visit Angkor (Siem Reap), Cambodia

On the drive away from Siem Reap’s city centre our tuk tuk benefits from the relief of shelter, provided by an increasingly thick lining of trees on either side of the road. As we turn at the top of the road, trees disappear from our right hand side, replaced by a thick body of water, “do you know what this water is?”, our guide asks. It’s wet season and the Tonlé Sap has swelled up so much that seeing across it isn’t a possibility, leaving us to wonder whether there are any tributaries close enough that could answer his question. Then, he answers it himself, “it’s the moat”.

The Angkor Wat moat is 200m wide stretching around 5km, a vastness that can’t really be appreciated by reading the numbers but has to be seen with your own eyes. As one of the largest religious monuments in the world, Angkor Wat inscriptions claim a workforce of 300,000 people and 6,000 elephants was needed to complete the site. Once inside, looking at the five peaks of Mount Meru (the Hindu equivalent of Mount Olympus), the high expectations you’ve built for yourself are entirely met and it’s clear that the size of the moat was just the beginning.

While Angkor Wat was ordered to be built, in the early 12th century, by King Suryavarman II to honour the Hindu god Vishnu, by the end of that century the new Khmer ruler, King Jayavarman VII, favoured Buddhism and by the 13th century it became an important monument for the Buddhist religion. Due to remaining important to Buddhists the temple received care and meticulous carvings and details remain clear enough to explore - despite the building having sustained significant damages in the 1970s during the rule of the Khmer Rouge regime.

While Angkor Wat is the headline act for visitors to Siem Reap, it’s interesting to see how the ancient culture of Khmer people evolved into Buddhism and moved their city capital to Angkor Thom, the “great city”. The enduring capital city of ancient Khmer holds a number of temples and other monuments that were frequented by the Khmer Empire at the time. Bayon, the most notable temple within the complex stands at the centre of Jayavarman VII’s city, guarded by around 200 (originally 216) smiling stone faces looking out at four directions.

Having been successful in defending the Khmer territories against the threat of the Chams (an ethnic group who frequently fought with the Khmer Empire), Jayavarman VII pursued building for much of his reign. The smiling stone faces bear a likeness to him and act as a indicator of his work throughout the archeological park. East of Angkor Thom he modelled the main image of Ta Prohm Temple on his own mother, to personify wisdom with gates around the complex depicting the same stone faces as seen at Angkor Thom.

Ta Prohm has become one of the most romantic temples within the Angkor region due to the jungle taking hold of the stone walls throughout the complex. While Angkor Wat was maintained over the centuries and today shows the amazing feat of accomplishment through building, having been neglected since the 15th Century, Ta Prohm stands as a testament to the power of nature.

Sun beams down over Angkor Wat which can be seen reflected in the pond in front — Angkor Wat in the afternoon sun from the sunrise viewpoint.

A carving of a god sits being fanned by Khmer carvings — Carved bas reliefs at Angkor Wat. All together the carvings represent eight different Hindu stories.

An Apsara carving is in the forefront of the carving while temple bars are in the background — The women of Angkor Wat are described as devatas (deities) when portrayed in large sculptures and apsaras (dancers and singers of the gods) when they appear in smaller sculptures.

A statue wearing gold buddhist robes is seen at the end of a stone corridor — Originally a Hindu community, Buddhism reached Cambodia at the end of the 12th century and before the temples were rediscovered it was monks in nearby Buddhist temples who cared for them.

A stone pathway leads up to Angkor Wat temple — Angkor Wat Temple was dedicated to Vishnu and stands in a temple complex site measuring 402 acres. Built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th Century.

Stone guards stand lined up on the way into Angkor Thom — Mythic statues lining the South Gate entrance of Angkor Thom (literally translating to “Great City”). They represent the Hindu story of creation called the Churning of the Sea of Milk.

Faces stare down from the entrance to Angkor Thom city — The South Gate entrance to Angkor Thom is the best preserved. It is capped by three face-towers that face four directions (the central faces both out and in). The faces are said to bear a likeness to King Jayavarman VII.

Faces from Bayon Temple look down — Similar faces, depicting Buddha (with a likeness to King Jayavarman VII) are seen in the towers of Bayon Temple, within Angkor Thom.

Carvings on a temple in Bayon Temple — Apsara carvings at Bayon Temple show a slightly different style of carving used later in the 12th century.

Bayon Temple faces with greenery in the background — In total 216 smiling faces of King Jayavarman VII were carved onto gigantic towers at Bayon Temple. Several towers have toppled and there are now around 200 remain.

A tree grows from temple stones in Angkor Ta Prohm — Ta Prohm Temple was used as a filming location for Tomb Raider (2001). Elements of other Angkorian Temples were used, but the scenes featuring Ta Prohm stayed the most faithful to the temples actual appearance. The temple is being stabilised and restored by an Indian team of archaeologists along with their Cambodian counterparts.

Tree grows over the stone wall in Ta Prohm Temple — The atmospheric quality that the trees give Ta Prohm Temple have made it one of the most popular to visit. UNESCO inscribed it onto the World Heritage List in 1992.

Stone corridor with moss walls lines Ta Prohm Temple — Originally called Rajavihara (Monastery of the King), Ta Prohm was a Buddhist temple dedicated to the mother of Jayavarman VII. Almost 80,000 people were required to maintain or attend at the temple, including more than 2700 officials & 615 dancers.

Mossy wall with an outline of a Buddha in Ta Prohm — Markings on the walls at Ta Prohm Temple that seemingly once help some kind of carving.

a tree covers a stone temple in Ta Prohm and an Aspara can be seen through the tree roots — A sandstone carving is swallowed by tree roots in a corner of Ta Prohm.

Looking for more restaurants, bars and hotels in Siem Reap? Maybe our map can help.

Loung Ung’s ‘First They Killed My Father’ from our book club picks is set in Cambodia during the rule of the Khmer Rouge and provides an essential education of the country’s recent history.

For more destinations holding relics of the ancient world check out our photo journal for Borobudur (Java) and our photo journal for Tulum or for places to visit in South East Asia check out our photo journal for Bangkok.