Angkor and Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Li

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Angkor

   Angkor is bigger than most visitors expect, and its scale only starts to make sense once you realise that it was a city, not a temple. The great complex north of Siem Reap, in north-western Cambodia, was the capital of the Khmer Empire from the ninth century to the fifteenth, and at its height it covered hundreds of square kilometres, with reservoirs, canals, roads and houses of wood that have long since vanished. What survives is the stone: Angkor Wat, built in the early twelfth century by King Suryavarman II as a temple to Vishnu, with its five towers, long galleries of carved relief and a moat that mirrors the sunrise, and Angkor Thom, the walled city built by Jayavarman VII, with the Bayon and its dozens of towers carved with huge, smiling faces.

   Read the complete Angkor write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Angkor is where the day begins. Next is Roluos.

2. 2. Roluos

   Roluos is where the story of Angkor begins. About thirteen kilometres south-east of Siem Reap, along the road toward Phnom Penh, a cluster of brick and sandstone temples marks Hariharalaya, the capital of the Khmer kings in the late ninth century. Before the great monuments of Angkor Wat and the Bayon were built, the rulers lived and built here, and the three main temples show the first mature forms of Khmer architecture. Preah Ko was dedicated in 879 by Indravarman I, and Bakong, a few years later, was the first great temple mountain, a stepped pyramid with elephants in stone at the corners, representing Mount Meru, the home of the gods.

   Read the complete Roluos write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Roluos comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Banteay Srei.

3. 3. Banteay Srei

   Most people come to Angkor for the giants, Angkor Wat and the Bayon, but the temple that many remember best is small, pink and astonishingly intricate. Banteay Srei, the "citadel of the women", stands about twenty-five kilometres northeast of the main Angkor group, and it was consecrated in 967, earlier than the great royal temples. It was built not by a king but by a high-ranking courtier, the Brahmin Yajnavaraha, and dedicated to Shiva. Its reddish sandstone is fine-grained and easy to carve, and the result is decoration so delicate it looks almost like woodwork: lintels with scenes from Hindu epics, female guardian deities in niches, and foliage spiralling across every surface.

   Read the complete Banteay Srei write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Banteay Srei. Next is Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Li.

4. 4. Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Li

   For a few short decades in the tenth century, the capital of the Khmer empire was not at Angkor but here, deep in the forest of northern Cambodia. King Jayavarman IV established his court at Koh Ker, then called Lingapura, and in less than twenty years his builders raised dozens of temples across a wide area, before the capital returned to Angkor. The jungle took the city back. Today Koh Ker is a scatter of brick and sandstone sanctuaries among the trees, and in 2023 it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.

   Read the complete Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Li write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Koh Ker: Archaeological Site of Ancient Li, about halfway. Next is back through Banteay Srei.

5. 5. back through Banteay Srei

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Banteay Srei write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Banteay Srei sits at 204 km, about halfway. Next is back through Roluos.

6. 6. back through Roluos

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Roluos write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Roluos comes up about 322 km into the recorded legs. Next is Angkor.

7. 7. Angkor

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Angkor write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Angkor closes the day.