Bestowed by UNESCO with coveted World Heritage status in 2008, the Temple of Preah Vihear has enough ancient and modern history behind it for a Netflix original feature. It traces its origin to a chronologically extensive building process that spanned seven kings and almost three centuries, finished sometime in the mid-1100’s. More recently, the area has been the focus of cross-border strife between Cambodia and Thailand; the latter seized the temple in 1959 and the International Court of Justice awarding sovereignty back to the former in 1962. Bickering over the area has flared again in 2008 and 2011, with Cambodia currently remaining in control. I visited with a tour guide during my first week in the country.

The trip from Siem Reap is part of the experience, as I passed through numerous small villages in the province exposing me to countryside life. After a two-hour journey (and detour to visit some Khmer Rouge sites), we stopped at the visitor’s center at the base of the temple and purchased our tickets. Being a solo-tourist, I was told the journey to the top of the hill would be completed by moped (!), so I rode behind a local driver on the way up. We continued on foot and first visited the border station, meeting some local police and hearing the history behind the boundary conflicts. We then proceeded to visit the temple proper and started by ascending the Monumental Stairway. We milled around for almost two hours, appreciating the approach of the causeways, details of the East and West Galleries, numerous bas reliefs, and the all-encompassing views across the countryside. The trip back down to the visitor’s center was much less eventful, and that back to Siem Reap notable for a stop at the Koh Keh temple complex (see separate review).

In summary, this was an unforgettable experience and for several reasons was the highlight of my trip to Cambodia. First, the journey from Siem Reap was itself notable, for the only time exposing me to the remote countryside. Second, the dynamic between ancient history and current events was fascinating and energizing; imagine Angkor Wat with active duty military troops walking around with assault rifles. Third, to say the setting was majestic is a bit of an understatement with almost complete solitude adding to the experience; the closet I have to compare it to is the third day of the Inca Trail before entering Machu Picchu.

An exceptional opportunity and highly recommended for those with the means and time.

First of all the 1447 or so steps up are closed for the foreseeable future. This was a shame as this was one of the main attractions for me. I was told by a couple of different people that during COVID with no tourist traffic sections were destroyed by termites. I don't know how true that is but I tried to go down the steps and after 100 or do they just stopped with no obvious route to continue. So the only way up/down is via a motorbike (out lorry if you're a large group) I think it was 10,000rei one way.
The temple themselves are being restored and are in a good bit not great state (no roofs but most weeks still standing) As a non historian they were ok. However for me the setting was amazing. First of all there are still the bunkers from the fairly recent skirmish with Thailand which resulted in the deaths of a dozen or so soldiers and the fact that the steep road crosses into Thailand and back. But more than that are the great views from the cliff top after the 5th temple. A single peace of rope has a sign saying do not cross and this seems to me a good rule to follow as about a metre the other side is a 700m drop! (2000')
You can visit a small shrine in the cliff face where only a wall made of sand bags protects you from certain death!