Jungle Full Day Beng Mealea and Banteay Srei Tour

Explore the jungle-swallowed ruins of Beng Mealea and the finely carved pink sandstone of Banteay Srei, two of Angkor's lesser-visited temples, on a full day tour with lunch included. Eighty kilometres outside Siem Reap, Beng Mealea, the 'Lotus Pond' temple, lies engulfed by jungle much as it was when rediscovered. Built in the early 11th century by Suryavarman II as a Hindu temple, its wide galleries are thought to have foreshadowed Angkor Wat's own design. Clamber over collapsed sandstone blocks to reach its inner sanctuary, one of the few jungle temples still open to this kind of exploration. After lunch on the way back to Siem Reap, visit Banteay Srei, the 10th century 'Citadel of Women' temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Built from red sandstone in 967, its carved figures are executed with a delicacy widely considered unmatched among Angkor's temples. Two very different sides of the Angkor region in a single day, from raw jungle ruin to refined stone carving.