Asia Attractions
Select a Destination
Cambodia Attractions
Cambodia Attractions
Angkor Wat is the Disneyland of Buddhist temples in Asia. The temple complex covers 60 sq. miles and requires at least a few busy days to get around the major sights thoroughly. Everyone has their favorite, but we've highlighted a few must-sees below. Be sure to plan carefully and catch a sunrise or sunset from one of the more prime spots; it's a photographer's dream. Note: The temples are magnificent in and of themselves, and days spent clambering around the temples are inherently interesting, but be careful not to come away from a visit to ancient Angkor with a memory of an oversize rock collection or jungle gym. There's much to learn about Buddhism, Hinduism, architecture, and Khmer history; it's useful to hire a well-informed guide or join a tour group. There are also subtleties to temple touring, and a good guide is your best chance to beat the crowd and catch the intricacies or be in the right place for the magic moments of the day.
The Temples
Angkor Wat -- The symbol of Cambodia, the four spires of the main temple of Angkor are known the world over. In fact, this is the most resplendent of the Angkor sites, one certainly not to miss even in the most perfunctory of tours.
Built under the reign of Suryavarman II in the 12th century, this temple, along with Bayon and Baphuon, is the very pinnacle of Khmer architecture. From base to tip of the highest tower, it's 213m (669 ft.) of awe-inspiring stone in the definitive, elaborate Khmer style. The temple moat is 1.5X1.3km (1X 3/4 miles) around, and some 90m (295 ft.) wide, crossed by a causeway with long naga statues on each side as railings from the west; in fact Angkor is the only temple entered from the west (all others from the east). Angkor Wat is also the only Angkor monument that is a mausoleum -- all others are temples or monasteries. Angkor is also the only temple dedicated to Shiva.
Approaching the temple, you'll first cross the causeway over the main moat -- restored in the 1960s by the French. Enter the compound across the first gallery, the Majestic Gallery, with some carvings and Brahma statuary, then pass into the large, grassy courtyard housing the main temple. This next causeway is flanked on either side by two small library buildings as well as two small ponds. (Hint: Hop off the causeway and take a photo of the temple reflected in the pond on the right.)
An outdoor staircase sits at the approach to the main temple. From there, you'll enter the richest area of statuary, galleries, and bas reliefs. The famous bas reliefs encircling the temple on the first level (south side) depict the mythical "Churning of the Ocean of Milk," a legend in which Hindu deities stir vast oceans in order to extract the elixir of immortality. This churning produced the Apsaras, Hindu celestial dancers, who can be seen on many temples. Other reliefs surrounding the base of the main temple Khmer wars and corner towers depict Hindu fables.
Angkor Wat is the first temple you pass when entering the temple complex, but depending on your guide, you might save it for the evening and head directly to nearby Angkor Thom.
Bakeng Hill -- Just past Angkor Wat, Bakeng Hill is meant to resemble Mount Meru, the center of the earth in the Hindu cosmology. The hill makes a great spot for sunrise or sunset viewing and gets crowded like a mosh pit in high season. The hike up is a good way to limber up and break a sweat predawn, but the crumbled steps and slippery mud are a bit much for some. Consider taking the trek in style high up on an elephant's back in a houda. Elephants for hire wait at the bottom of the hill.
Angkor Thom -- The temple name means "the great city" in Khmer and is famed for its fantastic 45m (148-ft.) central temple, Bayon and nearby Baphuon. The vast area of Angkor Thom, over a mile on one side, is dotted with many temples and features; don't miss the elaborate reliefs on the Bayon's first floor gallery or of the Terrace of the Leper King and the Terrace of Elephants. The Angkor Thom Gates, particularly the south gate, are good examples of the angelic carving of the Jayavarman head, a motif you will find throughout the temple sites. The bridge spanning the moat before the south entrance is lined with the gods and monsters said to have been in competition to churn the proverbial sea of milk that would cause creation of the world. The line of statues with the gate in the background is a classic Angkor scene.
