Tourism Indochina: Preah Vihear to get new border crossing

Preah Vihear to get new border crossing

The Cambodian government is seeking a new international border checkpoint in Preah Vihear province to link with Thailand’s Ubun province, officials say.

Preah Vihear provincial governor Um Mara said officials from both countries had met to examine the possibility of opening a new international checkpoint.

“These days, this gateway is open only two days a week, but we want it to become an international checkpoint that is open every day of the week,” Mara said.

There is no scheduled deadline to open the new international checkpoint, to be named Anses, because discussions are still in the early stages.

“We are preparing the infrastructure there first, but the opening date is unknown at this time,” Mara said.

When the gateway becomes an international checkpoint, it will allow more goods to be transported through, and tourism in the province would soar as a result.

Kong Vibol, director of the Tourism Department in Preah Vihear province, said the Preah Vihear temple was only a 60-kilometre drive from Anses.

Ho Vandy, co-chair of the Tourism Task Force of the Government-Private Forum, said he welcomed the news.

Opening the gateway would open the area up to the tourism industry, as associations have suggested since March, 2008.

Source: Phnompenhpost/16August2012

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Tourism Indochina: Baphuon Temple Was Built to Dedicate to the God Shiva

Tourism Indochina: Baphuon Temple Was Built to Dedicate to the God Shiva

The Baphuon (Khmer: ប្រាសាទបាពួន) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia. It is located in Angkor Thom, northwest of the Bayon. Built in the mid-11th century, it is a three-tiered temple mountain built as the state temple of Udayadityavarman II dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. It is the archetype of the Baphuon style. The temple adjoins the southern enclosure of the royal palace and measures 120 metres east-west by 100 metres north-south at its base and stands 34 meters tall without its tower, which would have made it roughly 50 meters tall. Its appearance apparently impressed Emperor Chengzong of Yuan China's late 13th century envoy Chou Ta-Kuan during his visit from 1296 to 1297, who said it was 'the Tower of Bronze...a truly astonishing spectacle, with more than ten chambers at its base.' In the late 15th century, the Baphuon was converted to a Buddhist temple. A 9 meter tall by 70 meter long statue of a reclining Buddha was built on the west side's second level, which probably required the demolition of the 8 meter tower above, thus explaining its current absence. The temple was built on land filled with sand, and due to its immense size the site was unstable throughout its history. Large portions had probably already collapsed by the time the Buddha was added.

By the 20th century, much of the temple had largely collapsed, and restoration efforts have since proven problematic: a first effort begun in 1960 was interrupted by the coming to power of the Khmer Rouge, and records of the positions of the stones were lost. A second attempt started in 1995 by a team of French-led archeologists as of 2005 was still ongoing, restricting visitor access. As of November 2010, partial visitor access was once again allowed, though not to the central structure.

In April 2011, after 51 years, the archaeologists finished the restoration of the temple. King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia and Prime Minister Francois Fillon of France were among those who first toured the renovated temple during the inauguration ceremony on July 3, 2011.

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Tourism Indochina: Phnom Bakheng One of Three Hilltop Temples in the Angkor Region

Phnom Bakheng (Khmer: ប្រាសាទភ្នំបាខែង) at Angkor, Cambodia, is a Hindu temple in the form of a temple mountain. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889-910). Located atop a hill, it is nowadays a popular tourist spot for sunset views of the much bigger temple Angkor Wat, which lies amid the jungle about 1.5 km to the southeast. The large number of visitors makes Phnom Bakheng one of the most threatened monuments of Angkor.

Constructed more than two centuries before Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng was in its day the principal temple of the Angkor region, historians believe. It was the architectural centerpiece of a new capital, Yasodharapura, that Yasovarman built when he moved the court from the capital Hariharalaya in the Roluos area located to the southeast.

An inscription dated 1052 AD. and found at the Sdok Kak Thom temple in present-day Thailand states in Sanskrit: "When Sri Yasovardhana became king under the name of Yasovarman, the able Vamasiva continued as his guru. By the king's order, he set up a linga on Sri Yasodharagiri, a mountain equal in beauty to the king of mountains." Scholars believe that this passage refers to the consecration of the Phnom Bakheng temple approximately a century and a half earlier.

Surrounding the mount and temple, labor teams built an outer moat. Avenues radiated out in the four cardinal directions from the mount. A causeway ran in a northwest-southeast orientation from the old capital area to the east section of the new capital's outer moat and then, turning to an east-west orientation, connected directly to the east entrance of the temple.

Phnom Bakheng is a symbolic representation of Mount Meru, home of the Hindu gods, a status emphasized by the temple’s location atop a steep hill. The temple faces east, measures 76 meters square at its base and is built in a pyramid form of six tiers. At the top level, five sandstone sanctuaries, in various states of repair, stand in a quincunx pattern—one in the center and one at each corner of the level’s square. Originally, 108 small towers were arrayed around the temple at ground level and on various of its tiers; most of them have collapsed.

