Cambodia: The Temples of Angkor

Before this trip started, if someone asked me to name the single place that I was most excited to visit, I said Angkor Wat.

It’s a fascinating, unique, and absolutely beautiful place. According to Wikipedia, the temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single religious monument. Angkor was the largest preindustrialized city on Earth. At its peak in the 13th century, it supported a over a million people, with an urban sprawl of 3000 square kilometers. The closest rival to Angkor, the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, was between 100 and 150 square kilometers in total size.

And it is photogenic. I could have spent years in Angkor and not taken the same photo twice. I only had two and a half days, though, and I managed to get to 8 temples in that time: Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Phrom, Preah Khan, Banteay Kdei, Preah Rup, Banteay Sri, and Phnom Bakheng. They were all beautiful, some because of their state of preservation and some because of their deterioration. Angkor Thom, the walled city of ancient Angkor, was probably my favorite because of the mysterious carved faces in its main temple, known as the Bayon. No one knows what the dozens of carved stone faces were originally meant to represent, but each one has so much character, and many seem to smile at you, as if they have the answer to some cosmic joke.

The famous and mysterious giant carved faces of Angkor Thom

Another favorite of mine was Ta Phrom, also known as the “Tomb Raider Temple”, which has been left nearly as it was when rediscovered in the 19th century. The forest has reclaimed parts of the temple, and tree roots seem to be eating some of the temples whole.

Of course, Angkor Wat was also stunning because of its sheer size and its beautiful carved bas reliefs.

Young monks at Angkor Wat

Headless buddhas in Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, looting of the temples over the centuries has resulted in a lot of damage .

Angkor Wat, seen from Phnom Bakheng temple just before sunset.

Lastly, a couple of shots of some long tailed macaques that hang out along the road between Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat:

After three days among the temples, my month-long loop around Southeast Asia had come to an end. It was time to go back to Bangkok. Before heading south, though, I planned one more trip north, to check out the ruins of the ancient Siam empire at Sukhothai.