The Bayon -- The Bayon is the very centerpiece of the larger Angkor Thom city, and with its classic carved faces is one of the best loved of the Angkor temples. Bayon is a Buddhist temple built under the reign of prolific Jayavarman VII (1190 A.D.), but the temple was built atop a previous Hindu site and adheres to Hindu cosmology and, with its central tower depicting Meru and its oceanic moat, can be read as a metaphor for the natural world. The Bayon is famous for its huge stone faces, usually set in groups of four around a central prang, or tower, and each face indicating an ordinal direction on the compass. The curious smiling faces are done in deep relief at Bayon -- and also in different forms at the entrance gates to Angkor Thom, at Ta Prom and Banteay Kdei -- and the image is the enigmatic Mona Lisa of Southeast Asia, at once recognizable as an image of compassion and equanimity, the face is also said to depict Jayavarman VII, the temple's very builder and benefactor, himself. You approach the Bayon along a forested area at the city center, cool and misty, where streams of light come through in visible rays and the drone of cicadas is deafening (you might even see some monkeys). Elephant trekkers also line the road to the temple.
Baphuon -- Just north of the Bayon is the stalwart form of the Baphuon, a temple mount built in 1066 and an important Khmer capital. Early French archaeologists sought to restore the crumbling mount, and began to disassemble the temple block by block, but their efforts were interrupted by war, and it would be some years before archaeologists would return to find a confused jigsaw puzzle of a dismantled temple and, mon dieu! Someone had misplaced the plans. Bilateral efforts are underway to solve the puzzle and put the temple back together, and these ongoing efforts give visitors an idea of what original temple construction might have been like.
The Terrace of the Leper King -- Built by Jayavarman, this section is the northern half of a long north-south shelf (The Elephant Terrace, below is the southern half) of what was supposedly a main viewing stage for the king and his entourage to watch elaborate shows in the open area out front. Approach the terrace from its most northern point. Outside, you'll find an image of the guardian of hell because the area site was a crematorium. The top of the terrace is a statue of the king with leprosy (a copy of the original). The long terrace is made of two walls and visitors pass through a shaded walkway on the interior. The whole site is lined with rich relief carving and has been lovingly restored and propped up with new concrete wall that maintains the integrity of the original.
The Elephant Terrace -- This terrace is the south end (near the Bayon) of a long performance terrace of the king, so named because of its elaborate reliefs of elephants, whose trunks make decorative columns. The long concourse (about 350m/1,148 ft.) depicts scenes of circus acrobats, wrestlers, and images of hunting elephants in the wild.
Preah Khan -- Built by Jayavarman VII in 1191, the name of the temple means "Sacred Sword." It's rumored that this was where Jayavarman called home during the building of the Bayon. You approach the Preah Khan through a walkway lined with low lantern towers (note that the Buddhist reliefs were changed to divine vultures during the iconoclastic period). The compound is surrounded by wall and mote. The mote represents the ocean, the wall is a mountain, and the temple is Mount Meru -- the mother mountain of Hindu creation. Four gates face the ordinal directions, and each gate has a God and Demon statue like entry to Angkor Thom but just a tower, no Apsara face. Stop in to the small visitor center for information about preservation. The temple is a monastery, like Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei, and is thought to have been built in homage to Jayavarman's father. The site plan is much like Ta Prohm. The temple passage has lots of meandering galleries and side rooms with statues (most broken or missing) and Shiva Lingum. Many Buddha reliefs here have been chiseled off. Interior walls are lined with cross-legged, bearded forest hermits in relief. The central tower is a stupa for ashes of a later king, dating from 16th century and replacing a large Buddha statue of Jayavarman VII that was found by the French in 1943, then summarily lost.
Ta Prohm -- The jungle foliage still has its hold on this dynamic temple, which was left a ruinous state when early archaeologists freed the temples from the jungle. Ta Prohm is a favorite for many; in fact, those very ruinous vines appeal to most. As large around as oak trees, the Khmer Spoong tree is something like a banyan tree, and it's often encased in the wandering tendrils of the charay, a thick vine. The powerful Spoong and the charay vines cleave massive stones in two or give way and grow over the top of temple ramparts. It's quite dynamic, and there are a few popular photo spots where the collision of temple and vine are most impressive. Sadly, Ta Prohm was looted quite heavily in recent years, and many of its stone reliquaries are lost. The temple was originally built in 1186 by Jayavarman VII as a monastery dedicated to the king's mother and spiritual teacher. There are 39 towers connected by numerous galleries. The exterior wall of the compound is 1km by 600m (1/2 mile by 1,969 ft.), and entrance gates have the classic Jayavarman face. Most visitors enter from the west gate -- and some drivers will come and pick you up on the other side. A line of small open-air eateries is just outside the main entrance to Ta Prohm, popular places for a snack or lunch.
