After a lovely bike ride passing rice fields and the occasional temple ruin, I stopped at Prasat Prerup. Like Angkor Wat, this one also has five towers: one at each corner and one in the middle. The middle tower is higher than the others, so that from every direction it appears as if there are three towers of equal height.
The next temple, East Mebon, was only about one kilometer from Prasat Prerup. East Mebon used to be located on an island in a huge artificial water reservoir. The reservoir dried up long ago, but Google Maps still shows the ex-reservoir in blue color - there's just no better way of confusing geeks ("By now, I should be seeing the lake... where's the damn lake? Am I on the right road at all?")
East Mebon is another temple with five towers on its highest platform. The height of this platform and the angle by which you ascend is slightly less than at the other temples, so it is actually possible to take a picture where all five of the towers are visible:
On one of the lower platforms, carved elephants are standing at the corners. Amazing how they still look like elephants after all these years, isn't it?
The next temple on the circuit was Ta Som. The temple layout reminded me of Banteay Kdei and Ta Phrom which I had seen on my first visit to Angkor - and there was another similarity to Ta Phrom: the eastern gate has been all but swallowed by a huge tree. I love how the trees grow out and over ancient buildings - the ultimate reminder that to the jungle, humans are just passing visitors.
The next temple, Neak Pean, consisted of a small sanctuary surrounded by a few artificial pools that used to have fountains, or at least water spouts. Only a viewing platform was accessible, which made for a very quick visit.
The last temple on the circuit was Preah Khan. Unlike the other temples I'd seen, this one consisted of a long succession of doorways and hallways. I'm not sure if the doorways used to actually be equipped with doors, but the visual effect without doors is without doubt superior.
Most walls in this temple, like in most others, are richly decorated. The Khmer empire must have had legions of dedicated stone carvers to accomplish all this! Just look at the detail in the carving of this tree, complete with small animals roaming around in it:
Preah Kahn is another temple where not all of the jungle has been cleared away. Next to the tree sitting on the wall, observe the elaborate fake windows decorating the length of the wall:
