Beng Mealea Temple in Cambodia – Finding Angkor’s Jungle Labyrinth

Khmer Circle: Beng Mealea is indeed a true gem for the travelling romantic in all of us!

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POSTED IN: ADVENTURE, CAMBODIA 

Borders of Adventure

It took me over six hours to cycle from Siem Reap to the jungle encased Beng Mealea temple in Cambodia on a journey that would normally take an hour by public transport. Biking through the flat plains of the Cambodian countryside on dusty ochre turf and avoiding the main, paved highway routes. If you are looking for a Beng Mealea tour with an explorative angle – this is it. 

From simple countryside outings and the Angkor temple tours that last days and which get you out of the city, Grasshopper Adventures have bike tours for all endurance and curiosity levels. And so I booked the one which looked the most challenging and which would take me on a 75km ride starting from the centre of Siem Reap.

A ride to Beng Mealea, seen as one of core Angkor Wat period temples, is located east of the main temples of Angkor in the city on what was once a royal highway that connected them all. 

Woman walking over the giant fallen stones of Beng Mealea temple in the jungles of Cambodia

Beng Mealea Temple in Cambodia – Finding Angkor’s Jungle Labyrinth

Getting to Beng Mealea Temple

Beng Mealea Tour by Bike

I was informed that the tour would be last approximately nine hours, starting from 7 am and finished at 4 pm. I assumed this to be a few hours of bike riding, a break for lunch and the temple visit, and then a few hours to get back.

Instead, we set out on a ride that would take us directly to Beng Mealea, with an estimated arrival time of 2 pm where we would later get a tuk-tuk home. It was MUCH further than I thought, but with a brand new mountain bike in my possession for the day and a Khmer local for guidance and language support, I was ready for the challenge.

A bike tour guide from Siem Reap on the orange dusty village road to Beng Mealea temple

Two bikes attached to the back of a tuk tuk in Cambodia for easy transportation

With a mixture of awe and agony, it was a scenic and adrenalin-pumped day. When biking, you quickly turn off the first main road and begin a six-hour off-the-beaten-track journey that takes you through the golden-hued Cambodian countryside, where fisherman and ox and cart farmers line the green, watery flatlands and where orange dirt tracks and luscious palm trees guide the way.

Public Transportation Options

However, not everyone has the stamina or the time to embark on a long countryside flanked tour. Getting to Beng Mealea with public transport is easy, and requires some pre-planning and haggling. Options include:

Taking a tuk-tuk: which will cost in the region of $20-$30

Two hours each way, including wait time

Hiring a taxi: which will cost in the region of $40

One hour each way, including wait time

The only downside is missing out on a lot of the scenery, since getting to Beng Mealea in this was is via main roads and passing through a village area on the approach to the temple. 

Hidden Beng Mealea – From Siem Reap City to Overgrown Jungle 

While I was living in Cambodia at the time and had already seen a lot of countryside working in a local village, this remained one of my best and most beautiful experiences yet of rural. So much so I had to constantly stop to take it all in, savour the serenity and capture photos of a route I would never be able to re-trace alone.

A farmer casting a net in a pool of water on flat farmland in Cambodia

The road from Siem Reap to Beng Mealea is a journey through rural Cambodia and endless countryside

A farmer with two ox ploughing a rice field in Cambodia

A long and wide orange dusty road leading to a small village of wooden houses in Cambodia

Yellow rice fields in Cambodia that stretch into the distance, with tall trees poking out from within

My guide was patient and provided good insight, and for the entire journey there was not one other tourist was in sight. It was just me, my new Khmer friend and the beautiful local people who waved and high-fived us throughout the journey.

A man on a motorbike drives on an orange dusty road through a rural village in Cambodia

A man walks down an orange dirt road flanked on either side by lush green foliage and trees in a village in Cambodia

An elevated wooden house on front of tall jungle trees and next to an ochre orange dirt road in Cambodia 

At times it was an arduous journey, especially in the heat that bears down on you constantly. I got tired and felt irritable. I had to pull over near the end just to guzzle down a bottle of water and munch through some snacks just to regain a little energy! I wondered why I put myself up for a Tour De Siem Reap. Yet with a bike, you are the master of your own journey. You can choose when to slow down. You can choose when to stop and take hold of the scene in front of you. A tuk-tuk or a car wouldn’t afford you with such an opportunity.

