Kampong Thom City

Capital City

Kampong Thom Province

Cambodia

January 26, 2019

Less than an hour’s drive from Kampong Thom in Central Cambodia lies the UNESCO World Heritage Site - The Temple Zone Sambor Prei Kuk, Archeological Site of Ancient Ishanapura.

I visited the site with my friend Howard.  We strolled among the temples for several hours.

I have two distinct impressions of this site.

First is the age of this site. 

Archeologists agree that the temples were built in the late Sixth to early Seventh Centuries.  This complex is at least two hundred years older than the first temples at Angkor Wat, one of the most famous sites in Southeast Asia.

My second impression is the detail. 

I look closely at the decorations on the temples, the 1300-year-old decorations!   UNESCO calls the sculptures and reliefs “true masterpieces.”