Thailand - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 765

ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
The cheapest place to eat is the night market just east of
the entrance to the ruins on Th Anantajinda.
Baiteiy On the main road, about 4km northwest of the
town centre T 081 065 8714. This huge indoor restaurant
is very popular with locals and has a worthy reputation for
duck dishes, spicy salads and fresh fish. You'll need to take
a tuk-tuk or taxi to get here. Daily 9.30am-9pm.
Boonsiri Guest House 228 Th Chomsudasadet, 50m
south of the ruins T 044 471159, W boonsiri.net. Clean,
ten-bed dorms at great prices, plus private rooms with hot
showers and a nice planted roof terrace with seating.
Bicycle rental and wi-fi. Dorm B150 , double B400

runs right round the inner compound has
been restored to its original covered
design, with arched roofs, small chambers
inside and false windows. Above the
entrance to the main prang are carvings
of a dancing ten-armed Shiva, and of a
reclining Vishnu, who is dreaming up a
new universe.

10

Prasat Muang Tam
Down on the well-watered plains 8km to
the southeast of Phanom Rung, and
accessed via a scenic minor road that cuts
through a swathe of rice fields, lies the
small but elegant temple complex of
Prasat Muang Tam (daily 7.30am-6pm;
B100, or B150 for a joint ticket with
Phanom Rung). It sits behind a huge
kilometre-long baray (Khmer reservoir),
which was probably constructed at the
same time as the main part of the temple,
in the early eleventh century. Like
Phanom Rung, Muang Tam is based on
the classic Khmer design of a central
prang, flanked by minor prangs and
encircled by a gallery punctuated with
gateways. he four stone-rimmed
L-shaped ponds between the gallery
and the outer wall may have been used
to purify worshippers as they entered
the complex.

PHANOM RUNG AND MUANG TAM
Built during the same period as Phimai,
the temple complexes of Prasat Hin Khao
Phanom Rung (often shortened to just
Phanom Rung) and Prasat Muang Tam
form two more links in the chain that
once connected the Khmer capital with
the limits of its empire. It's best to visit
the ruins as a day-trip from either Khorat
(see p.766) or Surin (see below).

Prasat Hin Khao Phanom Rung
Prasat Hin Khao Phanom Rung (daily
6am-6pm; B100, or B150 for a joint
ticket with Muang Tam) dates back to the
tenth century and stands as the finest
example of Khmer architecture in
hailand, its every surface ornamented
with exquisite carvings and its buildings
so perfectly aligned that on the morning
of the full-moon day of the fifth lunar
month (usually April) you can stand at
the westernmost gateway and see the
rising sun through all fifteen doors. his
event is celebrated here with a day-long
festival of huge parades.
Before entering the temple, it's well
worth visiting the excellent, museum-like
Phanom Rung Tourist Information Centre
(daily 9am-4.30pm; free) by the main
entrance to learn more about its
symbolism and background. You
approach the temple compound along a
dramatic 200m-long avenue flanked with
lotus-bud pillars, going over the first of
three naga bridges, and past four small
purification ponds. his constitutes the
symbolic crossing of the abyss between
earth and heaven. Part of the gallery that

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
To get to the ruins, you first need to take a bus to the small
town of Ban Tako, located on Highway 24, 115km
southeast of Khorat or 83km southwest of Surin; bus #274
travels between the two provincial capitals (every 30min).
From Ban Tako, it's 12km south to Phanom Rung and
another 8km south to Muang Tham, so you'll either have to
hitch or rent a motorbike taxi (B300-400/person round
trip). The last bus back to Khorat from Ban Tako leaves
around 5pm.

SURIN
he quiet, typically northeastern town of
SURIN is best known for the much-hyped
elephant roundup held here every year on
the third weekend of November when
hundreds of elephants congregate from
the surrounding countryside (contact
TAT for details and tickets). Situated
about 150km east of Khorat, Surin makes
a good base for Phanom Rung and has a