Today is officially day 6 of our study abroad program in Cambodia!

Nic and I started off the morning with some coffee from Damnak Cafe, my hot drink being reminiscent of dark chocolate with deep coffee notes. We were also provided with a packed breakfast from Seuya Hotel, which was later enjoyed on the bus to Koh Ker, an ancient Khmer city that is now a tentative UNESCO World Heritage site.

During the 2.5 hour bus ride, we passed through a lot of countryside. In the background, you can see the Kulen Mountains where stones for building temples and the like were sourced from during the Angkor period.

Stones cut from stone quarries, like the one pictured on the right, took a long time to cut through and transport. Workers would cut stone using an iron tool, taking up to a day to cut a single 0.5 m^3 stone and then transport it to the necessary location on elephants. Today, vehicles would be used for transport of course. In the post-Angkor period, this method of obtaining stones proved to be quite laborious and expensive, which gave way to less stonework and more woodwork. Because woodwork is less enduring, this is why we don’t see a lot of post-Angkor works today. 

Since we had so much free time on our hands, Ian took out his card deck and we began playing various games to pass the time. A few of us decided to count how many dogs we saw along the way, amounting to approximately 329 dogs counted before we got too tired to continue! 

The first stop we had in Koh Ker was at Prasat Pram Temple, which was dedicated to Shiva but was never finished. Pictured above is one of the sanctuary towers that has been overgrown by a tree and its roots. It’s interesting how this temple has become enmeshed with its surroundings, as if the earth is reclaiming the stone that once rested beneath it.

Here Ea Darith–Director of the Department of Conservation and Archaeology and our Cambodia/Angkor tour guide–is showing us a wall depicting Varuna, god of the sky, mounting Hamsa, his mystical swan stead. This piece is part of the Prasat Krachap temple he is currently working on restoring with his archaeological team. We sort of snuck into this temple because it was closed off to the public due to it being a work in progress, but the guard had no problem letting us in once she realized Ea Darith himself was there.

Our next stop was lunch at what was most likely a royal bath since it resides next to where King Jayavarmen’s palace once was. The bath doesn’t seem so royal anymore–a bright, sickly green algae bloom covers the surface as a not-so-subtle warning to visitors.

Here is a statue depicting the tomb of the white elephant king where visitors and believers alike can come pray and make their offerings. The story of the white elephant king is really interesting: the king of all elephants discovers he has a daughter and builds an entire temple for her. One day she is taken and he spends a lot of time looking for her, going as far as chopping off the tops of nearby temples in his search. (This is the legend as to why almost all temples in Koh Ker don’t have roofs.) The white elephant king ultimately fails, dying with his eyes wide open, still looking for her. His place of death becomes the landmark we see above.

Lastly, we climbed Prasat Prang(Thom), the tallest pyramid in Cambodia. It took twenty years to build between 921-941 and has 7 tiers. Prasat Prang was looted in the past because it contained treasures, so the original staircase is in heaps and piles. Instead we climbed a couple hundred stairs to the top where a view of Koh Ker can be enjoyed. A passage in the center of the temple resembling a deep well represents a passageway connecting heaven, earth, and hell. A linga, an object representing the Hindu god Shiva, supposedly used to be present at the very top of the pyramid, but it may have been looted, leaving behind and revealing the dark passage we see today.