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Angkor Wat - Built to
honor the Hindu god Vishnu, is the world's largest
religious building and took some 50,000 artisans,
workers and slaves, and nearly 40 years, to complete.
The temple forms a rectangular enclosure measuring
1,500 metres by 1,300 metres surrounded by a moat
200 metres wide. The main entryway to Angkor Wat
is a paved avenue nearly half a kilometre long,
ornamented with balustrades and fringed by artificial
lakes.
Inside the outer walls, the structure rises over
three levels to a central core topped by five
almost pineapple-shaped towers. Virtually every
surface in the maze of chambers and courtyards
is richly decorated with low-relief scenes of
legends, wars and everyday life, enhanced by carvings
of nearly 2,000 apsaras, or celestial dancers.
The amazing structure as a whole is best viewed
in soft light. Somerset Maugham wrote in 1930:
"It needs the glow of sunset or the white
brilliance of the moon to give it a loveliness
that touches the heart."
The Bayon - At the centre of Angkor Thom
(literally "Great City"), which forms
the heart of the Angkor complex as it is today.
This inner city is surrounded by a moat, and approached
at the four cardinal points via huge stone gates
and causeways flanked by statues of gods and giants.
The Bayon forms a three-tiered pyramid with 54
towers, each dominated by over 200 huge, 4-metre
high, mysterious faces facing out to the north,
south, east and west. Each mystically serene countenance,
with closed eyelids and faint smile, represents
a Bodhisattaya (fully enlightened being) who delays
entry into Nirvana to aid the spiritual development
of others.
The structure is rich in decoration, detailing
scenes from battles, religious rituals, and everyday
life. On approaching from a distance, it resembles
a rather formless initially disappointing jumble
of stone, but inside, the visitor discovers a
maze of galleries, towers and passageways on three
different levels. Under the sightless gaze of
the ever-present faces, it is here, particularly
if alone, that many tourists experience a feeling
of profound spiritual awe.
There are several other sites of interest within
Angkor Thom, including the Terrace of the Elephants
and the Terrace of the Leper King. At its height,
the city had a population of nearly one million,
and its 9 square km area was comparable in size
to anything in Europe at that time.
Ta Promh - If Angkor Wat and the city of
Angkor Thom are best known for grandeur and majesty,
then to the east, the temple and monastery of
Ta Promh wins hands down for sheer dramatic effect.
Unlike most other monuments, Ta Promh has been
left the way it was originally found. The ancient
structure is thus still gripped by massive strangler
fig and banyan tree roots ("spongs")
giving the feeling of discovering the archeological
treasure for the first time
Faced with this extraordinary image, it is easy
to relive the emotions of the French naturalist
Henri Mouhot when he came across it hidden in
the jungle in 1860. At its peak, over 70,000 people,
including high priests, monks, assistants, dancers
and laborers, populated this vast 600-room monastery.
The structure measures 145 by 125 meters and contains
a maze of courtyards and galleries, many impassable
because of the dense overgrowth of creepers and
roots.
Prah Kahn - Another temple that has been
left to creeping jungle, with huge trees and multi-colored
lichen infiltrating the structure's stone corridors
and often gloomy interiors. Although it is not
as visually arresting as Ta Prohm, this fascinating
temple is formed in a cross by a long 200-metre
central passageway cut by another wide perpendicular
corridor. Both of these have networks of smaller
passages, which themselves open to breezeways,
courtyards, and rooms of all sizes. Although the
central portion is fairly clear, exploring the
outer passageways becomes increasingly adventurous
with fallen stones, surreal looking tree roots,
and tiny apertures leading into almost pitch dark
interiors
Banteay Srei - Approximately 25 kilometres
from the main complex, this relatively small 10th
century monument in pink sandstone is dedicated
to Shiva. Its perfectly proportioned decoration
and detail with exquisite sculptures, lintels,
and friezes, makes it one of the oldest and most
aesthetically beautiful. Almost every surface
is a masterpiece of superb detail, each one it
seems, more beautiful than the one before
Phnom Bakheng - Built on the highest hill in the
area and offering spectacular views, especially
at dawn and sunset, this small but attractive
temple makes an ideal start or end to the day's
sightseeing, although most tourists congregate
here toward dusk
East Mebon Temple & The Baray Lakes
- One of the Khmers' most notable hydrological
accomplishments were the West and East Barays,
huge, perfectly rectangular artificial lakes covering
14 and 16 square km respectively, and used to
irrigate thousands of acres of surrounding farmland.
A temple was built in the middle of each lake,
and since East Baray was drained, the East Mebon
Temple is now easily visited. West Baray (2 km
wide & 8 km long) is still filled with water.
The boat service is accessible to the west Mebon
Temple which is in the middle of the west Baray.
East Mebon, however, is a fascinating site, best
known for the almost life-size stone elephants
on the corners of its tiers.
Since each one appears to have been hewn from
a single block of stone, the task of carving and
transporting such huge pieces must have been tremendous.
Smaller stone figures flank the stairways leading
up to the central elevated platform. From here,
the bed of the lake, now fertile paddy, stretches
below you in every direction..
The Ruluos Group - Lying approximately
10 km from Siem Riep town, is a cluster of three
9th century temples, namely Prah Ko, Bakong and
Lolei. Being the oldest in Angkor, and ostensibly
the site of the capital at that time, they are
interesting in their own right, particularly Bakong,
which is the best preserved of the three.
Stairways lined with stone lions lead up the five
tiers of the pyramid shaped structure, terminating
in a sanctuary on top. Eight small sanctuaries
also encircle the base, an architectural concept
common to many other Angkor temples |
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Cambodia 
