The Lonely Brick Beauty of Lolei, Cambodia

May 5th, 2010. Evening

The silhouette of late 9th Century Lolei

Lolei does not attract major tourist traffic, enough of a reason for me to turn my thundering motorbike into the ancient enclosure. The temple structure was supposed to be on an island, the moat that made it one has long since dried.

This is the only Khmer temple complex to extensively use red bricks. Vegetable oil was used as mortar and the temple,allegedly,  \set on fire to let the layers meld. Only after that were the walls dressed. The ruins are not in the best of shape, but have enough left for the imagination to complete the picture.

I guzzled down several young coconuts and devoured the fresh coconut meat before bidding Lolei goodbye. 

A local Khmer at the nearby Buddhist math