Ta Prom and Preah Khan
Can’t go wrong really with giant roots and towering trees, mysterious carvings and jungle-clad ruins so here’s another selection of photos of Preah Khan and Ta Prom temples in Cambodia’s World Heritage Angkor temple complex, taken on our recent Cambodia Overland small group tour.
Preah Khan, as with the better-known Ta Prom, is a late 12th-century Buddhist temple built during the reign of Jayavarman VII. The former is considered to have been dedicated to the king’s father and the latter to his mother and indeed the layout and style of the two sprawling temple/monastery complexes are compatible. The current state of both sites is also very similar with wide-scale destruction by the elements evident at both as Jayavarman’s massive building programme lead to some hasty construction efforts hence despite these two temples being some of the most recent at Angkor they are in far worse condition today than certain earlier, but more carefully constructed sites.
A view of the eastern gopura For visitors today, that is obviously part of their charm and the jungle-clad ruins of Ta Prom are amongst the most iconic images of Angkor. Yes, it of course also featured in the Tomb Raider movie and is one of the most popular postcard subjects (which you can buy 10 of for only 1 dollar!)
Classic shot of the eastern cloister Preah Khan is not quite so high profile as Ta Prom and receives fewer visitors – all of which is good news and makes the temple a personal favourite of most of our guides and tour-leaders. In order to optimise our visits, we head to Preah Khan early in the morning and Ta Prom late afternoon.
Another popular post card cliche – cloisters in the 3rd(?) enclosure, west side, at Ta Prom FYI, below is our Angkor temple programme in full. If you’ve read up a bit on the site you may notice our itinerary bares little resemblance to standard ones recommended by guides and guidebooks but our reasoning is to perhaps sacrifice optimum light conditions in order to; A. minimize the crowds, B. avoid the hottest parts of the day and C. provide a leisurely schedule without trying to rush around and tick off as many temples in a short a space of time as possible. There’s little point in having ideal light at Bayon Temple if the atmosphere and your photo opportunities are ruined by hordes of tourists!
Ditto – probably the most photographed doorway at Angkor! Day 1: 16.45 Obtain entry pass, Dusk at Banteay Kdei
Day 2: 05.00 Dawn at Angkor Wat and visit (arrive west entrance, depart east)
10.30 Return to hotel
14.30 Angkor Tom: – the Terrace of the Leper King, Elephant Terrace, Phimeanakas, Baphuon, Bayon,
Day 3: 07.00 Phnom Bakheng, Baksei Chamkrong, Preah Khan
11.00 Return to hotel
14.30 Jungle walk to Ta Nei & Ta Keo, Ta Prom
Day 4: 06.30 Beng Melea
free afternoon
(Note; this itinerary is provisional and subject to possible changes at the last minute. All times are approximate.)
