Prasat Muang Tam

Muang Tam lies on the plain below Phanom Rung and is usually visited second, which is unfair to it. Where the hilltop temple is about ascent, this one is about water. Four L-shaped ponds occupy the corners of the inner courtyard, their rims cut as five-headed serpents whose bodies run the length of the stone edging, and lotus grows in the standing water. Five brick towers stand on a single laterite base at the centre, three in one row and two behind, most of them missing their upper storeys. The best carving is on the lintels, including Shiva and his consort seated on the bull Nandi. Beyond the walls lies a large ancient reservoir.

What you actually see

• The corner ponds - four L-shaped pools rimmed with five-headed stone serpents.
• The five brick towers - the sanctuary group on its shared laterite base.
• The lintels - carved panels including Shiva and Uma on the bull.
• The baray - the ancient reservoir on the edge of the site.

When to go

November to February is the cool dry season and the only sensible time for this part of Isan. Come in the morning, before Phanom Rung's coaches work their way down the hill, or in the last hour of light. The ponds hold most water in and just after the rains, which is when the lotus is out.

Honest expectations

There is no shade at all inside the enclosure and the laterite throws heat back at you. Without a car or hired driver this is genuinely hard to reach, and the two temples in one day only work with wheels. Several towers are little more than stumps, and the on-site interpretation is thin. Combined tickets are sold but not always offered.

Nearby

Phanom Rung on the volcano rim above and Buriram town to the north.