Cambodia: Siem Reap - The stunning remote temple, Beng Mealea

Beng Mealea is one of the remote temple in Siem Reap.

The other main remote temples including:
1. Banteay Samre
2. Banteay Srei
3. Phnom Kulen (the waterfall)
4.  Kbal Spean (ancient Hindu pilgrimage site in jungle).
5. Tonle sap
6. Rolous group.

Of course, if you wanna go all of the places, you might be need to spend more than one day, as there are quite some distances between those places. 

To recap, we only wanna see Banteay Samre, Banteay Srei, Beng Mealea and few temples inside rulous group, and that take us about 6 hours.  

John and I think Beng Mealea is the most beautiful temples among others in Siem Reap, because this temple has not been done any restoration yet and everything is original, althought you have to travel for almost an hour to reach this place. 

Also, they charge extra USD5 for Beng Mealea, your Angkor Wat pass doesn't cover this temple.

To get the ticket, your driver will bring you to a toll plaza, just give him USD 5 and get a entrance ticket on the way you go to remotes temples. 

Oh yea, some people ask if you don't wanna rent a taxi, what is the other way to visit the remote temples?

1. Rent a tuk tuk, but you will take longer time in travelling.

2. Rent a bike, but you might lost your direction as there are no sign board, if there is, in Combodian.
3. If you're travel alone, rent a bike with a driver. 

4. If you're travel alone, find someone to share the car rent with you.

There will be a lot of local people wait to be hired as guide, including kids, if you wanna go inside the temples, better hire one, they know where is safe and where is the buddha statue hide. 

My advice in hire a guide in Beng Mealea:  

1. Speak to them to test their English level before you hire them, my guide only know "this is library, this is gallery" but no other detail story.  

2. Do not hire a child, this is encouraging them to quit school to earn money in their early age.

3. If you're from dollar land, do not pay more to break the pricing rules.

4. Do not pay less, their life is hard and you should pay what they've paid off. 

For us, we agree to pay USD5 for almost 45 minutes climbing and jumping in the debris, and we pay extra USD 2 for tipping because she (yes, a she) was helping us to climb higher to capture some picture, which she doesn't need to put herself in the risk.

River surrounding the temple as others temples

the way walk to the temple, and you can see the ruins from here. 

the snake head sculpture named Naga, one of the guardian god of the place. By the way, Naga mean Dragon in Malay. 

The ruins, no restoration at all. 

The temples collapes because tree root overgrowing and eventually ruins the temples.  

giant jungle tree everywhere.

The giant jungle tree's root cover some part of the temple, and the guide say, might be another collapes happen if the tree is still growing.

and here is the entrance to go into the place.

there are no proper walkway after the entrance, only giant brikes. 

one of the corner inside the temple,

If you couldn't imagine how big is the brike, this pic will show you.

some carving is very much clear still.

One of the buddha statue in the temple, without guide i will never notice.

By the time we climbed out from the temple, its already half hour later, but this is not the end yet.

The outside of the temple's main hall, gallery and library is a river, which already dried out now because the giant tree's root broke the structure.

And that make us could stand on the river bed today, to admire the art work of the bridge.

where is stand (of course when i was holding the camera) original is full of water, and this is the bridge. 

If you don't think you can climb up and down inside the temple, you can still walk around the temple on the wooden bridge that build by the government, but then you couldn't see the carving that hidden inside the temple.

althought no restoration has been done, but the goverment still build the wooden bridge for those who don't wanna visit the inner part of the temple. 

Swear but happy.

The climbing inside the temple is not that bad, fat John and i done it safely, we only drop some sweat but not blood.

And trust me, worth to climb in.

Oh last but not least, Beng means Water in Combodian, while Mealea mean flower.

Water Flower Temple, i can imagine how beautiful is this place in the last time.






Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
20130115, 0850pm
Rach in not feeling well mood.