dirt road in front of my first temple. Judging from the map I can after the fact say that it was Prasat Chhin or Prasat Pram and the driver passed quite a few places along the way. If I had even the remote chance of seeing them all maybe it would have upset me, but I knew time was limited even while I was there and that he would take me to the largest and most common places. Entering over a small wooden fence I walk past many people working sweeping away leaves along the path to the temple before hitting the outer wall. Leaves and vegetation are everywhere and I climb my way over a hill o leaves and stones before seeing the 3 main towers and some smaller red brick ones that sit in front. Slightly overgrown and surrounded by mountains of leaves, they had a really nice feel to them. It was easy to tell that these where older, much older, and used a larger block to build rather than smaller more eye pleasing brick. Detail is minimal aside from 2 pillars lining a doorway and a lintel over another. What I found most unique was the act the inside could be seen from the outside on all the towers with two having there front wall collapsed and one the left collapsed. This was obvious by the mass of stone piled at there bases.

    I did my rounds, circling the towers and getting a feel of the backs and trying to find detailed pieces in the rubble. When I decided to look up, I noticed for the first and last time for the day a break although very small in the cloud cover. It was really nice, but short lived and back to nothing but clouds shortly after. Heading out and back to the bike I had a good feel about the day and was really up for a real go at it here.

    A short ride up the road, passing a small single tower and a reservoir in the trees, we stop to what appears to me to be another walled temple of no real importance. I pass some food and drink stalls, but not nearly like Angkor and assume theres not many here because its a small place. I approach past a small wall and then to a building reminding me of the Khleangs in Angkor Thom, but a single one. The building is the first in a corridor like line of small buildings leading toward a tower that you must jump through rock piles to get too. Once closer, you can see the tower itself is in line with even more behind it still being part of what seemed like a pathway. I walked up to it and inspected it and to my surprise saw some nice carvings and lush green grass just on the other side. You couldn't go through the tower so I went around to be much delighted by what lay there.

    Once through I come across a long collapsed row of pillars once lining the path here to the arch ahead. Along the way is a huge head of a cow in really great condition surrounded by rubble, a clear sign that this was a hindu temple like most of the Khmer's. Further along and through another doorway I pass a rather large section of red brick towers much in ruin with tiny doors. They all appeared to me to small houses for the gods, a form of putting each gods statue in a small tower to live and be worshiped there. I had heard it practiced in even angkor, but there small doored towers gave clear evidence of it  to my own eyes.

     Just past those towers and well into the tree's down this never ending path of stone, through one final doorway, it hits me hard and fast. I could see what I knew to be a tower unlike any other. It didn't belong here yet there it was, to large for anything else here, yet again there it was. Sitting within eye shot now was a 7 tier pyramid tower that could I think stand up against any other, be it peru or Angkor. A solid line of stairs runs up the front to the top, giving you the sense of its height. I stare in wonder at it before breaking my self imposed spell and getting closer. All around inside this inner wall was a field of green, showing just how much space was around this mountain of stone. It was nothing I'd ever seen before, and now all the thoughts of the Mayans came back. This thing was 100% akin to temples from the same period of time yet an another side of the world 10k miles away. Incredible.

    Not long after entering, I circled the massive tower and really was shocked at its size and build but surprisingly more so by its lack of access in all four directions. There was only the one set of stairs, and now way inside. This just was at odds with everything the other Khmer kings built. It didn't honor the cardinal directions, you couldn't get inside, and there was no tower at the top. It was by all means a pyramid. After my rounds I went back to the front to find to my surprise the only other person I'd seen here having been alone was a Aspara worker making sure I didn't try to climb. This was devastating, but upon looking at the steps it was clearly a safety thing. The makeshift wooden steps had fallen apart and no longer usable at all. It was a downer, but nothing could ruin the moment here. Birds chirping away, I had this temple to my own and just stood and watched as he walked away and I had me and the mountain temple. Eventually leaving, I looked back one more time on the way out before rock hoping my way out. Back on the road I looked at two small buildings across the road which seemed to me to be clearly part of some ruined pathway to the glorious temple I now know as Prasat Thom...

    A short ride down the long dirt roads I came upon a series a small square stone buildings that were rather amusing to me. I stepped off the bike to get a closer look and walked across the dirt road. This road, to give you an idea , is actually probably the best I got on the whole ride after leaving Siem Reap.

