For anybody interested in Khmer monuments together with contemporary history, a place to see is Khao Phra Vihaan in the Isaan province of Sisaket . The monument on the Thai/Cambodia border sits astride a sheer drop mountain ridge on the Dangrek mountain range with sweeping views across North-West Cambodia. Although the monument appears to be on Thai territory, the Temple complex itself actually belongs to Cambodia.

This was due to a World Court decision in 1963 recognising in practical terms that the complex was on Thai soil due to its general inaccessibility from Cambodia, but in the end still declared in Cambodia's favour because of its strong connection to the Angkor period of temple construction.

Although the complex slumbered out of world view for centuries Khao Phra Vihaan has not escaped the consequences of modern times. After the Khmer Rouge took power in Cambodia in 1975 and its subsequent defeat by the Vietnamese in 1978, remnants of the Khmer Rouge occupied the complex and surrounding forests . In doing this they seeded the local area and the complex itself with land mines , constructed bomb shelters and even installed some artillery pieces.

Several attempts were made after 1991 to open Khao Phra Vihaan to visitors. This was intermittently successfully but the complex tended to close frequently  due to the propensity of  Khmer Rouge  guerilla units to reoccupy the complex at will. This caused numerous clashes between Cambodian Government and  Khmer Rouge forces between 1993 and 1997. After the death of the Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot in 1998 and the eradication of the last Khmer Rouge bases in the area, Khao Phra Vihaan finally reopened to visitors. From that time the only hiccups tended to be bureaucratic , caused by disputes between Thai and Cambodian Officials over dividing up the admission fees to the Complex.

In 1997 we made our first attempt to visit Khao Phra Vihaan. After passing through several Thai Army checkpoints, we reached the border, but were refused access to enter the complex due to the reoccupation of the monument by a Khmer Rouge Unit. In 2003, we attempted another visit; we were successful and the following is what happened on our one day visit to Khao Phra Vihaan.

Together with my Wife Mali and my sister-in-law Porntip, we traveled from the village of Ban puthsa in Khorat province. We left before sunrise in the vehicle of a village friend called Sahm. After several hours we arrived in Sisaket province and stopped for a late breakfast at a roadside market.

Back out on the road, we headed towards the border through fertile farming country. The only immediate disappointment was that from the outset of our journey, it had become quite cool with misty rain. However our spirits were high in anticipation of reaching Khao Phra Vihaan and our driver Sahm who is a real talkative livewire gave us a running commentary all the way.

We finally wound up  the mountain range and arrived at the border. On the Thai side of the border was a market and several administrative buildings. Uniformed Officials and Police abounded and several Police Officers manned a checkpoint on the sealed road which defined the border.

The weather was still cool with a lot of cloud rolling in. From the market road you could look out through the mist and see across North-West Cambodia with the weather making it incredibly atmospheric. After parking the vehicle we headed off towards the Temple complex. After a few indifferent looks from Thai border police, we passed the first checkpoint and prepared for the border bureaucracy.

As soon as we crossed the first checkpoint we could hear a growing "thump, thump, thump" in the air and all of a sudden a large helicopter rapidly descended and landed on the road ahead and once the engine shut down was immediately surrounded by a number of curious Cambodians. Out of the helicopter which had Cambodian markings stepped four Cambodian civilians (two male/two female) and three body guards each armed with an AK47. We came across them later touring the complex, but to this day am still unsure of what they doing there. Official Visit or just Joy riding at the peoples expense. Who would know?

The actual crossing turned out to be quite easy. In earlier times visitors had to fill out lengthy forms together with an entrance fee which was later shared by Thailand and Cambodia. After endless disputes about sharing the loot, the two governments made the novel decision to have two entrance fees - one Thai and the other Cambodian. No more complicated forms - just line up at two separate booths and purchase a ticket at each one which turned out to be as simple as purchasing a ticket to the movies.

Once we had purchased our tickets we walked through a Cambodian market that sold everything from handicrafts to packs of  "Alain Delon" cigarettes. The most confronting thing at this point was the reactions of the Cambodians themselves.

Once on Cambodian soil, foreigners in "tourist" locations tend to be surrounded by children selling T shirts and postcards. These together with amputees begging for money give an inkling of the suffering Cambodians have endured over the past 35 years. A young Cambodian girl latched herself to our group and after a few initial refusals we took her along as a guide. It was a good choice as she turned out to be very knowledgeable about the Temple complex. After passing through a gateway we prepared to ascend the first stone staircase of the complex.

Like the Khmer Temple at Phanom Rung Hill in Buriram province, the structure of Khao Phra Vihaan is long and narrow with steep stone staircases leading to long/narrow boulevards which in turn lead to further staircases up to the next level of the complex.

After years of sloth and overeating, Mali and I looked up at the staircase with trepidation but commenced to climb. The broken and uneven stones made ascending difficult but we finally made it. Our village friend Sahm and our young guide zoomed up the staircase without raising a sweat.

Once we had made it to the top of the staircase, we came across a long narrow paved walkway which lead up to the next part of the complex. Again we were confronted by another modern reality in post war Cambodia - landmines. Although the walkway was safe, roped off areas on both sides with skull and crossbones warning signs were an appropriate warning that landmines and other unexploded ordnance still awaited the unwary. Teams of engineers were in the roped off areas and were painstakingly searching every square centimetre of earth.

The further we walked and climbed into the complex we were entranced by the atmosphere of the place. Because we had arrived early there were only a handful of tourists including the "mystery" officials who had arrived by helicopter. The tumbledown nature of the place with most of the stone structures in disrepair did nothing to distract from the magic that is Khao Phra Vihaan. Even amongst the ruins one could only marvel at the vision and patience that would have been required to build such a place.

Our walk now was drawing us up to the top of the complex, and it felt like  walking along the back of a stone serpent sitting flush against the mountain ridge. The misty rain still came down intermittently but seemed to enhance the sweeping views over Cambodia. We came across several Cambodians including an Amputee selling Soft-drinks and flower garlands. In a small shrine in this part of the complex we also came across an old Mae Chee (Buddhist Nun) and Mali stopped to light Incense and offer prayers. We again found further evidence of the previous occupancy by the Khmer Rouge - two bomb shelters and an old artillery piece of either Chinese or Soviet make.

At the the top of the complex we stopped and looked out at across Cambodia. Down through the scuddy clouds we could see a still green terrain, dirt roads and at the sides a sheer rocky drop right down to Cambodia. Sitting on a rocky outcrop with my friend Sahm I rediscovered my fear of heights but nothing could take away the magic of the moment. I must confess that Khmer architecture in the past had always left me a little cold due to its static nature and seemingly lack of connection with the present. Khao Phra Vihaan on the other hand had engaged me from the outset due to its modern connection (albeit, a very sad one).

All good things come to an end, and we began our journey back. By now the number of visitors had markedly increased, including a party of Buddhist Monks who posed for a Photograph. As Khao Phra Vihaan has now been "discovered" its inevitable that visitor numbers will increase which will slowly take away the magic - but thats progress I suppose.

We intend to visit Khao Phra Vihaan again in the future and try to recapture the magic of that day in November 2003, which is probably a little naive and unrealistic but they are some of the qualities of hope. I would certainly urge any visitor to Isaan to make a visit to Khao Phra Vihaan. If any place can be tagged as a "wow" destination , it certainly is.