Jean Filliozat of the Ecole Francaise, a leading authority on Indian cosmology and astronomy, interpreted the symbolism of the temple. The temple sits on a rectangular base and rises in five levels and is crowned by five main towers. One hundred four smaller towers are distributed over the lower four levels, placed so symmetrically that only 33 can be seen from the center of any side. Thirty-three is the number of gods who dwelt on Mount Meru. Phnom Bakheng's total number of towers is also significant. The center one represents the axis of the world and the 108 smaller ones represent the four lunar phases, each with 27 days. The seven levels of the monument represent the seven heavens and each terrace contains 12 towers which represent the 12-year cycle of Jupiter. According to University of Chicago scholar Paul Wheatley, it is "an astronomical calendar in stone."

Phnom Bakheng is one of three hilltop temples in the Angkor region that are attributed to Yasovarman's reign. The other two are Phnom Krom to the south near the Tonle Sap lake, and Phnom Bok, northeast of the East Baray reservoir.

Following Angkor's rediscovery by the outside world in the mid-19th century, decades passed before archeologists grasped Phnom Bakheng's historical significance. For many years, scholars' consensus view was that the Bayon, the temple located at the center of Angkor Thom city, was the edifice to which the Sdok Kak Thom inscription referred. Later work identified the Bayon as a Buddhist site, built almost three centuries later than originally thought, in the late 12th century, and Phnom Bakheng as King Yasovarman's state temple.

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Tourism Indochina: Former US president Bill Clinton Made a Surprise Visit to Cambodia

Tourism Indochina: Former US president Bill Clinton Made a Surprise Visit to Cambodia

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III; August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation. Clinton has been described as a New Democrat. Many of his policies have been attributed to a centrist Third Way philosophy of governance, while on other issues his stance was center-left. Born and raised in Arkansas, Clinton became both a student leader and a skilled musician. He is an alumnus of Georgetown University where he was Phi Beta Kappa and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to attend the University of Oxford. He is married to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has served as the United States Secretary of State since 2009 and was the Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009. Both Clintons received law degrees from Yale Law School, where they met and began dating. As Governor of Arkansas, Clinton overhauled the state's education system, and served as Chair of the National Governors Association. Clinton was elected president in 1992, defeating incumbent president George H.W. Bush. As president, Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history. He signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement. He implemented Don't ask, don't tell, a controversial intermediate step to full gay military integration. After a failed health care reform attempt, Republicans won control of Congress in 1994, for the first time in forty years. Two years later, the re-elected Clinton became the first member of the Democratic Party since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win a second full term as president. He successfully passed welfare reform and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, providing health coverage for millions of children. Later, he was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice in a scandal involving a White House intern, but was acquitted by the U.S. Senate and served his complete term of office. The Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus between the years 1998 and 2000, the last three years of Clinton's presidency. Clinton left office with the highest end-of-office approval rating of any U.S. president since World War II. Since then, he has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. Based on his philanthropic worldview, Clinton created the William J. Clinton Foundation to promote and address international causes such as prevention of AIDS and global warming. In 2004, he released his autobiography My Life, and was involved in his wife's and then Barack Obama's campaigns for president in 2008. In 2009, he was named United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, and after the 2010 earthquake he teamed with George W. Bush to form the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. Since leaving office, Clinton has been rated highly in public opinion polls of U.S. presidents.

Tourism Indochina: Former US president Bill Clinton Made a Surprise Visit to Cambodia:
(Tourism Indochina:Date : 2006-12-06): SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AFP) - Former US president Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to Cambodias famed Angkor Wat temples, where he impressed tourists by scaling the highest temple in the complex. Clinton, in Cambodia to tour AIDS-related projects and local organizations supported by his foundation, did not speak to reporters but shook hands with tourists. "I am so glad that the former US president came to visit the temples," said Cambodian visitor Pol Khim Pisith, who briefly saw Clinton before security officials pushed him away. "Bill Clintons visit will make our Angkor Wat more and more famous and attract more tourists," he said. Dressed in khaki trousers and a gray shirt, Clinton -- who is 60 and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2004 -- climbed on the highest temple, surprising tourists who helped him up. "Clinton visiting the temples is a good surprise," Belgian tourist Andre Deceuninck told AFP as he tried to take a picture of the 42nd US president. "I didnt know he was coming to see the temples. I thought it was a joke."

But the heavy security -- from both US Secret Service and Cambodian officials -- frustrated many visitors. "I really wanted to see him but security officials did not allow me to go closer to him," said 78-year-old Buddhist monk Sim Son. The popular former president has already visited India, Thailand, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea as part of his Asian tour as special UN envoy for tsunami recovery and as head of his own Clinton Foundation. Clinton was scheduled to visit a hospital for children in Siem Reap later in the day before travelling to Vietnam.

