Banteay Srei (The Citadel of the Women)

Banteay Srei means "Citadel of the Women." While some of the temples are impressive because of their sheer size, Banteay Srei stands alone in the quality of its construction and decoration. Its pink sandstone wall are decorated with what some consider to be the best carving of all and in an amazing state of preservation. Built in 967 and dedicated to Brahma it is located 25 kilometers North of Angkor Wat. (informed by Cambodia - Angkor Wat Travel Professional)

Kbal Spean

The source of the Siem Riep River, which traverses the site of Angkor in Kampuchea, originates some forty kilometers north east of the Bayon, in the Kulen Mountains. At Kbal Spean, the river passes under a natural rock bridge, and over a waterfall, before continuing on past the exquisite temple of Banteay Srei, into the plain of Angkor. Kbal Spean means "bridge head." Alongside the bridge, Vishnu appears sculpted on a rock face, reclining to give birth to Brahma from a lotus growing out of his navel. On stone ledges of the river bed are innumerable grids of lingams, oriented to magnetic north, sculpted in bas-relief around the 9th century. The temples of Angkor follow an east west orientation. At the "River of 1000 Lingams," the source which irrigates and inseminates the plain of Angkor washes over, and is washed by its passage over these modulated surfaces. (informed by Vis Asia)