Journey to the Kulen Plateau

Route: Siem Reap - Kulen plateau (river of a thousand lingams, Buddhist temple, caves of ascetics, temple of the pre-Angkor period, waterfall, 45 km from Siem Reap) - village of palm sugar producers - Siem Reap

We offer you a fascinating excursion to the National Park on the Kulen plateau. We will go to the top of the mountain range, it is a very popular place with the local population. Mount Kulen is the beginning for the Khmers, and it was here that the ruler Jayavarman II proclaimed himself Chakravartin as the “God King” in 802 AD and marked the beginning of the ancient Khmer Empire. Our journey will begin with a walk along the mountain river “thousands of ling”. The water of this river was considered sacred, given that Jayavarman II himself bathed here, and then diverted the waters of the stream to the carvers to create images on its rock bottom. The carvings include an image of Vishnu lying on the serpent Anantha-shesha and his wife Lakshmi beside his feet. On the lotus flower emerging from its navel is the image of Brahma and of course thousands of fertility symbols (ling and yoni) at the bottom of the stream (thresholds 1000 ling). The stream ends with a waterfall and a pond. The next step of our journey is the peak of the mountain cliff, where the Buddhist monastery of the XVI century Preahangtha is cozy, in which there is an 8-meter statue of the reclining Buddha carved from a monolith. Near the monastery there is a large linga of Shiva and the yoni of his wife Parvati, here you can perform the ritual of ablution and recharge with positive energy. The gift of this day will be swimming in the cool waters of the waterfall. Throughout the day, we will make stops for tasting unique coffee, the recipe of which is kept secret, try unique sweets made of palm sugar, taste amazing red bananas and sugar pineapples. Today promises to be not only informative, but also pleasant to the taste. The dynamics of our trip depends on your wishes, an excursion to the Kulen Plateau can be complemented by a visit to the temple in the jungles of Beng Melea and Bantey Srei, which is an example of the unique architecture of the period of the Angkor Empire. In the forests of the Kulen plateau are the remains of 56 temples of one of the capitals of Jayavarman II – Mahendraparvata, we have a unique opportunity to visit this city, which was opened in 2013 with the help of aerial laser scanning technology. The area of Mahendraparvata is at least 14 square miles. The ruins of some temples were already known to archaeologists, but before the use of aerial scanning, no one suspected that they were part of a single urban complex. Discovered city 350 years older than Angkor Wat, it was founded in the early IX century. We offer you a walking route with an overnight stay in a Buddhist temple and a motorcycle route (duration 4-5 hours).

The cost of individual routes is calculated separately, depending on your wishes.

The cost of a tour per person depends on the size of the group.