Recently voted 2nd best 'Wonder of the World' by readers of the well respected international travel magazine 'Wanderlust' ahead of such sites as the Grand Canyon, the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids of Egypt. Angkor Wat is the largest religious structure ever built. This cambodian temple is surrounded by a moat 190m wide and 5.5km in length beyond which is a high laterite wall. Passing through the main gatehouse one is struck by the full scale and majesty of the central temple complex at the end of a 350m long causeway. The concentric galleries are faced with bas relief stonework of such quality that after a thousand years in the jungle one can not so much as slip a credit card in the joints between the blocks. These galleries over 800m in length tell the histories and mythologies of the Angkor world. Surely one of the highlights of your southeast asia travel.
Angkor Thom was the political capital of the King Jayavarman VII, greatest of the Angkor builders. In its time this was the largest city in the world with over a million inhabitants.
At over 9 square km and completely enclosed by a moat and high laterite wall the city contains at its centre the complex of Bayon. Most visitors will approach the city from the South gate which is fascinating in its own right. Bayon is dominated by the 200 enormous stone faces of King Jayavarman VII on the 54 towers. The bas-relief carvings of Bayon provide a unique insight into everyday Angkor period life.
Probably the most photogenic of the temples; dominated by giant fig trees growing on the structure; Ta Prohm provided the film set for the tomb-raider movies.
The temple is large and was supported by 3,140 villages and 79,365 people. 18 high priests oversaw the ceremonies with 2,740 officials, 2,202 assistants and 615 royal dancers. Impressive as the scale of the operation must have been at the time the temple now is simply a great place to explore and wonder at the interplay of architecture and nature.
With ever more visitors to Angkor Wat each year those with a little more time and the urge for adventure will enjoy gtiing away from Siem Reap to visit more distant temples. Usually half emersed in the jungles of Cambodia these places can be a photographer's dream.
Combine these longer day trips and multiday journeys with visits to local villages and waterfalls to discover the real Cambodia beyond the temples of Siem Reap
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