A great way to ease into the Siem Reap temple tour is to acclimate with some of the less famous and thus quieter temples on the Angkor circuit. A sunset tour of the delightful, yet underrated Pre Rup is just the ticket! Pre Rup means to “turn the body,” which pretty much makes this temple an ancient crematorium for royalty — but don’t let that turn you off!

Buying Tickets For The Ankor Wat Tour

The Tuk-Tuk driver arrived at our hotel promptly at 4:30pm to take us over to the Angkor Wat ticket office to purchase our tickets. I had read that if we purchased our tickets after 5pm, we’d be able to use the tickets to do a sunset tour of the iconic Ankor Wat temple, this very evening, as well as full-day use tomorrow. The ticket office closed at 6pm. So, vroom vroom, off we set!

There was some disappointment as we learned that the sunset tour of Angkor Wat was already at capacity. In order to somewhat preserve this historic jewel, only 300 people are allowed up to Bakheng Hill to view the sunset with Angkor Wat in the foreground. But not to fret, our ticket lady told us. It’s too hot right now anyway. Long lines. Better to do sunset at Pre Rup and then sunrise at Angkor Wat. So, we paid the $37 each for the 1-day pass. We got a picture snapped. We each got a ticket with our picture on it, making it non-transferable. We were told to have the ticket on us at all times, as we will have to show it to gatekeepers often.

Waiting in line to buy the $37 day-pass for Angkor Wat

Riding to Rup

Tin, our neatly dressed Tuk-tuk driver is waiting for us with a warm smile, in the parking lot. “Where we go?” He asks. “Pre Rup!” We say. Vroom, vroom! The ride to the temple was glorious. A warm breeze had us gliding by small villages, homes, fruit stands, art stands, people cooking, eating, playing, walking, selling fruit. And then, a river scene opens up, with families picnicking all along the water, hanging out for the sunset. Really sweet and tranquil vibes.

At some point, in a woodsy area, we are asked to show our tickets. Both Wendy and I have them handy and pass them over to Tin, to hand over to the agents. We are given clearance and are allowed to move on. Within a few minutes, and right before 5:30pm, we are in front of the impressive mountain-temple style ruin known as Pre Rup. The temple is walled in by red brick all around. We agree to meet Tin outside the wall, around 7pm, when the temple closes.

Entering the ruins 

Climbing Up Pre Rup

Pre Rup is a Hindu temple that was built in 961 AD for King Rajendra Varman as a place to worship the Lord Shiva. It is situated on a little hill, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forest. The construction is made up of laterite, sandstone and brick, giving this temple a very warm reddish tone that is fully accentuated by early morning and late afternoon sunlight.

It was our first evening and our first temple visit in Cambodia. The three sun-drenched brick towers beckoned us towards them. Along the way, children ran up to us to sell us fruits and candies. Some men played hacky sack in a wide circle. Women hawked textiles and drawings of the temple. Dogs slept in the red, sandy pathway.

After roaming around and through the large brick hallways at the base of the pyramid-like structure, we climbed up the high-stepping stairway to a mid-point terrace and then onward to the very top. As to be expected, a throng of people were already up there. There seemed to be a popular viewing ledge where folks were already seated, dangling their legs and awaiting the sunset show.

We walked every corner of the top tier, just taking it all in. It’s pretty incredible. A quincunx layout of five lotus towers, with the main tower in the middle. Stairs. Doors. False doors. Carvings of Hindu deities. You cannot actually go into any of the towers. Pre Rup means “Turning the Body” and refers to a traditional method of cremation, suggesting that the temple may have served as an early royal crematorium.

While we still had light, Wendy was busy snapping photographs, experiencing it all via her lens. The view is really quite expansive. From up here we could look down and get a birds eye view of the grounds and see what everyone was up to on either side of the wall. Giant dramatic stone lions guard the towers by roaring up at the sky. Yeah, the top of Pre-Rup is a pretty great spot to just sit and stare out at the surrounding jungle. Chill. Meditate. Be one with the setting sun. A wonderful way to begin the Angkor Wat experience.

 

Slideshow – Swipe and take a look around with us
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