Angkor Wat - Siem Reap - Things To Do Reviews

There's no doubt about it. The Temples of Angkor must be one of the, if not THE, highlight of South East Asia. First, let's get rid of a misconception: Angkor Wat is actually just one of the temples that can be found in an area of 400 square kilometers known as Angkor. Although Angkor Wat is without a doubt the most impressive one, referring to the whole area with the same name would not do the other sights justice.

If you like temples and archeological sites you'll be in heaven at Angkor. Over the course of two and a half days we were able to visit 9 of the most important temples. If you wanted to see everything you'd be out here for weeks! And even for temple fans like myself there will be serious 'temple fatigue' kicking in after three days. But 2 - 3 days will surely be sufficient to see the highlights.

A little sidenote: Cambodia is more than just Angkor. Lots of tourists only come to see Angkor, sometimes as part of a Laos/Cambodia/Vietnam combination journey or sometimes even as a Siem Reap fly-in-fly-out. That's a shame! Although Angkor is the absolte highlight, Cambodia has much more to offer.

But back to Angkor. Below you'll find part of my travel journal dealing with the temples we visited at Angkor. Must-see temples include Angkor Wat (get up early to catch the marvellous sunrise over the temple), the city of Angkor Thom (including the mystical Bayon) and the overgrown Ta Phrom.

Phnom Bakheng
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While the sun was setting we first climbed the steep hill path made up of rocks and then the narrow stairs of the temple gate to arrive at the terrace filled with hundreds (if not thousands) of people. Phnom Bakheng is a typical Angkorian temple full of symbolism; seven levels (including base and summit) for the seven Hindu heavens. While we caught our breaths and passed around my bottle of Drambuie we watched the sunset on the Tonle Sap lake. For some, the multitude of people might have spoiled the fun but I thought the sunset was truely magical nevertheless.

TEMPLES OF ANGKOR - DAY 1

Bantey Srei
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Bantey Srei (Citadel of the Woman) turned out to be a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. It had clearest mural carvings and bas-reliefs we'd get to see during our visits to Angkor.The detail and how well it had been preserved were amazing. Of course, this temple had been the first major restorations project in 1930.

Bantey Samre
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Bantey Samre was a nice an peaceful place with hardly any other people around. A fine moment of tranquility. Aki told us all about the styles of the lions used in different periods of Angkor and how the tails of the lions at this temple were missing since they had originally been equipped with wooden tails. The central building had many impressive squares with different levels of height and all seemed to be build in a perfect symmetrical way.

East Mebon
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East Mebon had originally been an islet in a huge reservoir called the Eastern Baray but this had now dried up. The lack of stone stairs at the front of the temple still showed that boats had been able to get straight to the temple gateway. This temple was covered with small holes which were ones used to hold the plaster that had originally covered the shrines.

Prasat Neak Pean
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Prasat Neak Pean (Intertwined Naga) was quite different from the temples we had seen so far. A central tower stood in a big pond with two intercoiled naga snakes around its base. These snakes symbolised the combination of Hindu and Buddhist religions. Around the central point lay four square reservoirs, each of which held an alcove with a stone head. You'd find a man's head, a lion's head, a horses head and an elephant's head. The holes in their mouths were connected to the central point, so water could flow from the central pool to the other four pools during purification rituals. Quite a clever design !

Praeh Kham
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According to most, Praeh Kham (Sacred Sword) was today's highlight. Being one of the largest buildings in Angkor it featured an extensive maze of corridors, all leading to a central point where a stupa had been erected. This seemed like hike-and-seek heavens and walking around the corridors you almost had the feeling that you were in some weird house of mirrors. This building had been made as a place for worship and teaching. Some of the corridors featured Buddhist carvings on the left and Hindu carvings on the right. Unfortunately, during one of the shifts of religion in Khmer history the Hindus had removed all the Buddhist images from the temple, leaving only empty spots in otherwise impressive carvings.
Other features of interest were the causeway with demons and gods on the left and right using a snake for a thug of war (a depiction of the legend of the Churning of the Ocean of milk) and the Eastern entrance where the walls were under attack by a huge jungle tree.

TEMPLES OF ANGKOR - DAY 2

Angkor Wat
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The tuk-tuks made their way through the dark outskirts of Siem Reap to Angkor Wat, where our tuk-tuk driver (Mr. How) explained what the best place was to view the sunrise. We then made our way over the huge causeway to the temple, carefully checking for holes in the road with my flashlight. We went through Angkor Wat's outer wall and saw the temple lying their in the shady twilight, shrouded in mystery. Quite a sight already. While walking around I discovered the two ponds in front of the temple in which the towers are so magnificently reflected at dawn. I got the other four and we found a nice spot to view the spectacle. Fortunately, even though there were certainly hundreds of people around, it didn't feel as massive as the sunset we watched on Phnom Bakheng two days earlier. And it was definitely worth getting out of bed early for. Seeing the sky painted purple, pink and red over the dark Angkor Wat was a sight never to forget.

When the people started to clear out and there was enough daylight we decided to visit Angkor Wat now that there was few people around and the weather was still comfortable. We continued our way along the causeways and first checked out the 800 meters long series of bas-reliefs in the outer corridors of the temples. These depicted various battles between gods in the Hindu religion, as well as the armed forces of the King that had build Angkor Wat.
Through a rather disappointing "Gallery of a Thousand Buddha's" (Gallery of a Handful of Buddha's would have been more appropriate) we came to the temples section that holds the huge central tower and four surrounding smaller towers. We discovered that it was possible to climb into the smaller towers via steep stairs on their outside walls. Entering the towers we found a big courtyard made up of four quadrants and a niche with a Buddha statue in each side of the central tower.

