Sunday, December 30, 2018

Banteay Chhmar

Angkor without the tourists? Sounds too good to be true. Banteay Chhmar is Cambodia’s best kept secret. It’s a huge but hidden temple complex around two hours from Siem Reap, shrouded in both jungle and mystery. Buried far off the beaten track, it’s the perfect spot to live out all of your Indiana Jones fantasies. If you’re lucky, you might even have the place to yourself! There are no hotels, just home stays, no Western restaurants and not a wisp of Wifi. It’s the temple that time forgot.Banteay Chhmar is the 4th largest Angkorian temple in Cambodia, but tourism has so far been reluctant to reach its remote location. This makes Banteay Chhmar all the more intriguing. Surrounded by a vast moat, it boasts gallery walls carved with bas-reliefs and face towers similar to those the Angkor complex. And there’s nobody there! A further 12 kilometres down the road, you’ll find Prasat Samnang Tasok, a temple that has been totally overtaken by the jungle in an epic, crumbly way. Tomb Raider, eat your heart out.

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