Ta Krabey/Phra Rusi Temple

Hi, this is Mr B from Forgotten Temples of Cambodia and here we are with our new friend from the military and as you can see we're actually in a bunker because this defends this road. We're on the border of Thailand and it's been disputed. A lot of these temples have been disputed and it has actually turned into military action on occasion and people like this gentleman and on the other side of course have been killed in minor skirmishes. So we've got a treat to show you. So let's go have a look. Thank you very much. And this is the way up to the temple. Now it's got two names. It's in Cambodia here, it's Krabi or in Thailand which is not far away, it's Prarussi. Now the military have given us access to some of their toys and if we're allowed into the bunkers which I found very friendly and what we find is a GPMG, a general purpose machine gun. Look at that and if that's not enough you've got the ammunition over there. So I don't think I'll be seeing this set up again but isn't that remarkable? But let's get our walking shoes on and go and see something ancient. Right and here we are at the actual temple itself. It's not much of a walk up, it's jolly green and very nice. Now we've got the military over there chatting away and not just the Cambodian military, we also have a gentleman from the Thai military which is rather encouraging that they're working together at this border point. I've tucked my shirt in so let's go have a look. It's bloody brilliant, I'm telling you, I almost fell over. Right with a hop and a single leap we're at the doorway and the doorway is just fantastic. It really has grabbed me. Sven, if you stay there, this is Neolithic, it's almost Neolithic in its size. It is big, we've seen a lot of temples, we really have. Sven has seen an awful lot more than myself. Sven is my cameraman and he agrees. Bloody big, they're the two words that belong together here. Look at this and the width of it here, oh my goodness, it's bigger at the back. It is so big at the back and this is on every doorway. It's gigantuous, come on in Sven, because in the centre we seem to have an altar sort of thing here but this is in fact a rock from up there that's fallen down but it's another biggie and with all these temples we come to the centre and we have the shrine itself, the whole purpose of these things and it's still being used which is encouraging. We have the usual joss sticks and candles and so on but there is a bit of a mystery here. I don't know what this is or why it's here. There's candles being placed here because we've had the little divots for them but for what reason I don't know and these are the internal doorways. As we've seen there, what I was before was the actual external ones which is behind me here there but we're now inside and it's exactly like a cave. It smells like a cave, it's nice and cool like a cave, it's got the moss and so on at the cave. It's just incredible and look they're even full stretch. I have to go on tiptoe to hit it. I mean that is amazing how deep it is. These are huge. This is stonehenge worthiness of the blue stones that sit on top of the henges which came from the Preseli mountains I believe and again here and what is interesting is we've got this unfinished look. We don't have an awful lot of lighting here but again it gives it that cave, very rusty, you know back in time look. It's got a charm all of its own and if we just take a final look at its interior which is it's all worn. Now these shapes which are just like melted chocolate isn't it? It's just very lovely and curved. This could only in my mind be caused by erosion so in this case we've had water and wind. I mean the monsoon season is particularly vicious here so that I believe is what's causing this effect but as I say it gives it that lovely dark dank cave look which is very alluring. What we have here on the floor and with limited English and communication I've discovered these are mortars but not the kind of mortars you lob at your enemy to do him in. These are as in pestle and mortar so a thousand years ago old ladies would have been banging away here with large staffs to crush grain to turn it into food goods probably rice and as you can see in frame now we have the military that are guarding this border. They don't need to guard the temple because he's a mighty one. Now in the past I've been rather remiss I feel in not actually showing you enough of the temple itself after all that is why we are here and you can see he's a tall one. Now if you look right in the very very centre of your screen there's fake doorways actually going all the way up and we've not seen those before so it's it's a different design as we know it's a lot bigger meatier chunkier almost neolithic as I've said before and all in all hugely impressive in a remarkable environment and we are a thousand feet up and maybe on the way down I'll get some shots of the actual view you can hear the military communicating away there as we go around I think we're the only ones that've been here for quite a while with the old covid and so on I mean this is a fantastic day out and we've been on the road for two days now this is our second day staying in hotels and stuff so we can get some distance and see these temples that even further away that most people don't come to quite simply Tar Krabi has been a real treat not to mention the hospitality of the military allowing me to get so close to their weapons and seeing of course that the Thais and the Cambodians are both there but Tar Krabi itself that's the real force I mean look at it it's beefy it's meaty it's strong it just speaks of ancient strength especially these enormous stones that as I say remind me so much of neolithic times it's a gem and you're more than welcome to come this has been Mr B for Forgotten Temples of Cambodia any questions queries or comments you know where to place them until next time I sincerely hope you've enjoyed this quick trip around a wonderful wonderful temple