Cambodia: Angkor Archaeological Park

March 6, 2024
Cambodia
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Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over some 400 km2, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century.

The primary reason we had come to Siem Reap was to visit the Angkor Archaeological Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a large area, so to visit everything will take multiple days.

We decided to spend a full day visiting several temples, with Angkor Wat being top of the list. There are many tour companies who will take you around and do full and comprehensive tours. We have often done guided tours of archaeological sites, but here we decided to do things more leisurely and at our own pace. So, rather than join a group tour or get a private guide we organised a tuk-tuk driver through the hotel to take us to the main temple sites in Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.

On a fairly packed, but unrushed day, we visited five temples. You could do more but we decided to avoid being ‘templed out’.

Angkor Wat

The first temple complex we headed for was Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II (reigned 1113–c. 1150). The vast religious complex of Angkor Wat comprises more than a thousand buildings, and it is one of the great cultural wonders of the world. Angkor Wat is the world’s largest religious structure, covering some 400 acres (160 hectares), and marks the high point of Khmer architecture.

The city of Angkor served as the royal centre from which a dynasty of Khmer kings ruled one of the largest, most prosperous, and most sophisticated kingdoms in the history of Southeast Asia. From the end of the 9th century until early in the 13th century, numerous construction projects were undertaken, the most notable of which was Angkor Wat. It was built by Suryavarman II as a vast funerary temple within which his remains were to be deposited. Construction is believed to have spanned some three decades.

We’d bought tickets online that allowed us access to all the temples in the area, so once we were dropped off, we started the long walk from the main road along the access road to Angkor Wat.

Even from a distance, the main temple complex looks imposing and as you get closer you get a real sense of the scale and beauty of the buildings. Passing through a gate in the outer wall you enter a massive open area which contains the main buildings of Angkor Wat and some smaller temples. After checking out one of these smaller buildings and taking some photos we headed for the main course.

The temples of Angkor Wat were originally dedicated to the Hindu gods, gods Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. The five central towers of Angkor Wat symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru, which according to Hindu mythology is the dwelling place of the gods. The mountain is said to be surrounded by an ocean, and the complex’s enormous moat suggests the oceans at the edge of the world. A 617-foot (188-metre) bridge allows access to the site. The temple is reached by passing through three galleries, each separated by a paved walkway. The temple walls are covered with bas-relief sculptures of very high quality, representing Hindu gods and ancient Khmer scenes as well as scenes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

After the Cham people of modern-day Vietnam sacked Angkor in 1177, King Jayavarman VII (reigned 1181–c. 1220) decided that the Hindu gods had failed him. When he built a new capital nearby, Angkor Thom, he dedicated it to Buddhism. Thereafter, Angkor Wat became a Buddhist shrine, and many of its carvings and statues of Hindu deities were replaced by Buddhist art.

In the early 15th century Angkor was abandoned. Buddhist monks continued to maintain Angkor Wat, which remained an important pilgrimage site and continued to attract European visitors. Angkor Wat was “rediscovered” after the French colonial regime was established in 1863.

In the 20th century, various restoration programs were undertaken, but they were suspended amid the political unrest that engulfed Cambodia in the 1970s. When work resumed in the mid-1980s, the required repairs were extensive. Notably, sections had to be dismantled and rebuilt. In 1992 the Angkor complex, which included Angkor Wat, was designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO and was immediately added to the list of World Heritage in Danger. In the ensuing years, restoration efforts increased, and Angkor was removed from the danger list in 2004.

Although time has ravaged much of Angkor Wat’s architecture it is still beautiful and has a very special aura. The restoration work is an ongoing activity and during our visit, some major renovations were taking place.

It is possible to enter the upper stories of the five main towers, but this did require climbing some very steep steps which felt a bit scary, but it was worthwhile to explore the inner sanctum, where there are some lovely carvings from the Hindu era and some Buddhist shrines that are still active today.

After an hour or so of looking around, we had covered the major parts of the Angkor Wat complex, so we headed back out to find our driver.

Bayon Temple

From Angkor Wat, we moved on to the adjacent ancient city of Angkor Thom.

Angkor Thom is not a singular temple dedicated to a Hindu deity such as Angkor Wat; instead, it is the name of one of the most impressive royal cities of the Angkor Period (9th–15th centuries) and an urban planning marvel. At the height of its power, the Angkor Empire (also sometimes called the Khmer Empire) controlled much of modern-day mainland Southeast Asia; however, the centre of its kingdom always remained in Angkor—in what is today Siem Reap.

