West Baray Cycling Tour

West Baray

TOUR HISTORY West Baray or Baray Teuk Thla “clear water Baray” is one of two enormous reservoirs found in the Angkor Archaeological Park. West Baray, as the name suggests, is found west of the walled city of Angkor Thom. An identical reservoir was built to the east. Construction began in the 11th century during the reign of King Suryavarman I, and it was completed under King Udayadityavarman II, who also built the Baphuon Temple. Baray in Khmer means reservoir. West Baray is rectangular in shape and measures 8 kilometers by 3 kilometers making it, along with East Baray, two of the largest hand-cut reservoirs ever constructed on earth. In West Baray, an artificial island was created called West Mebon on which a Hindu Temple was built.

WHAT CAN YOU EXPLORE? West Baray does not require the purchase of a temple pass. Along with our bicycle tour, discover the genuine rural lifestyle of the Cambodia people living in the wonderful and peaceful landscape found just north of Siem Reap. Our cycling begins in the early refreshing beauty of the morning and continues until noon. In this tour we will be leaving the hotel at 7:30 am and ride to our destination located some 30km from the Siem Reap town. We will stop and visit a typical local market that provides food and a wide variety of vegetables and fruits for the daily use by the local people. We will travel to see this amazing man-made water reservoir located 5km from the Angkor Wat temple. In addition to visiting West Baray, you come to know well some aspects of the lifestyle of Cambodian people living in the countryside and jungle, and you will have the opportunity to converse with some villagers or with students in the countryside schools.