Temples of Angkor - Phnom Krom

Phnom Krom is approximately 12 kilometers south of Siem Reap, on the northern edge of the great lake Tonle Sap. To access, on foot, the ruins that sit atop the mountain, one must ascend a long set of stairs to a reach a narrow road that climbs circuitously to the courtyard of a small modern pagoda. (Motorbikes and small cars can take this road from the bottom but tuks-tuks cannot.) From the courtyard another short flight of stairs leads to the ruin site. This temple is one of three built by Yasovarman I (reigned 889-910) on hills that dominate the Angkorean plain -- Bahkeng (near Angkor Thom), Phnom Bok (near Banteay Srei), and Phnom Krom. Built in the late 9th and early 10th centuries, this temple was dedicated to the Hindu trinity--Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. The mountain is a popular spot with young Khmer who come to picnic and watch the sunset.

I visited Phnom Krom on an extremely hot Saturday afternoon. I was the only foreigner on the mountain, a madman in a palm-leaf hat, kroma drooped around my neck, trudging up the hill in the pitiless sun. I passed a group of young Khmer men sitting in the shade of a small tree. "Dtau naa?" They called over to me. "Where you going?" "Right to the top", I replied assuredly with a broad smile. They laughed and went back to drinking their beer. Angkor Beer. "My, country, my beer."

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Rico at Phnom Krom enjoying street food and Angkor beer.