Nang Sida – Before and After

Nang Sida

Lying just a kilometre away from the Lao World Heritage site of Wat Phu, the Angkor-period temple of Hong Nang Sida does tend to get overshadowed by its prestigious UNESCO-listed neighbour. After hiking up and down the steep steps at Wat Phu, few visitors will be bothered to head off into the dusty surrounding scrubland to visit one of the lesser-known temple sites and most head sensibly straight back to nearby Champassak Town for a shower and/or a cold beer.

Anyway, having visited the main site, and despite thoughts of ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’, we nevertheless set off down the dusty track heading south from Wat Phu. In earlier times, this was actually the old road linking the capital at Angkor to the important pilgrimage site of Lingaparvarta (Wat Phu) and the route is fairly littered with ancient ruins. (See Angkor roads post.) Hong Nang Sida lies 1 kilometre or so down the track with the Jayavarman VII period hospital chapel site of Hong Thao Tao, another kilometre further on. (The above wooden bridge was built over the remains of a still discernable Angkor period stone bridge.)

On our first visit, a number of years ago, Nang Sida was in a very sad state of repair. The main tower had completely collapsed and was impressive just for the sheer size of the pile of fallen sandstone blocks. It must have been a pretty tall tower when still standing and indeed the enormous piles of blocks suggest that the overall temple would have been a highly impressive one. The eastern entrance porch, to what would have been the main shrine, is still relatively intact; there are the remains of an outer enclosure wall and traces of a long entrance causeway, but what saved the site for the casual visitor was probably the isolated and tranquil setting with the wooded hills behind forming a picturesque backdrop.

While we were aware that the site had undergone some restoration, we weren’t prepared for the transformation we found on a subsequent visit in early 2025. The central shrine, entrance causeway and the southeastern fire temple or ‘library’ had all been cleared and reconstructed while the huge piles of sandstone blocks had been dismantled and the pieces carefully aligned on the ground around the site. The remarkable number of said blocks shows there’s still a massive amount of work to be done – and indeed emphasises what an important sanctuary it must have originally been – but so far, the progress is impressive.

Consequently, the architectural style is now easier to discern and appears to be in a late 11th or possibly very early 12th-century style. Certain aspects reminded us of the great Jayavarman VI temple of Phimai in Thailand.

The dirt track leading from Wat Phu has also been sealed, allowing simple road access and indeed you can ask your driver to meet you there rather than hiking back to the Wat Phu carpark. Not the most spectacular of Angkorian sites, but an interesting one nonetheless and it’s always nice to include an off-the-beaten-track site that no one else goes to.

Nang Sida and UNESCO World Heritage Wat Phu were visited on our Emerald Triangle tour to Northeastern Thailand, South Lao and Northern Cambodia as well as our South Laos and Cambodia tours, Mekong Adventure and Far North to Far South.