Tonle Bati

This famous lake situated 30 km away from Phnom Penh, is a place where the locals come for a quiet and relaxing getaway weekend. The major activities are picnicking and fishing. It is a perfect place to relax in an exotic environment.

Tonle Bati is set on the banks of the Bati River in a well-tended grove of coconut and mango trees, where you can swim and picnic as well as seeing the two small but appealing temples. You will be met immediately by a gaggle of young girls selling flowers, who will most likely follow you around until you leave, even if you’re adamant about not buying.

On the road to Tonle Bati there are two Angkorian era temples, Ta Prohm and Yeay Peau. Both temples were built under Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century during the same period that Bayon and Angkor Thom in Siem Reap were constructed. Ta Prohm is the more extensive and impressive of the two, displaying a number of very well-preserved carvings. Yay Peau is a single sandstone tower situated next to an active pagoda displaying some carvings. The area has been occupied and temples present since the pre-Angkorian Funan period and Ta Prohm, was modified and extended as late as the 16th century.

The Temple of Ta Prohm, unlike its much more famous namesake at Angkor Wat, is still part of a small, rural community. Children swarm over it. Old ladies with shaved heads have staked out small chambers as their personal retreats and shrines. It reminds us that these temples were not built to be tourist attractions and were not always ruins, they were made to fulfill a spiritual need of the community. And thousand years later, this one is still doing it.

Nearby you can join Khmer families in small pavilions built out over the water where people relax and order food from the many local vendors.