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Tourism Indochina: Welcome to Banteay Chhmar Temple

Tourism Indochina: Welcome to Banteay Chhmar Temple

Banteay Chhmar​ (Khmer: បន្ទាយឆ្មារ) is a commune (khum) in Thma Puok District in Banteay Meanchey province in northwest Cambodia. It is located 63 km north of Sisophon and about 20 km east of the Thai border. The commune of Banteay Chhmar contains 14 villages. The massive temple of Banteay Chhmar, along with its satellite shrines and reservoir (baray), comprises one of the most important and least understood archaeological complexes from Cambodia's Angkor period.

Like Angkor Thom, the temple of Banteay Chhmar was accomplished during the reign of Jayavarman VII in the late 12th or early 13th century. One of the temple's shrines once held an image of Srindrakumara rajaputra (the crown prince), probably a son of Jayavarman VII. The long Old Khmer inscription found at the site (K.227), and now on display in the National Museum, Phnom Penh, relates how this prince or a king (samtac) was protected on two different occasions by four royal servants, all of whom lost their lives in his defense. The inscription lists the names of these officials and informs us that their respective images were once placed in the four corners of the shrine.

The complex resembles Angkor Thom and other structures attributed to Jayavarman VII. It is one of two sites outside Angkor with the enigmatic face-towers. Besides that, its outer gallery is carved with bas-reliefs depicting military engagements and daily life scenes very similar to the well-known ones in Bayon.

The complex is oriented to the east, where there's a dried baray (about 1.6 by 0.8 km), which had a temple on an artificial island (mebon) in its centre. There are three enclosures, as typical. The external one, largely ruined, was 1.9 by 1.7 km and surrounded by a moat. The middle enclosure, provided with a moat too, is 850 by 800 m. It contains the main temple, surrounded by a gallery with reliefs 250 by 200&nbps;m which constitutes the third inner enclosure.

Besides the main temple and the mebon there are other eight secondary temples. Four stelae detailing Jayavarman VII's genealogy were placed (though they remain unfinished) at each of the four corners of the third enclosure wall, mirroring the stelae that occupied the four corner-shrines (Prasat Chrung) of the king's capital at Angkor Thom.

Preservation of Banteay Chhmar is currently being led by Global Heritage Fund, a non-profit organization based in California. The organization's efforts thus far have included training a local Khmer team to conserve the sandstone bas-reliefs of the temple complex. Ultimately, GHF seeks to conserve the largely collapsed temple complex as a ruin "with low-impact, safe visitor access via suspended cable platforms over the fallen structures, along with selective interventions for high-risk structures, bas-reliefs and towers." GHF is also assisting the Cambodian government with the UNESCO World Heritage Site nomination and inscription process.


Banteay Chhmar is The potential Community Based Tourism Site in Cambodia:

Located in the northwestern of Cambodia and in Banteay Meanchey Province, Banteay Chhmar consists a XII century Angkorean Temple Complex. It is now renovated by the Global Heritage Fund. It is also contains the both Baray- rectangular water reservoirs- from the ancient times and from the Pol Pot era.

Indeed, supporting tourism means supporting economic. As tourism is considered to be a significant tool for poverty mitigation, the site is developed under the theme of Community Based Tourism. Banteay Chhmar is identified as the potential for community based tourism (CBT) in sustainable way that can help enhance local livelihood to a better condition while the three dimensions of social, economical and environmental aspects are taken into account.

Visitors can explore the historical site and enjoy a wide range of community based tourism activities. You can taste the food prepared by the local women, do picnic in the temple compound, spend a night in traditional wooden home stay and visit the Mekong Silk center to experience the process of gaining silk product and consequently be able to purchase the local product. To get deeply exploration, you can also visit the hidden satellite temples around Banteay Chhmar which is the unique experience that not many people have had. Generally, it is possible to access but only by walking. Those satellite temples are:

1. Chenh Choem Trey Temple (Raising Fish): a temple from the 12th century, located on a small hill with a small pond in the wet season.
2. Yeay Korm Temple: a small and much damaged temple where it is estimated that about 80 % is ruined.
3. West Samnang Ta Sok Temple: a temple that lies inside a forest on a mountain.
4. East Samnang Ta Sok Temple: a temple that resembles the main temple.
5. Ta Prum Temple and Balang Temple: Ta Prum temple is a beautifully restored temple that is surrounded by a mote. The ruins of the temple Balang is located nearby.
6. Me Bun Temple: a ruined temple with loose rocks but well visited by the local villagers.
7. Yeay Chour Temple: a much damaged temple that is not very clean and has many people living nearby.
8. Ta Em Temple (Sweet Man): a small temple where people live just besides.

The roads leading to the temples are small ancient roads which are in bad condition and some of the temples do not even have roads connected to them. Both CBT members and tourists wish to improve the access to the satellite temples. Your involvement and participation in the community based tourism will help economically contribute to the community physical infrastructure improvement.

