Beng Mealea is another temple in the Angkor Wat style approx 40km from Angkor Wat. It was listed in a guide as relatively "tourist free" due to the distance. It was also mostly unrestored so we felt more like explorers than tourists as we climbed around the rubble. It was also originally built as a Hindu Temple but carvings indicate it was also used as a Buddhist Temple.
Here we mostly enjoyed seeing the temple in a mostly unrestored state and seeing lots of vegetation growing over everything.
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The first one is Prasat Lolei, a very small temple but also has an interesting modern Buddhist Temple next door. The highlights of the Buddhist Temple are the amazingly neon paintings and the case in the back corner filled with the bones of Khmer Rouge victims.
The second one is Preah Ko, built around the year 879 and the oldest of the three.
The final stop was the nicest. Bakang was built in the end of the 9th Century and one of the last temples built before Angkor.
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