Angkor Wat is more than just a single temple but includes a huge complex of temples built by the Khymer dating back to the 9th through to the 15th century. The complex is close to the town of Siem Reap.
What I experienced here
Angkor Wat, is only a few kilometres to the north of the town of Siem Reap, and is undeniably the most famous, largest and most important attraction not only in Cambodia, but in all of Southeast Asia, and maybe even in all of Asia. It is listed as one of the UNESCO world heritage sites.
The celebrated 100 or so temples of Angkor are the sacred remains of what was once a much larger administration and religious centre and were built between the 9th and 13th Centuries to glorify a succession of Khmer kings. Most of Angkor was abandoned in the 15th Century and the temples were gradually covered by forest. In the late 19th Century, efforts were made to clear the jungle from threatening the temples and this restoration works is still continuing today.
We took a tuk tuk from our hotel in Siem Reap to the main Angkor Wat temple, unfortunately there was some scaffolding around the main doem. We walk through the Wat to rear side and was amazed at the intricacy of the stone carvings. The aged stone were amazing and after such a long time. We then carried on in the tuk tuk to the Angkor Thom gate to see the big carved faces, the whole complex is too far to cover efficiently by foot! We then went to the Bayon temple and climbed to the top to see the many carved faces, which were very eerie with background noise of the grasshoppers. We went on to the Baphuon, Phimeanakas and the elephant terraces. Finally we went to what is possibly the most spectacular site, Ta Prohm, where the ruins are covered by the roots of the tall trees.
The temple ruins in and around Angkor Wat create a feeling of adventure and a lost civilisation. It is difficult to imagine the splendour of these structures in their hay day but being amongst these ruins leaves you in awe at the beauty mankind can create but also a real sense of how the slow time of history changes everything, even nature slowly creeping across the ruins and gradually knocking down walls as its roots grow. I felt alien to the people that once lived here as the sculptures were of strange looking human like demons and characters. Amongst all this I did fell a deep spirituality here, especially with so many Buddhist monks visiting and praying around the temples. The trees and jungle growing across the ruins made feel like a real Indiana Jones.