Banteay Srei Temple is located 1 hour tuk-tuk ride from Siem Reap. This  remote location makes the temple more difficult to be reached. Practically none of the 1 day ticket holders prefers to go there. Unfortunately this is not an issue for the organised bus groups who arrive there before 9am.

Banteay Srei is a Hindu temple dating back to the second half of the X century. Looking for some references for this period we can find a famous Maya pyramid complex in Chichen Itza in Mexican Yukatan. However, despite being of the same age the both places do not have much in common.

Banteay Srei is often called “the citadel of women”. That’s probably because of its subtle and detailed bas reliefs and decoration, number of precize structures and buildings, relatively little size and the unique color. The temple is built of the red sandstone and especially in the morning looks like a beautiful red and pink jewell.

The original name of the temple (sorry, not possible to pronounce it) has reflected the stregthness and power of the Hindu god Shiva who rather lacks any feminine subtleness. The temple has been built by a high ranked Hindu official during the reign of Rajendravarman II and Jayavarman V to contribute to the strengthening of the Hindu religion.

Having visited other iconic temples of Angkor in previous days this one would really appear as a different style. You will not find the huge tree trunks and the atmosphere of the Tomb Rider from Ta Prohm. You will not be overhelmed with the majesty of the Angkor Wat quincunx of towers. There are no famous “smiles of Angkor” so heavily represented in the Buddhist Bayon. But the beauty arising from the subtle details and precision of the red sandstone carvings concentrated in the relatively small  religious complex.

As said the temple is relatively complex and small. The visit of 1-1.5h should be enough. There is a small lake close to the temple however, in the end of the dry season (April) there was no water. Otherwise the short boat trip would be a nice suplement to the temple experience.

A practical information: you need to buy a 3 day ticket to visit the Angkor Park for 2 days (62USD). There are no 2 days tickets! The last day go early to visit Banteay Srei. It’s good to be at the temple at 8am so you can enjoy the visit with no crowds. Note the temple is tiny and the hords of tourist would certainly ruin your experience. When leaving around 9:30am take a look at the parking lot. See the buses? We saw more than 20 already.

Then take the  1.5h drive to Kampong Khleang – the biggest and by far the least touristic floating village at Tonle Sap lake – with no necessity to go via Siem Reap (more about that here). As added value you get an opportunity to see the countryside and experience the dynamic traffic on Cambodian roads. You are back  around 3pm so still some time to take a look at Siem Reap itself. The tuk-tuk cost is 30USD for this daily tour.

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