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Tourism Indochina: US provides nearly $1 million for Bakheng temple restoration

Phnom Bakheng (Khmer: ប្រាសាទភ្នំបាខែង) at Angkor, Cambodia, is a Hindu temple in the form of a temple mountain. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built at the end of the 9th century, during the reign of King Yasovarman (889-910). Located atop a hill, it is nowadays a popular tourist spot for sunset views of the much bigger temple Angkor Wat, which lies amid the jungle about 1.5 km to the southeast. The large number of visitors makes Phnom Bakheng one of the most threatened monuments of Angkor.

TourismIndochina: Phnom Bakheng is a viewpoint of the setting sun

Constructed more than two centuries before Angkor Wat, Phnom Bakheng was in its day the principal temple of the Angkor region, historians believe. It was the architectural centerpiece of a new capital, Yasodharapura, that Yasovarman built when he moved the court from the capital Hariharalaya in the Roluos area located to the southeast.

An inscription dated 1052 AD. and found at the Sdok Kak Thom temple in present-day Thailand states in Sanskrit: "When Sri Yasovardhana became king under the name of Yasovarman, the able Vamasiva continued as his guru. By the king's order, he set up a linga on Sri Yasodharagiri, a mountain equal in beauty to the king of mountains." Scholars believe that this passage refers to the consecration of the Phnom Bakheng temple approximately a century and a half earlier.

Surrounding the mount and temple, labor teams built an outer moat. Avenues radiated out in the four cardinal directions from the mount. A causeway ran in a northwest-southeast orientation from the old capital area to the east section of the new capital's outer moat and then, turning to an east-west orientation, connected directly to the east entrance of the temple.

Phnom Bakheng is a symbolic representation of Mount Meru, home of the Hindu gods, a status emphasized by the temple’s location atop a steep hill. The temple faces east, measures 76 meters square at its base and is built in a pyramid form of six tiers. At the top level, five sandstone sanctuaries, in various states of repair, stand in a quincunx pattern—one in the center and one at each corner of the level’s square. Originally, 108 small towers were arrayed around the temple at ground level and on various of its tiers; most of them have collapsed.

Jean Filliozat of the Ecole Francaise, a leading authority on Indian cosmology and astronomy, interpreted the symbolism of the temple. The temple sits on a rectangular base and rises in five levels and is crowned by five main towers. One hundred four smaller towers are distributed over the lower four levels, placed so symmetrically that only 33 can be seen from the center of any side. Thirty-three is the number of gods who dwelt on Mount Meru. Phnom Bakheng's total number of towers is also significant. The center one represents the axis of the world and the 108 smaller ones represent the four lunar phases, each with 27 days. The seven levels of the monument represent the seven heavens and each terrace contains 12 towers which represent the 12-year cycle of Jupiter. According to University of Chicago scholar Paul Wheatley, it is "an astronomical calendar in stone."

Phnom Bakheng is one of three hilltop temples in the Angkor region that are attributed to Yasovarman's reign. The other two are Phnom Krom to the south near the Tonle Sap lake, and Phnom Bok, northeast of the East Baray reservoir.

Following Angkor's rediscovery by the outside world in the mid-19th century, decades passed before archeologists grasped Phnom Bakheng's historical significance. For many years, scholars' consensus view was that the Bayon, the temple located at the center of Angkor Thom city, was the edifice to which the Sdok Kak Thom inscription referred. Later work identified the Bayon as a Buddhist site, built almost three centuries later than originally thought, in the late 12th century, and Phnom Bakheng as King Yasovarman's state temple.

Tourism Indochina: US provides nearly $1 million for Bakheng temple restoration

The United States will provide almost a million dollars for continued preservation and conservation work on the Phnom Bakheng temple at the Angkor Archaeological Zone in Siem Reap, the US embassy said in a statement. The $978,705, provided through the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation to the World Monuments Fund, will allow work to be done on the 9th century Hindu temple's most visible, but heavily-damaged portion.


“The historic city of Angkor is one of the world’s cultural and architectural wonders. Conserving its monuments, which are a crucial part of Cambodian history, is one way to promote peace and prosperity in the country," said US Embassy Charge d'Affaires Piper Campbell. "This grant is therefore a significant diplomatic gesture, and it is important to note that it was made possible by strong Congressional interest," she added, speaking in Siem Reap on June 4.Phase One of World Monuments Fund’s work at the temple was conducted between 2004 and 2007 with a separate $550,000 grant from the US State Department.


This work included archaeological research, conservation assessments, the creation of a plan for the management of tourism at the site and emergency conservation measures. Phase Two will address some of the most urgent challenges at Phnom Bakheng protecting the temple structure from further deterioration through stabilization, waterproofing, repairs and partial reconstruction.


Located on a hilltop, Bakheng is a popular tourist spot to see sunset views of the nearby Angkor Wat temple; the most famous of the monuments in the Angkor complex.But the large numbers of visitors who scramble each day up Bakheng's worn stairways makes it one of the most threatened temples in the park.

