Cambodian Guide

I promise to show you the real Cambodia in a fun, safe and affordable fashion. My reputation has been built on over ten years experience designing tours that highlight the best cultural, historic and outdoor features of my country.

Please take a look at my website and contact me if you would like to schedule my services.

Or-kun! ( thank you in Cambodia ! )

Special Tour To Angkor Empire

and Ruling King & Temples

One Day Tour

Two Day Tour

Three Day Tour

One week Tour

More days in Cambodia

Please write us at

your arrival day & time

Departure time

Number of people

you will get a reply from Sowanna

with the prices and schedules

- Prepared by Sowanna an experienced guide in Cambodia.

sowanna012@yahoo.com

Tel. +855 12 768 193

Tel. +855 977 872 192

Please give us at least one week notice or more than one week.

Jayavarman II ( c790 - 850) The founder of Angkor Empire at mount Mahendra in the Kulen Mountain and built around 54 temples. Later moved the capital to Hariharalaya. ( Rolous temple group at the present day.)

Holy water on Kulen Mountain

A thousand Shiva Lingas or Lingum on the riverbed on the summit of Holy Mountain

A huge reclining Buddha statue and pagoda on the summit of this mountain. built in 16 century by Ang Chan Reacha I.

Jayavarman III (c 850 - 877) Built the laterite pyramid of Prei Monti and Trapeang Phong temple.

Indravarman I (c 877 - 889) Succeeded probably by force. Built Preah Ko temple and Intratataka Baray = reservoir.

Indravarman I (c 877 - 889) Built Bakong temple and Intratataka Baray = reservoir.

Yasovarman I (c 889 - 915) Son of Indravarman I moved the capital city from Hariharalaya to Angkor ( Yasodharapura ). Built Lolei temple at Hariharalaya, then at Angkor built Phnom Bakheng temple, Prasat Bei temple,

Thma Bay Kaek, Phnom Krom, Phnom Bok temples and East Baray = East reservoir.
Yasovarman I (c 889 - 915) Built Phnom Bakheng temple

Yasovarman I (c 889 - 915) Built Phnom Bok temple and added to others

Yasovarman I (c 889 - 915) Built Phnom Krom temple and added to others

Harshavarman II (c 915 - 923) Succeeded to the throne very young: little known. Built Baksei Chamkrong temple and Kravan temple.

Isanavarman I (c 923 - 928) Very little known about this short reign. No building known. Built Kravan temple and added to others

Jayavarman IV (c 928 - 941) Revolted against his nephew Harshavarman II in 921: moved the capital to Koh Ker and built a hundred temples there.

Jayavarman IV (c 928 - 941) Built Prasat Thom temple at Koh Ker

Please feel free to write us at any time if need any future information or any assistance for your trip planning : sowanna012@yahoo.com

Harshavarman II ( c 941 - 944 ) Successor at Koh Ker and added to others

Rajendravarman II ( c 944 - 968 ) Moved the city back to Angkor. Successful war against the Chams. Built East Mebon temple,

Pre Rup temple, Bat Chum temple, Kutisvara temple and the beginning of Banteay Srei temple and added to others.

Jayavarman V (c 968 - 1001) Succeeded to the throne as child, a peaceful reign. Built Banteay Srei temple and Takeo temple with his counselors and added to others.

Built Takeo temple and continue to build Banteay Srei temple with his counsellors and added to others.

Udayadityavarman I c 1001 - 1002 A period of troubles and revolt. Maybe added to others.

Jayaviravarman (c 1002 - 1010 ) Competes with Suryavarman I for the throne during a 9 - year struggle, but defeated. Built North Khleang temple and added to others.

Suryavarman I (c 1002 - 1050) Tooke the throne by force, becoming undisputed ruler by 1010. Expanded the empire to the North and West. Built South Khleang, Phimeanakas temples, Royal palace in the Angkor Thom city, West Baray, Preah Vihear and Phnom Chiso temples and added to others.

Phimeanakas temples, Royal palace in the Angkor Thom city, West Baray, Preah Vihear and Phnom Chiso temples and added to others

Suryavarman I (c 1002 - 1050) Built Preah Vihear temple and added to others

Western Baray = Western reservoir

Udayadityavarman II ( c 1050 - 1066) More revolts, Expanded the empire further West. Continued to build the West Baray from his father, built the Baphuon and

West Mebon temple, Kbal Spean resort mountain and added to others.

Harshavarman III (c 1066 - 1080) Devastation from the previous reign`s troubles and a new war with Chams prevented new buildings.

Jayavarman VI (c 1081 - 1107) First King from the Mahidharapura dynasty, his authority probably recognized only in the North. Phnom Rung temple in Thailand at the present day,

Dharanindravarman I (c 1107 - 1112) Younger brother of Jayavarman VI . Killed by Suryavarman II who disputed the throne.

Suryavarman II ( c 1113 - 1150) Ambitious, war-like and a great builder. Expanded the empire , fought the Dai Viet, Chams, Mons, and built Angkor Wat temple,

Banteay Samre temple, Beng Mealea temple, Thommanon and Chau Say Tevoda temple and added to others in Thailand.

Some parts of Beng Mealea temple built by King Suryvarman II

Yasovarman II (c 1150 - 1165) Chosen to succeeded because the heir was fighting in Champa. Killed by a usurper. No new building but continued work at Chau Say Tevoda,

Banteay Samre and Beng Mealea temples. Added tower to Bakong temple.