    Closer now to made me laugh even seeing it from the roadside was a giant linga, massively wide in the the center of the first tower. It said atop a yoni with a place for water to drain. which is pure hindu symbolism similar to that seen at Kbal Spean. walking around inside I loved the detail at the hard to see base, but putting my head down there made me feel like a snake was going to pop out at me. I moved around the outside then on to the nearby next two which although being similar where in different stages of ruin. One was covered by nature, very appealing to the eye but the linga inside mostly destroyed. Yet another a combo of both, with semi covered outside and a great stone pillar inside. The driver approaching with me at one of them and pointed saying " that like me lol ". I knew a penis joke was coming, but it still sounded bad. There was a fourth but passing it on the roadside he kept driving, an to be honest 3 was already to many and was satisfied seeing it from the road. On the map its the linga shrine and the 3 squares north of that.

    The next five places are really a mystery to me as to there exact location but I believe them to be the four walled places after the linga shrine as well as one the squares in between. First up was a small place just off the road with roots covering most of what was left, and some of the trees really going to town on the stone.

    The buildings were simple however and I didn't stay to long and get to into the small rooted stone and kept moving.

    Next stop down the road that was going thicker into tree's and road getting smaller was a decently large walled place with little to offer on the inside. An outer wall and inner wall once protected whatever was here though and probably once a great temple. I pass a large stone pillar with writing all over it which was interesting and probably how they were able to learn what they have about this period. It takes alot for one man, even a king, to move a capital and build all this in just 20 years. Not only that though, after the capital was moved back most of these were probably o longer used or diminished after such short use.

    The center holds a single brick tower or whats left of it, and soon after start to head back. The outer walls are interesting simply because trees are growing out of them everywhere and taking the wall with them. They give a really great sight for the camera and the eye. Passing the last one of these outside on my way out to the moto, I really like how it goes from the wall all the way over the road in its semi collapsed state.

    Down the road was a quick stop at a crumbling set of two small buildings side by side, and upon getting to the back just say some interesting shaped stones. Not wanting to waste time I moved on rather fast.

    On the way to my next stop that I didn't know but the driver did, I could see evidence of rain clouds but gave it no real concern. A few minutes ride we pulled of and by now the routine of me hoping off and him going to rest in the shade was down to an art. Making my way past familiar walls and the like, I made my way ti the center which held 2 small brick towers in front of a much larger stone tower. It was an add formation but then again everything in Koh Ker fit its own pattern. The brick towers had something about them due to the grass growing inside. Where it popped out really shined and it just really fir perfectly. It was really clear that something in the way these type of towers here were made caused them to collapse over time the same way. One side would completely sheer off, the roof along with it. It's probably due to using heavy large stone blocks at the top creating to much pressure over time. All the same, these older towers are great to compare for me and I enjoy them.

    time was getting short and I knew this next place would be the final stop here, and if it wasn't I was going to make it the last since I wasn't going to miss Beng Melea. So getting off in Koh Ker one last time, I approach the walled temple. Here the rain starts a bit, although light still shocking as hell for me because rain just doesn't happen here in the middle of the winter. No matter, I covered my camera and took the few photo's I could here and although not rushing and getting a little wet I moved a little faster. The three large towers here had the same feel and the same front side collapsed as the others which really just gets me to think its all from the same cause. I do my circle and go inside each one, looking to the sky as little rain drops hit. Making my way back to the bike after my rounds it stops and moves back to just the same old clouds.....

     Leaving on the bike, I just said Beng Melea and the driver seemed to be heading there anyway but nodded in understanding. We passed a small tower here and there road side but I knew I'd have to come back another time far from now to see them all here. So onto Beng Melea it was, over an hour and a half back towards siem reap.

    Taking the rough drive back on the same roads was hard as expected but having done it once it can only be so bad. Just about back to where we bought the ticket was where we pulled off and to my surprise Beng Melea was only a few minutes past it. We pulled off to the side of the road where a few food stalls were and proceeded across to the long dirt entryway leading to Beng Melea. The path was extremely long and flanked by stone railings and lions all the way. I could see in the distance the mass of fallen stone that lay at the entrance far ahead. Passing some funny sights like one Asian tourist trying to give candy to one child then had a literal child army come out of nowhere and surround her, about half way down it took off early. To my sides were great views of the once moat, followed by some fallen stone and amazing tropical trees than can brighten up anything.

     The most detailed naga I've ever seen and possibly the best piece ever found on just an entryway came soon after on my left. I stepped back catching the ones on both sides, but really just wanted to get close and capture that detail. Decorated top to bottom so greatly just seeing the picture still amazes me. Walking up the remaining pathway, I find more naga's of equal detail but greater decay lying on the ground by the main steps.