Watch Sunset @ Phnom Bakheng Temple:



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Tourism Indochina: 10,000 Cambodians rally to celebrate ancient temple's World Heritage status

Tourism Indochina: 10,000 Cambodians rally to celebrate ancient temple's World Heritage status

(Tourism Indochina:Date : 2008-07-15):

Cambodia - Cambodians celebrated the U.N.'s listing of an 11th-century Hindu temple as a world cultural landmark with a mass rally, fireworks and plenty of nationalist songs Monday.A crowd estimated by authorities at 10,000 — some wearing white T-shirts emblazoned with the image of Preah Vihear temple — gathered to cheer the recognition by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee a week ago.


The listing angered political leaders in neighboring Thailand, and sparked small protests by some Thais who feared it would jeopardize their country's claims to disputed land adjacent to the site. Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who headed his government's lobbying efforts for the temple's status, recounted what he called repeated attempts by Thailand to prevent Cambodia from unilaterally pursuing its goal.


He dismissed as unacceptable Thailand's demand for a joint application with Cambodia because that would mean Phnom Penh would have to share ownership of the site."Our cause is just and fair. Our achievement is of great significance given the tough struggle we have managed to overcome," Sok An said to loud applause. "It also further reaffirms that Preah Vihear temple is Cambodia's."


In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the temple and the land it occupies to Cambodia, a decision that still rankles many Thais even though the temple is culturally Cambodian, sharing the Hindu-influenced style of the more famous Angkor complex in northwestern Cambodia.


Some Thais have been protesting the UNESCO listing near the border and demanding the eviction of Cambodians living on land near the temple. In response, Cambodia has sealed off access from Thailand to the temple, forcing many Cambodian vendors who survive on income from tourists to close their shops, said Hang Soth, director-general of the national authority for Preah Vihear temple.


He said some villagers were surviving on food aid sent by the Cambodian Red Cross.Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has accused Thai opposition politicians of exploiting the cross-border dispute to advance their own domestic political agenda and warned they might endanger bilateral relations.

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Preservation of Banteay Chhmar is currently being led by Global Heritage Fund

The massive temple of Banteay Chhmar, along with its satellite shrines and reservoir (baray), comprises one of the most important and least understood archaeological complexes from Cambodia's Angkor period.

Like Angkor Thom, the temple of Banteay Chhmar was accomplished during the reign of Jayavarman VII in the late 12th or early 13th century. One of the temple's shrines once held an image of Srindrakumara rajaputra (the crown prince), probably a son of Jayavarman VII. The long Old Khmer inscription found at the site (K.227), and now on display in the National Museum, Phnom Penh, relates how this prince or a king (samtac) was protected on two different occasions by four royal servants, all of whom lost their lives in his defense. The inscription lists the names of these officials and informs us that their respective images were once placed in the four corners of the shrine.

Preservation of Banteay Chhmar is currently being led by Global Heritage Fund, a non-profit organization based in California. The organization's efforts thus far have included training a local Khmer team to conserve the sandstone bas-reliefs of the temple complex. Ultimately, GHF seeks to conserve the largely collapsed temple complex as a ruin "with low-impact, safe visitor access via suspended cable platforms over the fallen structures, along with selective interventions for high-risk structures, bas-reliefs and towers." GHF is also assisting the Cambodian government with the UNESCO World Heritage Site nomination and inscription process.

Located in the northwestern of Cambodia and in Banteay Meanchey Province, Banteay Chhmar consists a XII century Angkorean Temple Complex. It is now renovated by the Global Heritage Fund. It is also contains the both Baray- rectangular water reservoirs- from the ancient times and from the Pol Pot era.

Indeed, supporting tourism means supporting economic. As tourism is considered to be a significant tool for poverty mitigation, the site is developed under the theme of Community Based Tourism. Banteay Chhmar is identified as the potential for community based tourism (CBT) in sustainable way that can help enhance local livelihood to a better condition while the three dimensions of social, economical and environmental aspects are taken into account.

Visitors can explore the historical site and enjoy a wide range of community based tourism activities. You can taste the food prepared by the local women, do picnic in the temple compound, spend a night in traditional wooden home stay and visit the Mekong Silk center to experience the process of gaining silk product and consequently be able to purchase the local product. To get deeply exploration, you can also visit the hidden satellite temples around Banteay Chhmar which is the unique experience that not many people have had. Generally, it is possible to access but only by walking. Those satellite temples are:

1. Chenh Choem Trey Temple (Raising Fish): a temple from the 12th century, located on a small hill with a small pond in the wet season.
2. Yeay Korm Temple: a small and much damaged temple where it is estimated that about 80 % is ruined.
3. West Samnang Ta Sok Temple: a temple that lies inside a forest on a mountain.
4. East Samnang Ta Sok Temple: a temple that resembles the main temple.
5. Ta Prum Temple and Balang Temple: Ta Prum temple is a beautifully restored temple that is surrounded by a mote. The ruins of the temple Balang is located nearby.
6. Me Bun Temple: a ruined temple with loose rocks but well visited by the local villagers.
7. Yeay Chour Temple: a much damaged temple that is not very clean and has many people living nearby.
8. Ta Em Temple (Sweet Man): a small temple where people live just besides.

