Wat Leu Pagoda

Wat Leu is often referred to as the "upper temple" because it’s at the top of a hill. There is another temple called Wat Kraom (sometimes spelt Wat Krom) which is located near Independence Beach at the bottom of the hill, which is known as the "lower temple". 

From the outside, the congregation hall looks very similar to a Thai-style temple. However, the inside of the temple is more similar to the type of temple you find in Laos, with the walls covered in colorful paintings of the life of the Lord Buddha. The focal point of the congregation hall is the altar, with a statue of a reclining Buddha and several statues of seated Buddha. In Buddhism, each different position that the Buddha holds has a special meaning.

 The scene above is a common one across South East Asia, with believers in Buddhism bringing food to the monks as a way of making "merit". Wat Leu is a working temple with a large number of monks living there, a lot of whom are children. In Cambodia, the Buddhist church serves an important role as a care giver to children with no parents or poor parents.

Located at the top of the tallest hill in Sihanoukville, Wat Leu is a great vantage point for views over Sihanoukville and the coastline.

Wat Leu is also home to a large troop of wild macaque monkeys who roam freely around the temple. The temple is located within a forest area and the monkeys swing down from the trees into the temple courtyard to take the food left as offerings at various shrines and spirit houses in the temple grounds. 

In the grounds of the temple, between the road and the congregation hall, are several large stupas. These stupas appear to be much older than the temple itself. One of the temples has four faces carved into the top section, which is a representation of the Hindu god Brahma. The rulers of the ancient Khmer kingdom, who built Angkor Wat, were mainly believers in Hinduism. It may be that, like many Buddhist temples in Cambodia, Wat Leu has been constructed on the site of a much older Hindu temple, although no archaeological work has ever been done at Wat Leu to determine its history.