Desperately needing some exercise (felt like a blob after 30-days of sitting in a Russian van and snacking on chocolate and crisps), I hired a bicycle and ventured out of town to visit Roluos Group (Wat Bakong and Preah Ko). The temples are located 20 km outside of Siem Reap and it's usually not on the Angkor Wat tour, so they were quiet and crowd free.
In context of Angkor's architectural timeline, Roluos Group was the capital of Indravarman I (877 to 889) and considered to be the forefathers of Angkor's main temples. These were the first temples built to last and are made of brick with some carved plaster reliefs. The group is made up of the three temples of Preah Ko, Bakong, and Lolei.
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| Preah Ke |
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| Preah Ke |
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| Wat Bakong |
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| View from top of the central tower |
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| One of the towers in Bakong |
I think I'm 'templed' out! I couldn't visit anymore temples in the afternoon....I just wanted to chill, have lunch in town and watch the day go by. There's so much more to see but my brain is sensory-fried.
Of course, having a drink in the tourist area means you get to see some weird stuff - such as a woman dancing out on the street, in front of a bar (I assume the bar hired her), to "lure" tourists into the bar. This video just doesn't do any justice of the weirdness...
I'm definitely looking forward to sitting on a beach and decompress from all this...Borneo should give me that.
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