The roads leading to the temples are small ancient roads which are in bad condition and some of the temples do not even have roads connected to them. Both CBT members and tourists wish to improve the access to the satellite temples. Your involvement and participation in the community based tourism will help economically contribute to the community physical infrastructure improvement.

Cambodia tours=> http://www.tourismindochina.com/cambodia/tours/
Vietnam tours=> http://www.tourismindochina.com/vietnam/tours/
Laos tours=> http://www.tourismindochina.com/laos/tours/
More about Cambodia Rice Exporter, please visit: http://www.cambodiaorganic.com/

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Banteay Chhmar: The potential Community Based Tourism Site in Cambodia

Located in the northwestern of Cambodia and in Banteay Meanchey Province, Banteay Chhmar consists a XII century Angkorean Temple Complex. It is now renovated by the Global Heritage Fund. It is also contains the both Baray- rectangular water reservoirs- from the ancient times and from the Pol Pot era.

Indeed, supporting tourism means supporting economic. As tourism is considered to be a significant tool for poverty mitigation, the site is developed under the theme of Community Based Tourism. Banteay Chhmar is identified as the potential for community based tourism (CBT) in sustainable way that can help enhance local livelihood to a better condition while the three dimensions of social, economical and environmental aspects are taken into account.

Visitors can explore the historical site and enjoy a wide range of community based tourism activities. You can taste the food prepared by the local women, do picnic in the temple compound, spend a night in traditional wooden home stay and visit the Mekong Silk center to experience the process of gaining silk product and consequently be able to purchase the local product. To get deeply exploration, you can also visit the hidden satellite temples around Banteay Chhmar which is the unique experience that not many people have had. Generally, it is possible to access but only by walking. Those satellite temples are:

1. Chenh Choem Trey Temple (Raising Fish): a temple from the 12th century, located on a small hill with a small pond in the wet season.
2. Yeay Korm Temple: a small and much damaged temple where it is estimated that about 80 % is ruined.
3. West Samnang Ta Sok Temple: a temple that lies inside a forest on a mountain.
4. East Samnang Ta Sok Temple: a temple that resembles the main temple.
5. Ta Prum Temple and Balang Temple: Ta Prum temple is a beautifully restored temple that is surrounded by a mote. The ruins of the temple Balang is located nearby.
6. Me Bun Temple: a ruined temple with loose rocks but well visited by the local villagers.
7. Yeay Chour Temple: a much damaged temple that is not very clean and has many people living nearby.
8. Ta Em Temple (Sweet Man): a small temple where people live just besides.

The roads leading to the temples are small ancient roads which are in bad condition and some of the temples do not even have roads connected to them. Both CBT members and tourists wish to improve the access to the satellite temples. Your involvement and participation in the community based tourism will help economically contribute to the community physical infrastructure improvement.

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Temple watch: The trip to Banteay Chhmar

The remote temple site of Banteay Chhmar is one of the greatest little-known wonders of northern Cambodia. Its scale is huge, and it originally covered an area twice that of Angkor Wat. Little remains of its original walls, but the central sanctuary within the moat has some remaining Bayon face-style towers. There are also impressive bas reliefs on the inner sanctuary walls.

This vast site is quite overgrown, and it's a wonderful place to visit in the rainy season. It's situated 70 kilometers north of Svay, also known by the Thai name Sisophon, and it's very close to the Thai border. It is unaffected by the border tensions at Preah Vihear and is jealously guarded by the Cambodian military which has a large camp nearby.

There is work in progress to restore the eastern walls and plans to restore parts of the interior of the temple. The supervisor of the work told me that the trees will eventually be removed and new ones planted outside.

Road conditions on my last visit in late September were very bad after heavy rain. It took over two-and-a-half hours by 4WD to get there from Siem Reap, but the return journey in dry conditions took less than half that time. Conditions won't improve until Route 6 is paved. Admission remains $5, and records show on average only one visitor signs in each day. So Banteay Chhmar is one of the best large temple sites to really get far away from the madding crowd.


Source Phnom Penh Post

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Will there a wall around Preah Vihear Temple

According to reports from some agencies in Phnom Penh, Cambodia is planning to build a "Berlin-style" wall to shut-off Thailand and develop tourist facilities around the still disputed Preah Vihear Temple by its own.

The Cambodian government will build a series of walls at "complicated border areas," while still calling for talks to mark and properly demarcate the frontier, Camdodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith and a government spokesman told reporters at a press conference.

"Both sides should start to discuss to plant border markers from undisputed border areas to the complicated border areas and some complicated border areas will be built with border markers or concrete walls," Khieu Kanharith said.

"Cambodia will allow private companies to invest at least $2 million dollars at the Preah Vihear Temple to set up cable cars for tourists," he explained, adding that the government is also trying to rebuild an existing road to the temple.

