Visiting Angkor Wat and the temples in the surrounding Angkor complex is one of life’s necessities — like a kidney, or an IPod. You just have to. And you will love every last templed square inch of the place.
Ta Prohm, meaning “Old Brahma”– the Hindu god of Creation, is one of the smaller temples in the Angkor park, but one of the most spectacular. It’s one of those magical, mystical places that just looks too good to be real, which is probably why they used it in that awful Angelina Jolie movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. It’s Indiana Jones meets the Hobbits. And unlike most things in Angkor, it hasn’t been completely restored by the Chinese.
Silk-cotton trees and strangler vines weave a tangled splendour over stones that never stood a chance — the living triumph over the dead in this place.
This is the most popular site within Ta Prohm…
Travel Tips:
- Be patient. There are lots of tourists here, but if you see a crowd, don’t despair. Just head off to one of the other sites within the temple and return later. The most popular site noted above had about 30 Japanese students posing in front of it when I got there. I went back 15 minutes later and it was blissfully tourist-free.
- If you’re taking a tuk-tuk, get your driver to drop you off at one end and pick you up on the other.
- Unlike the other temples, this one had no vendors inside, so enjoy the peace and quiet while you can.
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Oh my gosh – i’ve been dying to get here!!! was it difficult to get to?
The bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap takes about 6 hours. From there it’s just about 10 minutes outside of town. Well worth the trip though…
Thanks for commenting!
I love it. Nice pictures ….
thanx
Thanks Roland!
Wow, I would love to go there, the pictures are amazing, such a wonder that tree.
Yeah it’s a pretty awesome place…
I want to go here so bad! Love the pictures!
Thanks Ashley! It’s one of the top places I would recommend.
“Peace and quiet” is right! That practically screams from the photos.
It was peacful and quiet at times…
That was one of my favorite temples as well, when I visited Angkor. The vegetation and growth in and around the stones gave it an amazing jungly feel.
Awesome pictures Raymond!
Thanks Mark! Hope you’re enjoying China!
Love the pictures! Definitely somewhere we need to go to in the future! Love that you were able to capture tourist-free pictures!
I am a very patient man! I just backtracked a couple of times when the crowds had shifted. Still, it wasn’t nearly as bad as Angkor Wat at sunrise — that place was a zoo!
I love Angkor Wat so much. I’m hoping to get back there next year.
We found a couple of tuk tuk drivers in the tourist strip one night and asked them to pick us up at 4am WITHOUT THE TUK TUKS, just the motorbikes.
The guys took us to a magical temple and we clambered over fallen stones in the dark and then watched the the sun rise and heard the jungle wake up. It was magical.
Bayon was my favourite temple, though. It gave me the shivers, even when it was filled with tourists.
I quite enjoyed the tuk-tuk. The 4 AM pick-up I did not…
But you are right — it is magical, and I would love to go back as well.
My, how beautiful!
It’s a place I definitely want to visit.
Every angle in that place is stunning…I ate it up!
Your website and awesome photos are just the reason that I felt obliged to mention you as inspiration in my Evolution of a Traveling Blog post. Thanks for continuing to amaze. You rock!
Amberr, you are far too kind! Thanks for the mention — I’m heading on over to your site…NOW!
These trees devoring the temple are absolutely amazing and for me, I don’t knwo why, look like eveil spirits. Your pictures sent a shiver down my spine.
I love scaring Grannies!
love how the trees become a part of the building, almost like they are reclaiming what is theirs. great hots, cant wait to get there!
See response to Randy above.
You just reminded me… I must buy a new iPod while I’m visiting the US because it is on its last leg.
Back on topic… These trees are awesome. I LOVE giant, crazy-looking trees.
I’d like to get some for my condo. Trees that is, not iPods.
Those trees are really cool! Angkor Wat is one of the places we missed during our SE Asia tour, but we got to see the My Son Temples in Vietnam, so it made up for it slightly.
I’ll be heading there in a couple of weeks!
What a truly mystical place. The roots on the trees look remarkable against the buildings. Weird but beautiful. I can understand why this is the best thing you’ve seen so far on your trip.
Words defy me — it was magic.
Really looking forward to visiting this temple! Thanks for the inside look.
You should go. NOW!
Wow. I cannot believe such a thing actually exists. How magnificent!!
It’s spookily, scarily, awesomely cool!
Great pictures! Is this particular temple within riding distance? I know a friend of mine rode to a few temples to avoid being harassed by tuk tuk drivers.
I saw lots of people riding bikes in from town, so it is doable for sure. I took the tuk-tuk though, and I’m glad I did — with all that walking up those massive temple steps, there was no way I would have wanted to ride a bike as well…
Beautiful photos! I look forward to going here someday – so many people say things along the same lines as you have here. And I love my iPod and my kidney(s)!!
You have some amazing pictures of the trees and the temple!
I’ve visted the temples of Angkor 3 times & for good reason – they’re *insert expletive* spectacular!
I do love how nature reclaims things we build!
It’s like, “Take that temple! Yeah, who’s your daddy now?”
My favorite temple too!
I would have to say it was the best site at Angkor for sure.
I’d get a driver for the day who knows the rhythms of the different groups. We saw a lot of Ta Prohm and really appreciated it.
I’m leading a group of 20 college students here next month (egads!) so thanks for the visual stimulation to get me excited =) Never been before!
Awesome pics……its been on my bucketlist for yrs now and one day soon hopefully…
Trees are my friends. True story, the stomp temples any day.
Crap, I meant “they”… guh, I’m going to make a second coffee.
I hadn’t realized that there were so bloody many trees growing on the ruins when I went there. But now that I think about it, yeah there were a lot of trees. Awesome photos man!
Thanks Jarmo! The trees were what made it for me…
stunning photos of Angkor Wat. I can see why this is a sight not to be missed. Hopefully I can see this myself at the end of the year!
I would highly recommend for you to see it. You will not be disappointed.
That place was really so scary and I hadn’t realized too that there were so bloody many trees growing on the ruins when I went there. But I think this was a great shot and looks so awesome.
Thanks John.
I should have read your blog before I went for these valuable tips. Couldn’t get a decent shot at Ta Phrom nor in Angkor Wat and all other temples. Just the same, it was a wonderful holiday. Stunning photos you have here!
awesome, thanks for posting all those photos! I love how the trees are fluidly cascading over the temple, so so cool!