Oudong: The Capital Before Phnom Penh, and the Ashes of Kings

Between Angkor and Phnom Penh there is a gap in most people's mental map of Cambodia - roughly four hundred years where, in the usual telling, nothing happened. Oudong is that gap.

After Angkor was abandoned in the fifteenth century the court moved south, and from about 1618 until 1866 Oudong was the royal capital. That is more than 250 years, longer than Phnom Penh has been the capital. Kings were crowned here, the court lived here, and then in 1866 Norodom moved the capital to Phnom Penh under French pressure and Oudong simply stopped.

What is left is a long ridge with stupas along the top, reached by a staircase, holding the ashes of Cambodian kings - among them Soriyopor, who founded the capital, Ang Duong, the nineteenth-century reforming king, and Monivong, who died in 1941. A more recent stupa on the ridge holds a relic of the Buddha.

The hill was shelled and mined in the war years and some of the structures are reconstructions, which the site does not hide.

What strikes people is how quiet it is. This is a place of national importance with almost nobody at it on a weekday - a few pilgrims, some monks, and children selling birds to release for merit.

The staircase. A long covered flight up the ridge, with naga balustrades. It is a real climb in the heat - go early or late.

The royal stupas. Three main ones along the ridge, each in a different style, each holding a king's ashes. They are close enough together that you walk the whole line in twenty minutes and far enough apart that each has its own view over the plain.

Vihear Preah Ath Roes, the ruined temple with a seated Buddha. The original figure was destroyed in the war years and what stands now is a reconstruction; the surrounding shell was left as it was.

The view. From the ridge the plain runs flat to the horizon in every direction, with rice, sugar palms and the glint of water in the wet months. On a clear day you can see a long way.

Vipassana Dhura Buddhist Centre at the foot of the hill is a working meditation centre with hundreds of resident monks and nuns and a large modern complex. Visitors are welcome; dress and behave as you would at any active monastery.

A memorial near the base commemorates victims of the Khmer Rouge found in mass graves in the area. Like Battambang's killing cave, it is a reminder that what happened in Phnom Penh happened everywhere.

About 40 kilometres north-west of Phnom Penh on National Road 5, an hour or a little more depending on traffic getting out of the city.

Private car or tuk-tuk is how almost everyone goes; there is no convenient public option and no reason to want one. A half-day private trip is straightforward and a full day lets you combine it.

Combine with [Koh Dach silk island](/cambodia/phnom-penh/koh-dach-silk-island). Both are north of the city and they make a natural full day - looms in the morning, the hill in the late afternoon when it has cooled and the light is good on the stupas.

Or with Kampong Chhnang, further up NR5, where there are pottery villages and a floating community on the Tonle Sap. That is a longer day.

Or on the way to Battambang. Oudong is directly on National Road 5, so if you are taking the road to Battambang it costs you almost nothing to stop - an hour on the hill and back in the car.

Timing. Early morning or from about four. The staircase and the ridge are completely unshaded and the middle of the day is punishing from March to May.

Food at the base is basic stalls. Bring water.

Oudong is not a ruin, it is a place Cambodians come to pray, and the difference matters.

Dress. Shoulders and knees covered. Nobody will stop you at a barrier the way they do at the Royal Palace, which is exactly why it is worth getting right on your own.

Shoes off inside any vihear and at the stupas where it is indicated.

Monks. Ask before photographing, every time. Women should not hand anything directly to a monk or sit beside one - place an item down for him to pick up. This is not squeamishness, it is the rule they live under.

Feet should not point at a Buddha image or at a person. Sit with your legs folded to one side.

Caged birds are sold at the base to release for merit. It looks charitable and it is a trade: the birds are caught to be sold, many die in the process, and buying one funds catching more. Cambodian conservation groups ask visitors not to.

Children selling at the base - the same rule as everywhere in Cambodia. Buying from children keeps them out of school by making them earning assets. Give to an organisation instead.

Donations at the vihear or the meditation centre are the right place for money, and a small note is normal.