We were dropped off at the bottom of the complex near a small village catering to tourists, quickly acquainted ourselves with some local kids, and posed for photos with various uniformed personnel. From differing looks of their uniforms, it seemed it took several branches of the military, police, and border patrol to defend the temple from the Thai. We headed up to the temple, or its second level structures. From there, we walked down the stairs that originally served as the main entrance to the complex. There were signs next to the stairs reminding visitors that the area had been cleared of mines. We saw many of the signs in other places too. The effort was financed mostly by France and Germany. Perhaps, these countries remember from their own conflicts what a toll these devices can take. The mines have brought and continue to bring suffering to the Cambodian people. They were laid in large quantities during the war against Khmer Rouge and are extremely difficult to remove.

Back up above the long staircase, we continued up on the walkway, and came to understand the extent of the site - Preah Vihear Temple is a large complex built on several levels along a north-south axis. Starting from the bottom, five gopuras, entrance buildings, are successively passed. They are connected by a walkway and stairs. Each of the gopuras blocks the sight of the next before passing through its gateway.

We continued on the walkway and stairs higher toward the top of the mountain. As we passed each gopura, a new view and a new part of the complex revealed itself until we reached the temple on top. The location, at 625 meters above sea level and more than 500 meters down the cliffs to the plains below, is impressive and only adds to its spiritual significance. Back in 1979, tens of thousand of Cambodian refugees were expelled from Thailand and forced to climb down the cliffs into the minefields laid by Khmer Rouge below, and many perished. There was no sign of this tragic event. Only a monk and more uniformed officials kept us company. Similar to our visit of Koh Ker the day before, a refreshing change about Preah Vihear was a lack of tourists. There was a fair number of local Khmer visiting their sacred temple but not very many Westerners, and none of the hordes of Asian tourists seen at Angkor. The scarcity of westerners made us an attraction to the locals, including the kids that followed us around the ruins. In some sense, they complemented the ruins, which represented a long bygone era of Cambodian history, with what I had grown to like the most about the country - its lively young energetic, and at least at first look, optimistic spirit.