Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Siem Reap

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap - Cambodia

Siem Reap is a small colonial town just north of Southeast Asia’s largest lake, Tonle Sap. The town itself is charming and pleasant enough to roam around, with some fine examples of French colonial architecture though modern developments, mostly in the form of hotels, has been swift here in recent years since the slow demise of the Khmer Rouge. Now that the town is safe again, visitors have been flocking in, using it as a base for visits to nearby Angkor ruins.

A City Carved in Stone
From the 9th to the 14th centuries, (at a time when Europe was still struggling out of the Dark Ages), the Cambodian Empire of Angkor encompassed most of present-day Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

The heart of this empire during its peak in the 12th century was the ancient capital of Angkor Thom (near present day Siem Reap), the site of the world’s largest temple complexes that was only rediscovered in 1861, overgrown by jungle.

This spectacular city was built over 30 years under the reign of Suryavarman II (1113-1150). The whole area covers 400 sqare kilometers and is brimming with the finest examples of Khmer art and architecture.

Visitors are always amazed at the sheer scale of the place. Within the Angkor Wat compound alone, you will find more than 100 stone monuments and temple edifices, each of which contains countless statues, sculptures and bas reliefs that have weathered extremely well over the last 800 years. To see the whole thing can take several days, as you get delightfully lost in its labyrinthine corridors.

The most important temples to visit in the area are Angkor Wat – especially at sunrise and sunset; Angkor Thom, the remains of the capital; Ta Prohm, a palace overgrown by jungle; and Preah Khan, which is also overgrown and in the process of restoration.

SE Asia’s Great Lake
The Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, covering 27,000 hectares in dry season (November to May) and 150,000 hectares during the rainy season (June to October). The Tonle Sap River reverses according to the season and the Tonle Sap acts as an overflow reservoir for the huge Mekong River. It is a beautiful and tranquil place to explore by boat and visitors to the area shouldn’t misss the opportunity to do so.

The Tonle Sap is more than just a pretty face though. It is vital to Cambodia’s already tenuous survival. It produces 100,000 tons of fish every year – an incredible 80% of the population’s protein intake. Unfortunately, huge dam projects in China along with others in Laos and Thailand are affecting the flow of water and threatening the ecosystem of this magnificent body of water.