Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
trip to the River of a Thousand Lingas at Kbal Spean and Beng Mealea. A half-day itiner-
ary might include Banteay Srei, the Cambodia Landmine Museum and Banteay Samre.
DON'T MISS
ANGKOR CENTRE FOR CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
Conveniently located near the base of the trail to Kbal Spean is the
Angkor Centre for Conservation
1pm), committed to rescuing, rehabilitating and reintroducing threatened wildlife to the Cambodian
forests. Tours of the centre are available daily at 1pm, taking about 90 minutes. Species currently un-
der protection here include pangolin, pileated gibbon, silvered langur, slow loris, civet cat and leopard
cat. There are also several large water birds, including the impressive sarus crane and the extremely
rare giant ibis, the national bird of Cambodia.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Kbal Spean
A spectacularly carved riverbed,
Kbal Spean
is set deep in the jungle to the northeast of
Angkor. More commonly referred to in English as the 'River of a Thousand Lingas', the
name actually means 'bridgehead', a reference to the natural rock bridge at the site. Lin-
gas have been elaborately carved into the riverbed, and images of Hindu deities are dotted
about the area. Kbal Spean was 'discovered' in 1969, when EFEO ethnologist Jean Boul-
bet was shown the area by a local hermit
;
the area was soon off-limits due to the civil
war, only becoming safe again in 1998.
It is a 2km uphill walk to the carvings, along a pretty path that winds its way up into the
jungle, passing by some interesting boulder formations along the way. Carry plenty of wa-
ter up the hill, as there is none available beyond the parking area. The path eventually
splits to the waterfall or the river carvings. There is an impressive carving of Vishnu on
the upper section of the river, followed by a series of carvings at the bridgehead itself,
some of which have been tragically hacked off in the past few years. This area is now
roped off to protect the carvings from further damage.
Following the river down, there are several more impressive carvings of Vishnu, and
Shiva with his consort Uma, and further downstream hundreds of
lingas
appear on the ri-
verbed. At the top of the waterfall are many animal images, including a cow and a frog,
and a path winds around the boulders to a wooden staircase leading down to the base of
