The original fusion temple, Wat Nokor is a modern Theravada Buddhist pagoda squeezed into the walls of an 11th-century Mahayana Buddhist shrine of sandstone and laterite. It is a kitsch kind of place and many of the older building's archways have been incorporated into the new building as shrines for worship. On weekdays there are only a few monks in the complex and it is peaceful to wander among the many alcoves and their hidden shrines. There is also a large reclining Buddha.
To get here, head out of town on the road to Phnom Penh, and take the left fork at the large roundabout about 1km from town. The temple is at the end of this pretty dirt road.
Address: Two kilometres west of town on National Route 7
Wat Nokor, located in the grounds of a modern temple, is a well-preserved eleventh-century temple, surrounded by laterite walls (painted black during the Khmer Rouge occupation), comprising a central sanctuary, over which a modern vihara has been built. Although purists may object to the gaudy modern wall-paintings and pillars of the new vihara, in luminous blues, pinks, oranges and greens, these quirky 1990s additions are a hit with Cambodians and ethnic Chinese. The latter closely identify with the temple's legend, which tells of a baby boy from Kompong Cham who was gobbled up by a large fish; the fish swam down the Mekong and on to the coast of China, where it was eventually caught and the child, still alive, discovered. The boy subsequently made his way back to Cambodia, bringing with him a retinue of Chinese, who all settled at Kompong Cham, which the locals say explains why so many Chinese live in the area.
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