The Archeological complex of Banteay Chhmar

Put this one on your to-do list, as Banteay Chhmar may be nominated in the next few years by Cambodia. Serious restorations and improvements of the visiting conditions have taken place, especially since 2017. A lot of money and effort has been put into what is still a remote site not far from the border with Thailand. As with the other Cambodian sites, most of the work is being carried out by local workers and paid for by the Cambodian government. In the earlier stages of its rediscovery and preservation, both the World Monuments Fund and the Global Heritage Fund have been active here as well to mitigate the effects of structural instability and looting.

The Archeological complex of Banteay Chhmar is the focal point of the contemporary town that bears the same name. The ancient site is encircled by a wide moat, still filled with water. The modern town is much smaller and feels like a temporary set-up at its fringes.

My visit to Banteay Chhmar was organized by the local Community-Based Tourism (CBT) group. I stayed overnight in one of their homestays (in a fine room on the second floor of a traditional wooden building) and had lunch and dinner at their CBT clubhouse. A local guide showed me around the archaeological complex. And one of their drivers brought me to the border with Thailand at Poipet the next day. When tourism picks up, the question is how long this CBT structure will continue to exist: …

This is a little way off the beaten track, but well worth a visit if you are in North-Western Cambodia. The ruins are some of the most extensive from the Angkorian period and contain some particularly fine carvings, ranking along with the finest at Angkor Wat.

The remains are pretty extensive and are very much still ruins, you will have to clamber over toppled rocks for pretty much the whole time you are in the central complex so take a sturdy pair of shoes and a decent dose of common sense as some of the structures are very precarious. The most impressive single element was the carving of the multi armed goddess'. There are only two of these remaining after several other were brutally hacked of a sent out of the country in one of the most astounding pieces of cultural barbarism I have encountered. However it is not all bad news, I had a tour of the site with Mr Sy from the local Community Based Tourism project. This group along with the Global Heritage Fund have been putting in a lot of effort to promote the sites. The GHF have also been doing some extensive restoration and mapping of the area, both to help preserve it and to help with its nomination to the World Heritage list, an overview of the work can be found here. This would make a great WHS and would be suitable reward for the local and international efforts that have been put into …