To be perfectly honest, Angkor Wat is a most impressive sight with it's towers, carvings and courtyards. The most impressive things however is seeing it from the outside; the long columned corridors behind the lakes and the five towers above those. Nothing you'll see inside the temple can compete with that.

Angkor Thom
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We continued our journey to Angkor Thom, which isn't a temple but a huge fortified city of roughly 10 square km. This Great City (as the name translates) is enclosed by a wall of 8 meter high and 12 km long and a 100 meter wide moat (as the oceans surrounded mythical Mount Meru). We entered the 'city' by the South Gate (one out of 5 gates) which was decorated with the face of the Boddhisatva Avalokitheshvara looking out on a bridge where on each side 54 gods and 54 demons were pulling a Naga snake, a scene from the Hindu myth of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk.

We then started our exploration of Angkor Thom in the north part of the area, where we first visited a big cruciform Buddhist terrace with a 4,5 meter high statue of the Buddha (Tep Pranam). Behind Tep Pranam we found a rather deteriorated small temple called Preah Palilay. We prided ourselves in climbing all the way up to the collapsed roof.

Walking back towards the main road we found the Terrace of the Leper King and the Terrace of Elephants. The first was a 7 meter high platform of which the front was decorated with five tiers of carvings of seated aspara (celestial dancers). Behind this front wall there was a corridor which followed the contours of the outer wall and contained even more stunning carvings.
In the 12th century the Terrace of the Elephants was used to review public ceremonies. Over this terrace we reached the entrance to the Phimeanakas or 'Celestial Palace'. This temple was another pyramidal representation of Mount Meru with three levels, which we climbed via the stairs at the back to enjoy the view.

Via the Baphuom (another pyramidal representation of ... you guessed it), which was closed to the public because of restorations (and rightfully so because the thing was in shambles) we continued our way to the highlight of Angkor Thom: The Bayon. From afar this enormous temple looks like a pile of rubble, but when coming closer one can make out 54 gothic towers carrying 216 smiling faces of Avalokiteshrava. The Bayon stands in the exact middle of Angkor Thom and it's exact function and symbolism remain unclear. Under the burning sun we explored the three levels of the temple, the first holding an impressive 1.2 km of bass-reliefs (but since we'd seen to many of these by now we decided not to see them all), the second consisted of dark corridors, not unlike those in Praeh Kahm. The third and most impressive level held the central sanctuary and it was in this level that you became aware of the multitude of stone faces staring and smiling at you. An impressive experience.

Ta Prohm
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Last but certainly not the least on our agenda was Ta Prohm, which was quite a difference from the temples we had seen so far. Whereas the other ones were standing clear of the jungle and had been (partially) restored, this one clearly showed the destructive force on nature. Imagine huge trees wrapping themselves around walls or pushing over towers, with huge bricks of stone tumbling down in the courtyards. It was this combination of the power of man and jungle that made this one of the most fascinating highlights of our temple tours.

You pay $20 USD(US Dollars) for one day pass per person. But you can just hire a tuk-tuk or motorcycle-taxi for about $15 the whole day and they will drive you around the temples of Ankor Wat. The temples are plenty and you can take your time walking around them. If you forget to bring bottled water, there are plenty of vendors around that will sell you water, fruits and food. Bring comfortable shoes and plenty of film or memory space on your camera.

If you are planning a 5 day trip to Angkor Wat, I would recommend you the following:

Take one day and go out to see the temples further out of the main temple: Banteay Srey, Kbal Spean (take your swimming stuff and a small towel, there is a waterfall which should is very good for a nice break!)So do Banteay Srey first and then you can take your time at Kbal Spean. Kbal Spean is up in the hill, you need to do a bit of walking, but is just different after possibly 3 days of temples and heat!!! If you are interested, on the way back, you can stop at the Landmine Museum, it does not take long but is interesting. It was found by a guy who, in his younger days, laid the landmines himself but after the regime, he helped to deactivate and find many of those landmines. He has also started a school where many of those poor children that were hit by a landmine are now happily living and learning. Really worth stopping by!

If you go for sunrise at Angkor Wat (you will have to rise very early like 4.30-5am but it is worth it), do not go back straight after to your guesthouse or hotel for breakfast. Pack some snacks and drinks with you and after the sunrise, make your way up to the top of angkor, you will be surprised to be one of the only ones there....quiet and peaceful but most rewarding. You could take as many photos as you like without the human traffic. As we are leaving around 10am, all the tour groups started to arrive so we were really happy that we had done it in this way!

There are people selling travel books at every corner: In my opinion, the best one is "Ancient Angkor" by Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques. It really gives you a good indication of all the temples, where to go, which side to enter, which to exit and if you are really interested, there is also a lot of history and stuff for each temple. But again this is very subjective depending on individual's interests. Personally, I find this book with lots of great insights and better off than having a tour guide. You can walk at your own pace and just tell the tuktuk driver where to wait for you.

Here's some online maps that we found it useful: http://www.canbypublications.com/maps/SR-AngkorParkMain.htm (for the temples),
http://www.canbypublications.com/maps/srmapmain.htm (for the city center).

Hope this is useful to anyone who is traveling to Siem Reap...Happy Travel!