A woman on a bike next to a field of golden yellow flanked by tall trees

Two bikes under the shade of a tree with wooden village houses in the background

Visiting Cambodia’s Jungle Temple 

Arriving at the temple entrance, you stand immediately in front of a stone-stacked facade flanked by a towering diamond-shaped portal that summons you to find a way in after centuries of remaining hidden. Beng Mealea, a temple of the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List since 1992, still lies in ruin, largely unrestored. Yet, this unstirred scene is exactly what makes this site so fascinating. 

The history of Cambodia’s jungle temple is unknown, although inspection puts it at a similar architectural style and layout to Angkor Wat, only smaller. Beng Mealea, built entirely from sandstone, is therefore assumed to have also been constructed in the 12th Century. Today it is nature that has reclaimed the space where this temple once stood as the spiritual centre in the middle of a large town. 

Only the jungle knows the temple’s real standing and remains defiant in concealing it. 

The diamond shaped archway to Beng Mealea temple blocked by stacks of fallen stones from the structure and covered by jungle foliage

The entrance to Beng Mealea temple shows how untouched it really is

Beng Mealea hasn’t been opened to the public as long as the complex of Angkor temples in central Siem Reap. For less than a decade, people have been finding their way through the jungle floor, as it is slowly uncovered. That means it’s a little more untrodden and less known which adds to the explorative feel of its unkempt canvas. 

Inside the Beng Mealea temple complex where trees have broken through the stone floors and wall stones still remain in the same place as they fell, untouched

Nature reclaims Cambodia’s jungle temple, where fallen stones remain untouched since the time they fell

An elevated view of a long rectangular room of Beng Mealea temple where a tall tree has risen from the ground and overtaken the space

A monk in an ornage robe stands in front of a pile of fallen stones of Cambodia's jungle temple

Long rectangular stones stacked in front of an old Angkor temple archway that makes Beng Mealea look like it was only just discovered

A huge tree trunk curves to the left, breaking through the floor of Beng Mealea temple and reaching outside of its walls, reclaiming it

My Cambodian guide, proud to show off the ancient history of his country, took me through a route of the temple where no one else could be found. We clambered haplessly over toppled stones that were once magnificent rooftops and towering doorways, meandered through lost corridors and swung on the branches that have weaved their way through the historical labyrinth and taken over the temple structure.

A woman uses her hands and feet in order to climb the fallen temple complex of Beng Mealea which is covered and damaged by nature

A man in biking clothing sits inside a hidden doorway filled with fallen stones at the jungle temple of Beng Mealea, Cambodia

A woman swings on a large, thick, curved branch that hangs inside the Beng Mealea temple in Cambodia

We found peace at the end of a long and strenuous day through the feeling of discovery. 

An opportunity to see a different side of Cambodia, visiting Beng Mealea will end up being a temple adventure you first assumed was out of reach but one that rewards you if armed with enough curiosity and stamina. 

Beng Mealea Trip from Siem Reap – Things to KnowBeng Mealea Entrance Fee

According to the Tourism of Cambodia, the regular admission ticket (see below) for the monuments of Angkor (a collective ticket for the multiple temple sites) is not required to visit Beng Mealea, but there is a separate entrance fee of $20, $10 and $5. 

If you do intend on visiting the holy trinity of the Angkor temple complex that includes Angkor Wat, Ta Phrom (the ‘Tomb Raider’ Temple) and Bayon (the temple with the faces), you will need to purchase the main ticket that covers a collection of temples separate to Beng Mealea, Phnom Kulen and Koh Ker:

Single-day ticket: $37

Three-day pass: $62

Seven-day pass: $72 

Beng Mealea by Bike

Even if you are not a regular bike rider, try a long haul biking adventure. It’s an opportunity to see a different side of Cambodia. As is visiting Beng Mealea – a temple you might have thought was too far out of reach but is closer than you think if armed with enough curiosity and stamina.