Tribhuvanadityavarman (c 1165 - 1177) Usurper, killed during the 1177, Chams invasion and burned the Yasodharapura - Angkor city.

Jayavarman VII ( c 1180 - 1220 ) Legitimate heir of Dharanindravarman II. Expelled the Cham army. The last great Khmer king, a fervent Buddhist and builder on the largest scale.

Preah Khan Kampong Svay temple, Tonle Bati temple, Taprohm temple, Preah Khan temple, Neak Pean temple, Ta Som temple, Ta Nei temple, Prasat Chrung temples,

Angkor Thom city, Elephant & Leper King Terraces, Krol Ko temple, Banteay Kdei temple, Banteay Thom temple, Banteay Prei temple, Preah Pithu group temple, Preah Palilay temple,

Jayatataka Baray (North reservoir) and added to others in Thailand nowadays.

Taprohm temple at Angkor National park

Preah Khan temple at Angkor National park

Please write us to discuss about your trip planning

Please write us at

your arrival day & time

Departure time

Number of people

you will get a reply from Sowanna ( email address: sowanna012@yahoo.com )

with the prices and schedules
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A thousand temple pictures that we can not post for you to see because our domain is limited.
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Jayavarman VIII (c 1243 - 1296 ) Empire continued to dimish; Lopburi having to submit to Kublai Khan. Shivaite resurgence. Built Mangalartha or Prasat Top temples along the way of victory gate of Angkor Thom and probably restored Preah Palilay temple. Mangalartha is probably the last temple in Angkor Empire.

Srindravarman (c 1296 - 1307 ) The reign and daily life described by Zhou Daguan, the visiting Chinese diplomat. Stopped to build the sandstone building, probably wooden building for holy places.

Daily life described by Zhou Daguan, the visiting Chinese diplomat from 1296 - 1297 during Angkor Empire.

Srindrajayavarman ( c 1307 - 1327 ) Little known about the reign, I will try to find more documents to explain you. Sowanna is still researching about Cambodian history to post on www.cambodianguide.com for you to understand our country.

Jayavarmandiparamesvara or Jayavarman Paramesvara c 1327 ? The last king mentioned in inscriptions.

- In 1328 onward , no inscriptions to tell us as well.

Paramathakemaraja ( c 1330 - 1353 )

Hou-eul Na ( c 1353 - 1371 ? ) ; Wooden building for holy places.

- No inscriptions tell us as well in 1371/2 - 1403

Samtac Chao Phaya & Phing Ya c 1404 - 1405

Nippean Bat c 1405 - 1409

War again and again with neighboring country

Lampong or Lampang Paramaja (c 1409 - 1416 )

Sorijovong or Lambang (c 1416 - 1425 )

Barom Racha ( c 1425 - 1429 )

Thommo Soccorach or Dharmasoka ( c 1429 - 1431)

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The Last King Of Angkor Empire ; Ponha Yat or Gam Yat in c 1432,

he decided to move his court to Tuol Basan, in the province of Kampong Cham at the present day, on the eastern side of the Mekong river just above the forks. After remaining there only a year,

he moved his capital again in c 1434, this time to Krong Chatomuka ( four faces ) at the junction of the Tonle Mekong river.
Phnom Penh city by King Ponha Yat in c 1433/4

Phnom Penh: The Royal Capital of Cambodia

Phnom Penh first became the royal capital of Cambodia in 1432 after His Majesty Ponhea Yat, king of the Khmer Empire, moved the capital from Toul Bassan

(presently called Srey Santhor) at Angkor Thom after it was captured by Siam a few years earlier. There are stupa behind Wat Phnom that house the remains of Ponhea Yat and the royal family as well as the remaining Buddhist statues from the Angkorean era.

Phnom Penh remained the royal capital for 73 years from 1432 to 1505 when it was abandoned for 360 years from 1505 to 1865 by subsequent kings due to internal fighting between the royal pretenders. Later kings moved the capital several

times and established their royal

capitals at various locations in Tuol Basan (Srey Santhor), Pursat, Longvek, Lavear Em and Oudong. According to the historical records, in the 1600s, many Japanese immigrants had settled on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
But it was not until 1865 that Phnom Penh became the permanent royal capital of Cambodia when King Norodom I, great grandfather of Norodom Sihanouk, ordered 10,000 of his subjects to move out of the old royal capital of Oudong and settled in.

Mysteries, Legends And Anecdotes

THE LOST CITY OF ANGKOR

For hundreds of years, the lost city of Angkor was itself a legend. Cambodian peasants living on the edge of the thick jungle around the Tonle Sap lake reported findings which puzzled the French colonialists who arrived in Indo-China in the 1860s. The peasants said they had found "temples built by gods or by giants." Their stories were casually dismissed as folktales by the pragmatic Europeans. Yet some did believe that there really was a lost city of a Cambodian empire which had once been powerful and wealthy, but had crumbled many years before.Henri Mahout's discovery of the Angkor temples in 1860 opened up this `lost city' to the world.

The legend became fact and a stream of explorers, historians and archaeologists came to Angkor to explain the meaning of these vast buildings. The earliest of these scholars could not believe that Angkor had been built by the Cambodian people, believing the temples to have been built by another race who had conquered and occupied Cambodia maybe 2,000 years before. Gradually, some of the mysteries were explained, the Sanskrit inscriptions deciphered and the history of Angkor slowly pieced together, mainly by French scholars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Legends still remain. This once great city which had slept for so long still posed many questions.

Project Management