Oudong

Oudong was the royal capital from the early seventeenth century until 1866, when the court moved to Phnom Penh, and what marks it now is the line of stupas along a ridge above the plain: royal memorials holding the ashes of kings, including a tall one for Ang Duong and others for Monivong and earlier rulers, reached by stairways from the base. A large modern stupa built in 2002 to hold a relic of the Buddha stands nearby; it was damaged by an explosion in 2013 and the relic was later stolen and recovered. At the foot of the hills are monasteries, a nunnery and a meditation centre, and the whole area is busy with Cambodian visitors at weekends and on holy days rather than foreign ones.

History

King Srei Soryapor founded Oudong in 1601, after Longvek was abandoned in 1594, and from 1618 until 1866 it was the royal capital, Oudong Meanchey, for some 250 years; its name comes from a Sanskrit word for tall, probably for its hill. King Ang Duong, who reigned 1841-1850, built canals, terraces, bridges and hundreds of pagodas around it, and in 1866 King Norodom moved the court to Phnom Penh, downstream (Wikipedia, Oudong).

The main sights

• The ridge stupas - royal memorials strung along the hilltop.
• The plain below - rice country stretching out from the ridge.
• The modern relic stupa - the large twenty-first-century addition.
• Monasteries at the foot - working religious communities below the hills.

When to go

November to March for the climb; the stairways are exposed and hot from March to May. Weekends and Buddhist holy days bring crowds of Cambodian visitors and a livelier atmosphere.

What to expect

The stairways are long and there is little shade on the ridge. Several stupas are locked or under repair. Interpretation is minimal. Vendors and children asking for money are persistent at the base.

Nearby

Phnom Penh lies southeast; the Tonle Sap plain is north.

Key facts