wildlife tour

Koh Ker, Prey Veng and Beng Mealea 3 Day Wildlife Tour

$475.00

Travel from mysterious outlying temples teeming with birds and butterflies, to the heart of the remote Kulen Prontep Wildlife Sanctuary. This unique short tour uncovers sights few get to see.

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Description

TOUR DETAILS

Travel from mysterious outlying temples teeming with birds and butterflies, to the heart of the remote Kulen Prontep Wildlife Sanctuary. This unique short tour uncovers sights few get to see.

After exploring Koh Ker temple complex, we travel on to your home for two nights – our Community ecolodge, nestled on the banks of a 12th Century ‘baray’, or reservoir. This simple but comfortable wooden lodge is run by the Ecotourism Community of Prey Veng Village – a project that is essential to the conservation of Critically Endangered large birds in Cambodia. The lodge is just 300 meters from a deserted ruined temple, and we have mapped out routes around the baray – which acts as the essential water source for both community and wildlife. You can explore at your leisure, boating on the baray, visiting the village and community forest to learn about traditional land use practises, or just relax on the viewing platform with sundowners. Explore the dry forests of the Northern Plains uncovering Cambodia’s unique birds and wildlife on the way.

WHEN TO GO

The cooler dry season between November and March make it easier to access the sites, but the vivid green beauty of the wetter seasons make this tour remarkable all year round. During rainy season, Prey Veng comes to life and access is by ox cart!

The tour is led by the Sam Veasna Center for Wildlife Conservation

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Prey Veng is a small remote village deep in the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary (KPWS). The flagship community ecolodge is nestled on the banks of an Angkorian baray or reservoir which provides a permanent water source for both the community and wildlife and just 400 meters from  spectacular ruins of an unvisited pre Angkorian temple.
Prey Veng is a remarkable year round location not only for birdwatching, but for wildlife and nature lovers with a sense of adventure to immerse themselves in real wild Cambodia.

Koh Ker is approximately 2 hours drive east of Siem Reap on the way to Tmatboey. It is a stunning and unique pyramidal temple built in 931AD, strikingly reminiscent of the structures built by the Central American Maya. Not only is the appearance unique but also the history, as this was the location that became the capital of the Khmer Empire away from the Angkor area for the only time in an otherwise uninterrupted 500 years.

It is possible to combine a visit to Koh Ker with a visit to the fabulous ruined temple of Beng Melea, which is about half an hour back towards Siem Reap. Not only is this large temple thought of as almost the blueprint for Angkor Wat, being virtually the same layout if a bit smaller, it also contains good semi-evergreen forest.

SEASONS

Challenging to access except during the dry season (December-April). Birds are easiest to see during the cooler, dry months of December-March when the trees have lost their leaves and waterbirds are concentrated at seasonal waterholes, known as Trapeangs in Khmer.

Itinerary

Day 1

Picking you up at 5:30am from your Siem Reap hotel, we head off to the Northeast in our air-conditioned 4×4 towards the outlying forest temple complex of Koh Ker. Traveling out through villages and fields, we take the opportunity to stop along the way for a packed breakfast and to spot some of the area’s unique birds – including many Woodpeckers and the beautiful White-Rumped Pygmy Falcon.

Koh Ker is a stunning and unique pyramidal temple built in 931 AD, reminiscent of the structures built by the Central American Maya. This was the location that became the capital of the Khmer Empire away from the Angkor area for the only time in an otherwise uninterrupted 500 years We start our explorations in the remote dry and semi evergreen forest and rarely-visited outlying temples to discover the nature, wildlife, birds and incredible butterflies that live there,whilst exploring little known temples, then we head to the main Koh Ker temple – Prasat Thom, where we have lunch at a local restaurant right in front of the temple site. We then travel on to Prey Veng, our newest community Ecolodge, on the banks of a 12-century baray deep in the Kulen Prontemp Wildlife sanctuary. Spend the late afternoon exploring the nearby lost temple ruins, cycling or trekking round the baray, or just relax with sundowners on the platform over the reservoir, watching the evening wildlife.

Day 2

How you spend today is up to you. Explore the Baray trails spotting critically endangered birds and wildlife, hike or cycle the 12 k to the mountain temples, or take a boat out with local fisherman to learn their skills. There is also the chance to get involved with community conservation work — species monitoring or forest patrols, whilst learning about traditional rubber tapping in the community forest, or hear about how they grow our wildlife friendly Ibis Rice.

Day 3

After early morning wildlife spotting and breakfast we return to Siem Reap, stopping at Beng Melea, a spectacular jungle-temple ruin. This site has only recently been de-mined and it has a very authentic feel – it is said to be the template for Angkor Wat. Return to Siem Reap about 5pm.

Getting there

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