Northwestern Cambodia - Cambodia - page 504

tions are private taxi (US$70) and moto ($US40). Expect more public transport options
once the bridge from Thala Boravit to Stung Treng is completed.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Prasat Preah
Vihear
The most dramatically situated of all the Angkorian monuments, 800m-long Prasat Preah
Vihear (suggested donation US$2-5) is perched high atop an escarpment in the Dangkrek
Mountains (elevation 625m). The views are breathtaking: lowland Cambodia, 550m be-
low, stretches as far as the eye can see, with the holy mountain of Phnom Kulen looming
in the distance.
Prasat Preah Vihear, an important place of pilgrimage during the Angkorian period, was
built by a succession of seven Khmer monarchs, beginning with Yasovarman I (r
889-910) and ending with Suryavarman II (r 1112-1152), builder of Angkor Wat. Like
other temple-mountains from this period, it was designed to represent Mt Meru and was
dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva, though, unlike Angkor Wat, it's laid out along a
north-south processional axis. Along this axis are five cruciform gopura (pavilions), dec-
orated with exquisite carvings and separated by esplanades up to 275m long.
From the parking area, walk up the hill to crumbling Gopura V at the north end of the
temple complex. From here, the sandstone Monumental Stairway leads down to the Thai
border. Back when the temple was open from the Thai side, this stairway was how most
tourists entered the temple complex. Thailand claims that this part of the temple is theirs.
That Gopura V appears on both the 50,000r and 2000r banknotes is an emphatic statement
that Cambodia disagrees.
East of Gopura V, you'll see a set of stairs dropping off into the abyss. This is the
1800m Eastern Stairway . Used for centuries by pilgrims climbing up from Cambodia's
northern plains, it was recently de-mined, rebuilt as a 2242-step wooden staircase and re-
opened.
Walking south up the slope from Gopura V, the next pavillion you get to is Gopura IV .
On the pediment above the southern door, look for an early rendition of the Churning of
the Ocean of Milk, a theme later depicted awesomely at Angkor Wat. The galleries around
Gopura I , with their inward-looking windows, are in a remarkably good state of repair, but