Prasat Prei Monti Explorer Guide
Prasat Prei Monti is a small, rather obscure Angkor ruin within the Roluos Group. It is older than the three major monuments of the Roluos Group, Preah Ko, Bakong and Lolei. It was built by Jayavarman III, the second king since the founding of Angkor in 802 AD by Jayavarman II.
Although Prasat Prei Monti is quite insignificant in size, when compared with the three other Roluos monuments, it stands within a large compound which might also accommodate Jayavarman III's palace.
Prei Monti In Brief
Period: Mid 9th Century
By: Jayavarman III (835 - 877 AD).
Getting there
One of the challenges of reaching Prei Monti is to find the country lane that leads to it. For this, I have to thank readers Nic Boulton and Benny Yap for their help in providing me the directions and photos. I personally did not manage to find it (my tuk tuk driver gave up, and at that time, I didn't have enough information to locate it anyway.)
To reach Prasat Prei Monti, we need to start at Bakong. From the entrance (where the causeway is located), head southeast down the middle gravel road. This southeast path is the one between the east road that goes to the river, and the south road that goes around Bakong. Follow this southeast gravel road as it swings around to the left. Approximately 100 meters after the bend, you will see a turn off to the right.*
(The road that goes straight has a signpost for Bakong Tea House, a volunteer charity that is doing some infrastructure project in the area). Do not go towards the Bakong Tea House. Instead take the right turn and down the road heading south.
*On returning to the place, Nic noticed that on the corner where the gravel road swings around to the left, there is a small track heading south. This small turning also has a sign pointing to the Bakong Tea House, so there is an unfortunate similarity in the description between this first (wrong) turning and the second (correct) turning which is 100m further to the East.
After another 800 meters, you read a crossroad with a small grocery store on each corner. Turn right at this crossroad and head west.
After another 1 kilometer, look out of a compacted sandy path to the right - it is rather difficult to spot. It does have a signpost in Khmer with the initials for APSARA, the body that administrates the monuments in Angkor. Take this path and head north. The path will gently climb uphill.
After about 200 meters down the sandy path, you come upon a narrow track to the right. See picture on the right of how it looks like. Take this track for another 500 meters. At the end of the track is Prasat Prei Monti.
If you have explored Prei Monti and arrived there by a different way, please write to me, to help me improve on the accuracy of the directions provided. It would help others wishing to discover this obscure monument.
Further Exploration
After reaching Prasat Prei Monti from the south (from followed by  ) Nic explored the road that continues North from , so that he could determine where it joins the road that heads west out of Bakong. Let's call it Junction , as labelled on the map.
Approaching Prasat Prei Monti from the north
- Take the road that heads West out of Bakong for about 200m.
- For the purposes of identifying the turning South towards Prei Monti - Photo "About 70m to go" shows a small concrete bridge in the centre. The turning (to the left) is about where the motorcycle is.
- Photo: "10m to go" shows a blue sign on the left saying "Cambodian Workers Party" and you can see the turning to the left.
- Take the left turn and head about 1.5km south. The turning to Prei Monti (Junction 7) will be on the left (opposite the cream coloured school).
- So that means there are two ways to reach Prasat Prei Monti. Nic prefers the Southern approach. There are more villages on the Southern route. Maybe people approaching from the South will buy a few things in the village stores and the local kids in the villages do love to wave and say "hallo" to any passing tourist!
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Location Map of Prei Monti in Angkor
View Untitled in a larger map
Photos of Prasat Prei Monti
Entrance to path to Prasat Prei Monti ( on Map) (24 January, 2010)
© Nick Boulton
Middle of the path to Prasat Prei Monti (24 January, 2010)
© Nick Boulton
Arrived at Prasat Prei Monti (24 January, 2010)
© Nick Boulton
Prasat Prei Monti (22 October, 2007)
© Benny Yap
Prasat Prei Monti (22 October, 2007)
© Benny Yap
Prasat Prei Monti from the North
About 70m to go (1February, 2010)
© Nick Boulton
10m to go (1February, 2010)
© Nick Boulton
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