Wat Nokor Travel Guide

Originally built in the 1000s, Wat Nokor is an amalgam of two different temples. It’s worth visiting, both as an historic site and a cultural oddity, especially for anyone in Kampong Cham.

The temple grounds were pieced together in layers, and they’re being restored in a similar way. The outer gallery is housed inside the temple walls. The outer grounds are dominated by twin statues of mythical giants. Statues of dragons (naga) and lions are also on the grounds.

The next layer features decorative ponds and statues of famous general, Decho Dam Din. The ponds are both the same size, and they’re blanketed with lotus flowers. The layer inside has statues of Vishnu.

Next to the temple are the interred remains of Khmer Rouge massacres. The official ‘Killing Fields’ are toward Phnom Penh, but a group of local monks moved some of the skeletal remains here and erected a small memorial.

The innermost stupa was built more recently and in a different style. While most of the temple has Mahayana motifs (like Chinese and Vietnamese temples), the inner stupa is done in Theravada style (like Thai and Laotian temples).

The entire temple is a fusion experiment. The inner stupa was incorporated into the next layer of walls. If it weren’t for their distinct styles, it would be hard to sort out where one ends and the next begins.

Wat Nokor is a little over a mile outside of Kampong Cham on National Road 7. It’s fronted by a gate on the main road. Tonle Om pond is about a quarter of a mile away.

In brief

What is it? A temple-within-a-temple in Kampong Cham.


Opening hours: 08:00 to 18:00, daily.


Entrance fees: no entrance fee. 


Address/website: www.tourismcambodia.com/travelguides/provinces/?AtID=125&ProID=4&ItemN=9&View=Detail.

Where: a little over a mile outside of Kampong Cham.

How to get there: hire a motorcycle taxi or walk from Kampong Cham town center, which is a few hours by bus from Phnom Penh.