Ta Kaeo -- What's most interesting about Ta Kaeo is that it was never completed. Legend has it that the temple was struck by lightning during its construction, and all work was abandoned at a stage where the main structure was complete, but no adornment had been added; as such it serves as "Temple Structure 101." Also unique is the fact that Ta Kaeo is made of a rich green sandstone (elsewhere it's a deeper brown or grayish color). Built in the 10th century by Jayavarman V, the temple was dedicated to Shiva. The central prang once housed a lingum, and the three levels are all encircled by sandstone galleries. The climb to the top is very steep, a bit of "4-points" rock climbing really, but the view is well worth it.
Banteay Kdei -- The first temple built by Jayavarman VII in 1181, Banteay Kdei is just opposite the large Sra Serang Reservoir, a lovely lily pond that is 300 by 700m and surrounded by sandstone steps of Khmer Vintage -- the reservoir is a popular place to watch the sunset gleaming off the water's surface. Sra Serang once housed a small island temple where the king liked to meditate -- now local folks bathe here or steer the water to local rice farms. The four gates of Banteay Kdei have Jayavarman's iconic smiling face -- like those at the famed Bayon. The east entrance brings you past an area lined with lions and nagas along an open terrace once used for performances. There's a moat around the second interior gate. The Buddha at the entrance is an original, intact statue, quite unique to the Angkor compound where so many pieces have been stolen or destroyed (beheaded).
Some portions of the main interior temple area are held together with strong rope and cable. Look for a small offering house with columns just inside on the right used to gain merit through gift giving. Also keep your eyes open for the refined Apsara carvings on the main temple. Exit via the west gate -- look for more Jayavarman heads -- and walk the verdant fields around the side of the temple back to the east gate and your wheels, or take a short walk, through a gauntlet of young hawkers, to the Sra Serang Reservoir.
Cambodia Activities
"Get High" at Angkor
Like many of the world's great monuments, the temples of Angkor are laid out over massive spaces, with miles of temple wall on the side of each temple, as if a sign to the gods. Visitors approaching temples on foot experience the temple like Khmers of the Angkor period would have, in procession from one side to the other, but we see only one section of the main gate, for example, or experience only the inner sanctum of the temples without being able to see the whole. It is important to remember that the Angkor temples were each self-contained cities or large monasteries, with populations in the hundreds of thousands. Now choked with jungle, these wider areas are best appreciated from above, where the scope of the building at Angkor is best understood. The rule is that there's a 1km (half-mile) "no fly" radius around the temple compound, and the trips below know just where that is and can take you as close as they are allowed.
The Magic Hours at Angkor Wat
The skies over Angkor always put on a show. With just a bit of prior planning, you can see the dawn or the day's afterglow framed in temple spires, glowing off the main wat or reflected in one of the temple reservoirs. Photographers swoon. Here are a few hints for catching the magic hours at the temples.
The sunrise and sunset views from the upper terraces of Angkor Wat, the main temple, are some of the best, though it's a tough climb for some. At dusk, temple staff start clearing the main temple area just as the sun dips. Smile; avoid them; and try to stay for the afterglow.
For the classic photographer's view of the main temple, Angkor Wat, at sunset -- with the image reflected in a pool -- enter the first wall of the temple compound, walk halfway down the front gangway and then take a right or left down the set of stairs and out into the field. The view from the water's edge, with warm light bouncing off the temple, is stunning. The pond on the right nearly disappears in dry season, but has natural edges, not stone, and makes for a nicer shot.
Okay, so it's a bit crowded, but the views from Phnom Bakeng (Bakeng Hill), just a short drive past the entrance to Angkor Wat, are stunning at both sunrise and sunset. It's a good climb up the hill, and those so inclined can go by elephant.
The open area on the eastern side of Banteay Kdei looks over one of Angkor's many reservoirs, Sras Srang, which serves as a great reflective pool for the rising glow at sunrise.
