Roluos: the first capital

Three ninth-century temples and a working monastery in the village of Roluos, where the story of Angkor began a hundred years before Angkor Wat.

Area

Grand circuit & Roluos

Start from

Siem Reap town

Distance

about 13 km east of town

Time needed

half a day

Best season

All year; late afternoon at Bakong

Difficulty

Easy

Transport

Tuk-tuk or bicycle along National Road 6

Tickets & rules

Angkor Pass; covered shoulders and knees

Why go

Roluos is where I went when I wanted to understand Angkor from the beginning. The temples here are older, smaller and built mostly of brick, and the setting is rural: cows in the shade of temple walls, rice fields, a small market, and a Buddhist monastery built right on top of an ancient sanctuary.

Bakong, the largest, is a five-tiered pyramid surrounded by a moat. It is the first true temple-mountain of the Khmer, the model for everything that came later, and its top platform is a wonderful place to sit in the evening. Monks from the modern pagoda next door walk past in orange robes, and the light on the old sandstone is lovely.

There is rarely a crowd, and in the late afternoon you may have Preah Ko to yourself, apart from a dog sleeping in the shade of the sacred bulls.

The story

In the late ninth century, this area was Hariharalaya, the capital of the Khmer kings before they moved to Angkor. King Indravarman I, who came to the throne in 877, launched an ambitious programme: first a huge reservoir, then a temple for his ancestors, then a temple-mountain for the state. The pattern he set, water first and then temples, was followed by his successors for centuries.

Preah Ko, consecrated in 879, has six brick towers dedicated to the king’s ancestors, three for men and three for women. Its name means sacred bull, after the three statues of Nandi, the mount of Shiva, that kneel in front of it. Some of the original stucco survives on the brick, showing how finely the towers were once decorated.

Bakong was dedicated in 881. Lolei, built in 893 by Indravarman’s son Yasovarman I, once stood on an island in the middle of the reservoir; today the reservoir is gone and a monastery shares the hill with its four brick towers. Soon afterwards, Yasovarman moved the capital north to Angkor, building Phnom Bakheng at the centre of his new city.

Getting there

Follow National Road 6 east from town for about thirteen kilometres, then turn right in Roluos village. The road is busy, so a tuk-tuk is more comfortable than a bicycle; a half-day trip usually costs around fifteen dollars.

Cyclists can avoid some of the traffic with back lanes through the villages south of the main road, but these are best done with a guide or a good offline map.

A suggested plan

1. 14:00Leave town and stop at Lolei first, with its brick towers and the modern pagoda beside them.
2. 15:00Preah Ko: look for the carved lintels and the remains of stucco on the towers.
3. 16:00 – 17:30Bakong: walk around the moat, then climb the pyramid and stay for the evening light.
4. 18:00Stop in Roluos market for a sugar cane juice before heading back.

Where to stay

Stay in town. Some small homestays operate in the villages around Roluos if you want to sleep in the countryside; ask locally.

Good to know

• Your Angkor Pass is checked at Roluos too.
• The monastery at Bakong is active; dress modestly and keep your voice down.
• Combine Roluos with a countryside bike ride or a visit to the Tonle Sap villages, which are on the same side of town.
• Look for the small brick towers around Bakong’s base, which are often skipped.