The face of the Angkor Empire

The northern face tower of Prasat Samnang Tasok, at Banteay Chhmar

I promised to bring you some more photos from Banteay Chhmar. So here they are. Well actually, they are photos from Prasat Samnang Tasok, one of the nine satellite temples that surround the main complex at Banteay Chhmar. It is one of four standing satellite temples with the Bayon-like faces. The other remaining satellite temples may've had them in the past, but they are now in disrepair and all trace of the faces have disappeared. Samnang Tasok is essentially a gate-tower, such as you'd find at the city of Angkor Thom, standing to the east of the main complex, amidst dense vegetation and undergrowth, with a ruined gopura nearby. In fact we camped next to its moat and you wouldn't have known there was a temple inside the dense foliage until you walked inside and saw the faces peering directly at you. There's something about these giant faces that have captured my imagination since I first saw them at Angkor Thom, oh so many years ago. 1994 to be precise. I truly believe that they belong to the god-king Jayavarman VII. I don't have any evidence, just my gut-feeling. Probably, because I want them to be of Jayavarman. They are an incredible legacy from the Angkor Empire and everything should be done to protect and preserve them whilst they are still in situ. One of the face towers in the central complex has already collapsed, this cannot be allowed to happen again. I'm pleased to see conservation efforts are being undertaken at Banteay Chhmar, there is much to do and I hope one of their priorities is to ensure the stability of all the face towers.

The blind doorway and northern face at Prasat Samnang Tasok

The decoration is still visible around the north face of the gate-tower

The western face is in a much poorer condition and will only get worse without restoration

The doorway and western face of Prasat Samnang Tasok

This is the southern face of the gate-tower

The southern (left) and eastern faces of Samnang Tasok at Banteay Chhmar

A longer shot of the southern and eastern faces at the satellite temple, east of the main complex

Samnang Tasok's magic

The mysterious east face of Prasat Samnang Tasok

Our first look at Samnang Tasok, showing the east face from the broken gopura

Prasat Samnang Tasok brings back memories. Both good and bad. It's one of the nine satellite temples that surround the main central complex of Banteay Chhmar. The first time I went there in November 2o01 I didn't even know the other temples existed. It wasn't until my January 2005 return to Banteay Chhmar that I had my first opportunity to uncover their whereabouts, thanks to the diminuative Sita and my moto-driver Heang. And they were a great find, especially the temples like Samnang Tasok that were essentially gate-towers with Bayon-style faces looking out in all four directions. With the ruined temples covered in vegetation and dense undergrowth, and seeing those faces peering through the foliage above, this was temple discovery at its very best. For its part, Samnang Tasok had a sting in its tail. Here's my text from that first visit to this satellite temple, located to the east of the main complex:

The path into the complex of Prasat Samnang Tasok was fairly straightforward aside from the ferocious red ants, so standing still was asking for trouble. The floor of the site was covered in thick bushes so it was easier to utilise the walls and roof of the outer gopura to make our way to the central sanctuary, which was topped by four more giant faces and other carvings. Like the majority of the temples we'd located, apart from the three of us, not another soul was anywhere to be seen and the only sounds we heard were birdcalls and the occasional rustle of a lizard amonst the undergrowth. On the way out, I was perched precariously on the lintel of a gateway when two red ants bit into my stomach after crawling up my trousers - I managed to keep my balance, though this final warning from the 'guardians' reminded me that temple exploration has a downside!

On my recent return to Banteay Chhmar, we camped out overnight right alongside the moat that surrounds Samnang Tasok. The temple is still in the midst of undergrowth and still retained that magic feeling as we walked through the tree cover and emerged to find ourselves looking at the stone faces in the forest. Here are some of those faces.

On the left the south face and the east face on the right

Buddha carvings at the base of the east entrance to the face tower

Buddha in meditation at Prasat Samnang Tasok

More Buddha in meditation motifs alongside this colonette

A circular doorway medallion with bird motifs in the center

The east face of Samnang Tasok

On the left, the east face and the profile of the north face at Samnang Tasok

Making camp

Its 6.30am and the early morning sun shows our safari tent and last night's fire

Beautiful early morning light on the moat and trees surrounding Prasat Samnang Tasok

In a precursor to my pictures from my recent visit to Banteay Chhmar, I need to provide some context. I was travelling with my brother Tim and two drivers in a 4WD and after leaving Anlong Veng, which I've covered in previous postings, we arrived at our camp-site at 6pm. The site wasn't inside the main body of the central complex, instead it was right next to the moat surrounding one of the nine satellite temples that orbit around Banteay Chhmar. The temple name was Prasat Samnang Tasok. Our crew had arrived before us and set up the camp. A large safari-style double tent for Tim and myself, with a shower and toilet tent nearby. The rest of the crew would sleep in small individual tents closeby but out of sight. We'd called into the market near the main temple for some water supplies before we settled down onto our comfy beds to discuss the day's adventures, before a nice warm shower and a dinner that would not have been out of place at a city restaurant. Three excellent courses, followed by dessert, eaten in a clearing next to a water-filled moat surrounding a 12th century gateway - does it get better than this? After chewing the fat for a couple more hours, we switched off the fans and fell asleep to the occasional howl in the distance - wild dog, monkey, tiger, we didn't know. Up and showered by 7am, it was time for another food extravaganza, this time a hearty breakfast to set us up for the rest of the day. Then it was time to explore. Prasat Samnang Tasok was less than fifty metres away and it was a temple that I'd experienced before. More later.

Inside the safari tent are our two comfortable beds and fan
Mr Comedy himself, Tim in the toilet tent

Two youngsters fill their water containers from the moat of the main temple

The moat surrounding the central complex at Banteay Chhmar

Faces in the forest

The south face of Prasat Samnang Tasok with its bewitching smile

This week I will bring you the pictures from my recent visit to the temple complex of Banteay Chhmar in northwestern Cambodia. Banteay Chhmar is one of my favourite locations, so staying overnight in a luxury safari tent, inches from the moat surrounding the western satellite temple of Prasat Samnang Tasok, waking up to the sounds of early morning birdcalls and cicadas, was exactly what the doctor ordered. More from my Banteay Chhmar adventures later this week.