    Realizing upon getting close that the massive pile of stone blocked all entry, I followed the outer wall right and passed through vast tree cover before finding steps leading into the temple over the wall.

     Inside the first section between walls, I notice immediately a building to my right covered in vines and straight ahead a long hall going into the space between the walls equally overgrown. Stunned and not really knowing where to go, an aspara guide looked at me and signaled to follow him. They work on a pay as you see fit deal, so I pay at the end what I think he deserved basically which worked for me. He takes me along the narrow ledge of a building and then through a collapsed doorway. Piles of stone lay everywhere covered in nature. Ducking under collapsed buildings, pulling myself up mountains of rubble, it doesn't take me long to love it here. Beng Melea is the only thing I hadn't seen yet, a fully untouched ruin left exactly how it was found giving you the feeling of a French explorer coming across it for the first time. Passing buildings filled with tarzan like vines and stone, tripping over boulders, seeing nature engulf everything, this place is unreal.

    This temple complex, consisting of three enclosures of square walls within each other is by far the most complex I've ever been in because of its state of ruin. I for the first time can not even begin to put together a layout of the place or even remember where I am, as ways are blocked and your forced to go over collapsed roofs, under walkways, over stone mountains etc. Three fully filled walls of buildings had collapsed over time. and without the neat restoration of everywhere else, the stone is still lying there blocking your every step and making you work for every inch. I was glad I had my guide even though it took a little away from the ruggedness of it. Deep inside having no idea where I was having gone under columns, through a walkway of a collapsed building again, it was anyone's guess where I came upon a fire burning away fallen branches and leave with locals nearby enjoying it...

    Soon after going through the usual patterns of climbing stone mountains, sometimes marveling that part of the mountain was made of beautifully carved lintels or columns I found myself going knee by knee under a small bridge that went from entrance to inner sanctuary I believe. These columns made me think back to Angkor Thom where I wondered there use, and here it was. We continued are travels in the middle, going past another stone filled building looking through a window. I wondered how I could be going through a hall and be looking into a window of another building but I guess when things collapse anything is possible. I make my way up a mountain of stone covered grass and eventually get a look at the bridge going into the building from the center. These mini bridges were had at all four entrance ways and obviously were important for those privileged to enter. Somewhere near here I'm shown the center building, the massive center tower that always marks the highlight of these temples... Rubble. A massive pile of stone like no other, nothing was remaining. That was actually great to see and I really smiled, an all natural tower from so many years ago as nature intended it to be.

    Continuing our walk alone the top level looking down at all the glory of this place, I pass a roofless long building or hallway covered inside with fallen leaves and left to right covered by vines and trees. It was one of the most picturesque things I'd seen and the picture really took itself. Every emotion could be triggered here, it just had a way of drawing you in. From here until we made it back out where we came in having only seen half the inside, it was nothing but hard trails and moss covered rock passing now and then a building so untouched you almost felt like sticking a flag in it and calling it yours own. Eventually I was back to where it began knowing that only half was seen because the other half is in such ruin as to be actually dangerous. It was over all to quickly, but the guide did very well and took the time to briefly explain some carving we'd seen along the way so I gave him a good fare.

    Not ready to leave, I walked around the entire outer wall checking out every long entrance path at every directions gate. Interestingly all the entrances from the outer wall had collapsed and left the same type of stone pile in front of them. The best part of the outer walk was the towers in each corner with wonderful asparas lining all the walls. Getting back to the front I really was in love with my time here and so glad I came. It all seemed liked the adventure would end here for the day, but it had only just begun. Upon starting back on the bike the skies just let rip on me and it poured for the entire almost 2 hours back. Muddy roads now, within minutes my legs were covered along with my arms, rain dripping down my face, and just about everything wet. Somehow I was able to smile and laugh as it just adds to the time. After maybe 30 minutes however I was cold damp and no to joyful about it anymore. The roads sucked but thankfully we made it to the paved Siem Reap road fast but that still meant almost an hour. The driver really nicely pulled over and got me a plastic bag to put my camera in some I wasn't huddled over it and it did the job. By the time we got back it had been a hard journey but a great day, and due to the rain gave the driver just a little more than agreed. Back in the room, I washed up quickly and then went straight to eat and relax. Heading to Battambang in the AM for some mountain views and home to the one and only bamboo train.....