1 Day Tour: Beng Melea Temple and Kampong Kleang Floating Village

1 Day Tour: Beng Melea Temple and Kampong Kleang Floating Village

Beng Melea – The Lotus Lake

Beng Melea temple was built during the reign of King Suryavarman II and is contemporary with Angkor Wat and Thommanon. This period of temple design is considered the ‘Golden Age’ of classical Khmer architecture and represents the high water mark of the Angkorian empire.

Beng Melea is located about 80km from Siem Reap and its tumbled ruins and underground passageways offer tourists an authentic Indiana Jones experience. There are wooden walkways over the more hazardous areas but these don’t detract from Beng Melea’s ambience. Creepers festoon the walls and carved lintels lay buried under thick moss and jungle growth. There are some superb examples of Apsara carvings on the extant parts of the temple, but the real charm of Beng Melea is its sense of ruined grandeur.

Kampong Kleang Floating Village

Kampong Kleang is the most remote and least visited of the floating villages on the Tonle Sap. Consequently, a tour of the village offers a truly authentic view of the lives of the people that make a living from Cambodia’s Great Lake. The village is a great place to visit in the rainy season or the dry season and a mouth-watering prospect for anyone with an interest in photography. 

Avoid boat trips in the dry season as there is not so much to see. Instead, allow your guide to walk you through the maze of towering stilt houses and local businesses and get a genuine sense of the life of the villagers. 

During the rainy season, the low-lying areas of the village are completely submerged and the villagers switch from growing crops to fishing-related activities. This is the time for a spectacular boat journey through Kampong Kleang’s flooded streets and out onto the vast expanse of the Great Lake.

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