It seems that the Preah Vihear border gate to Thailand will only be opened again, when the situation there is stable, but foreign tourists could visit the temple from the Cambodian side. At the moment, authorities have closed the temple grounds to visitors. For decades, the only way to get to Preah Vihear was through Thailand, because the temple is situated atop a sharp cliff on the Cambodian side (http://www.tourismindochina.com/history-cambodia.htm).

Cambodia and Thailand share a border of over 800km with only 73 demarcation markers, the Cambodian official said on Sunday. At a meeting on Aug 18-19, Cambodian and Thai foreign ministers agreed to arrange second-phase troop redeployment at the disputed border area near the temple.

They agreed to a meeting of the Cambodian Temporary Coordinating Task Force and the Thai Regional Border Committee on Aug 29 in Cambodia to discuss the troop redeployment.The two foreign ministers also agreed to recommend to their governments that the next meeting of legal experts and the Thai-Cambodian Joint Border Committee be convened in early October, to discuss the issues related to border survey and demarcation of the relevant frontier sectors.

On July 15, Thai troops went into the border area to fetch three trespassers who had intended to claim Thai sovereignty over the Preah Vihear Temple. The incident triggered a military standoff, as troop strength on each side grew to more than 1,000 soldiers. In 1962, the International Court of Justice (or World Court) in Den Haag/Holland decided that the 11-century temple belongs to Cambodia (http://www.tourismindochina.com/preah_vehear.htm).



By Reinhard Hohler, eTN Ambassador, Chiang Mai

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The listing of Preah Vihear Temple as world heritage site could boost Cambodia Tourism

Preah Vihear is one of the most fascinating places in the world, with its ancient ruins and mysterious temple. Preah Vihear temple is the historical site named “Se Khari Svarak” means “power of mountain” and was built at the end of 9th century and at the beginning of 10th century by four Cambodian kings namely: Preah Bat Yak So Varman I (AD 889-910), Preah Bat Sorya Varman I (AD 1002-1050), Preah Bat Chey Varman VI (AD 1080-1109) and Preah Bat Sorya Varman II (AD 1113-1150).


After having been listed the Preah Vihear, a temple built in at the end 9th century, as a world heritage site, Cambodian was very happy with victorious event of the nation and celebrated a congratulation party at stadium in Phnom Penh. Listing Preah Vihear Temple as a world heritage site could not only help preserve the temple but also reflect an economic miracle that would help mitigate poverty, one of the most crucial Millennium Development Goals of Cambodia, through the tourism economic contribution while Cambodia’s Tourism Action Plan targeted 3.2 million tourists by 2010 and 5 million tourists in 2015. Preah Vihear's World Heritage listing reflects the success of the Cambodian Government's Economic Quadrangle policy.


It is no surprise to say that Preah Vihear Temple is one of the most foremost temples in Cambodia. Significantly, promoting the Preah Vihear site as a Cultural Development Area would be an option to enable Cambodia to enjoy economic benefits and let the world to increase cultural understanding as well as cultural link in the region via tourists flow.


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Angkor temple shooter to turn his lens to Preah Vihear

A Japanese photographer who has spent 15 years and millions of dollars shooting the Angkor Wat complex will now turn his attention to the controversial Preah Vihear temple, government officials said.Baku Saito, a 60-year-old freelance photographer, has won praise from Cambodian officials for restoring Khmer pride through his depictions of the ancient stone carvings at Angkor Archaeological Park.


His photos have toured the world and are now making their way through Cambodia in the “Holy Faces of Angkor” exhibition, which is being shown at the Cambodia-Japan Cooperation Center, inside the Royal University of Phnom Penh, until May 31. Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said the government was proud of Saito’s work because it brought Cambodia’s rich past to the world stage and helped strengthen the roots of Khmer people.


“We learned that his job wasn’t done in one or two days, in fact it took more than 10 years and cost him millions of dollars,” Sok An said at the exhibition’s opening on May 17.He added that Saito was now considering turning his lens on Preah Vihear temple, an ancient set of Hindu ruins on the Thai border that is at the center of a long-running territorial dispute with the neighboring kingdom.


Ek Buntha, deputy director general of cultural affairs at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said Saito “plans to take photos at Preah Vihear for the next half-year.” In the mid-1990s, Saito was part of a Japanese-funded team documenting the Angkor ruins. He was tasked with photographing the stone faces at the Bayon temple and his since built a portfolio containing hundreds of images of the site.


The photos I took are not just for fun,” Saito said on May 17. “I took them to show the world and make people aware of the richness of Khmer culture” in the 12th and 13th centuries.He estimated that his craft has cost him $5 million over the years, although his photos now fetch $4,000 to $5,000 each.


By Kay Kimsong


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New Angkor museum has eight galleries and a sound dome

The new $15 million Angkor National Museum, built with Thai investment, officially opened in Siem Reap with a ribbon cutting ceremony November 12. SIEM REAP - The new $15 million Angkor National Museum, built with Thai investment, officially opened in Siem Reap with a ribbon cutting ceremony November 12.


By the next day, crowds of tourists were wandering through the museum's eight galleries. The museum includes a "sound dome" where visitors can hear readings of ancient Khmer texts and it has a replication of the sunset over Angkor Wat.


Audio tapes are being produced in seven different languages. Multi-lingual tour guides are available.


In addition to the galleries, the museum has a "cultural mall" with various restaurants some for families and others for fine dining, as well as boutiques and a spa. "We've had really good feed- back so far and we are delighted," said Nina Lee, the museum's marketing director.


"The exclusive gallery of 1,000 Buddha images has been very popular." Lee said the museum is designed to offer information about Cambodia's present and past. Prime Minister Hun Sen, who presided over the ceremony with his wife Bun Rany, said private investment in museums will help Cambodia to combine heritage preservation with development.


"We must encourage private companies to build museums," he said. "They will help us to preserve and also draw profit into the country with more tourism."Hun Sen's daughter, Hun Mana, is chairwoman of the new museum. Lee said Hun Mana comes "very frequently to monitor what is going on. Everything goes through her."


An unidentified Thai business interest has a 30-year concession to run the museum. The managing director is Sunaree Wongpiyabovora, from Thailand. Entrance fees are $12 for foreigners and $3 for Cambodians. A press release called the structure a "world class museum" and "a cultural learning institute that enhances artefact preservation, collection and restoration."


Despite private funding, the museum was developed in close collaboration with the Cambodian government. The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts (MCFA) provided the curators. All of the artefacts in the museum will be looked after by MCFA and Angkor Conservation, the organization which oversees the management of Angkor temples. "The museum will give its visitors a deeper understanding of Khmer history so when they go to the actual temples they will have a better experience," said Lee. "We want the museum to help Cambodians, especially the younger generation, to understand more about their history." Written by Cat Barton


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Overcrowding Tourists at Angkor Wat

The large number of tourists visiting Angkor Wat has become a problem of overcrowding in the famous archaeological and historical heritage site in Siem Reap. Expert and conservationists and about 225 scientists attended the meeting on restoration and preservation of ancient Angkor sites, held in Siem Reap on June 4 and 5, 2008.


Despite the fact that authority put strong much effort on site management, the overcrowded tourist leads to serious problem and many major site are being damaged unintentionally. Tourists cannot be stopped, but the appropriate strategies should be taken in to the priority consideration in order to fix the problems that may seriously occur effectively and on time. Diversification of attraction for tourists to visit can be a strategic solution of the site. One of the organizers, UNESCO's Program Specialist Philippe Delanghe, said that the development of new attractions is a priority for managing tourist traffic.


However, development of new attractions must be in sustainable manner and not damaging, while maintain and contribute economical benefit to all stakeholders and have the same share goals and interests.

By CHHEM Samnang



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Cable Car and Air port construction proposal in Preah Vihear

Preah Vihear temple, one of the popular heritage destinations in Cambodia, received 110, 000 visitors last year and this number is expected to rise when the accessible road is improved. Prime Minister Hun Sen last month inaugurated a 118 km road, linking to Preah Vihear’s Provincial capital Tbeng MeanChey with the temple.


According to the senior government official on 14 May, An Indian Company has unveiled the multimillion-dollar proposal to construct the air port serving the Preah Vihear Temple. Hong Soth, the director of the Preah Vihear National Authority, said the cable car is included in the proposal. This proposal would be potential to attract more tourists to Preah Vihear Temple. The proposal is in processing and five members team of the company has arranged the further talk with the government.


In order to minimize the negative impact of vibration destruction, the air port is expected to build 32 km from the temple in the case that the proposal is approval. Cambodia officials hope that the temple will be listed in the World Heritage Site but this is not yet preceded due to the disputation over the surrounding land ownership with Thailand.


By CHHEM Samnang


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The famous film, actress and temple complex, all in Tomb Raider

Film tourism is a growing phenomenon worldwide, fueled by both the growth of the entertainment industry and the increase in international travel. To get to know Cambodia, one of the most famous films called Tomb Raider, the fantastic and enjoyable movie, taken apart in the area of famous temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia, can be one of the thousand ways that make you interesting both the amazing cultural destination in Cambodia and the most famous Hollywood Star, Angelina Jolie, known as Lara Croft who plays substantial role in Tomb Raider


Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has been awarded Cambodian citizenship in recognition of her environmental and conservation work in the country. King Norodom Sihamoni signed a royal decree approving the citizenship on 31 July 2004. Regarding to the film, The Cambodian temple complex, where Croft must retrieve the half of the triangular MacGuffin, is at Siem Reap in Cambodia, where she arrives, with game-style ease, onto Phnom Bakheng, a hill topped by a Hindu temple (though the site later became a Buddhist centre).


This film is absolutely cool. Jolie is a talent and active actress in this film. She made the whole film interesting and performed well with the most famous Angkor, the largest the religious monument in the world and a World Heritage Site.


Prepared by CHHEM Samnang


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