With each successive king came the building of a new royal city such as Angkor Thom, the name of which translates from the Khmer language as “Great Kingdom.

At the centre of Angkor Thom is one of the most impressive temples in the archaeological park, the Bayon Temple. Its name in Khmer is Jayagiri, Chey Kiri meaning “Victory Mountain”.
The Bayon Temple complex was built under the direction of the Mahayana Buddhist ruler Jayavarman VII, who ascended to the Khmer kingdom’s throne at Angkor in 1181 A.D. He erected the site for Buddhist worship, although it later was renovated and used as a Hindu temple.

The most noticeable features of the Bayon Temple are the numerous towers. Four faces, looking toward the cardinal directions, are carved on the sides of fifty-four standing towers at Bayon Temple. The faces depicted on the Bayon towers clearly resemble faces on known portrait statues of Jayavarman VII. Given his Buddhist leanings, it is thought that the huge faces portray him in semi-divine form as a “bodhisattva,” an enlightened being conceived in Mahayana Buddhism who postpones entering Nirvana to remain on earth helping others towards salvation. Bodhisattvas are somewhat like Mahayana Buddhist saints.

The preservation of many of the towers, however, is poor so it is difficult to know exactly how all the towers were carved. Over 200 giant smiling faces remain, but there may once have been between one and two hundred towers, each with four faces. These structures are known as “face towers.”

The Bayon Temple is made up of many small, linked courtyards on multiple levels, creating a complex labyrinth of passages. It is mind-boggling to think of the architects who dreamed up this maze-like structure. It is built on three layers that were constructed during different periods.

The first layer consists of four gopuras (entrance gates), four pavilions⁠ in four corners and the outer gallery. A series of bas-reliefs in the outer gallery depicts scenes of historical events and daily life of Angkorian Khmer. There are two libraries in the courtyard of the outer gallery.
The second layer is a square space like the first one and contains the inner gallery. Bas-reliefs in this gallery are depictions of religious and mythological events.
The third layer is where the central and circular sanctuary is located. The tower rises 43 meters above the ground and a 3.6m tall Buddha statue used to be put at the heart of the central tower at the time of the temple’s foundation. However, this figure was removed from the sanctuary during the reign of Hindu monarch Jayavarman VIII.

Chau Say Tevoda Temple

From the Bayon Temple, we continued our journey around the Angkor Thom area. Our driver needed another break, so we stopped at one of the smaller temples in the Archaeological Park, Chau Say Tevoda Temple. This Hindu temple was built in the 12th Century and has been restored in recent years. It is not a popular stop on the tourist route, which meant there were hardly any visitors when we stopped by. Perfect! So, we largely had the temple to ourselves which was very nice.

Chau Ta Keo Temple

Close by Chau Say Tevoda is another of the larger temples, Ta Keo, built during the Khmer Empire and predates Angkor Wat by a couple of hundred years. Ta Keo was built as the state temple for Jayavarman V and he started construction in 975 AD. Unusually, the temple was never finished. There are many stories as to why Ta Keo was never completed, but nobody knows the real reason.

Ta Keo is popular with visitors, who are attracted by its sheer scale. Our driver dropped us on the main road, and we followed the short trail to the temple. It is very imposing as you approach and is surrounded by the jungle which adds to the spectacle. We entered the temple complex through one of the ordinal gates. What had looked impressive at a distance was even more so close up. The five sanctuary towers sit on top of a 22m stepped pyramid. There are steep steps on the four sides of the pyramid leading to the platform at the top with the sanctuary towers. Looking at them they looked a bit sketchy, and we were tired, so we decided instead to walk around the perimeter of the pyramid.

By this time, it was getting hot and sticky, and we desperately needed some refreshment.

Chau Ta Prohm Temple

Our last temple on our tour for the day was Ta Prohm, the so-called ‘Tomb Raider Temple’. The temples of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom when discovered by the European archaeologists had been completely swallowed up by the jungle, and the ruins we see today have largely been cleared. Ta Prohm is the one temple where you can get a sense of what these archaeologists would have seen when they arrived in the area. It is cloaked in dappled shadow, its crumbling towers and walls locked in the stranglehold of vast root systems. To be honest only the large tree roots remain and much of the lighter undergrowth has been cut back, so it has a much more manicured appearance than the early explorers would have found – but nonetheless, Ta Prohm is the most atmospheric of the ruins in the Archaeological Park.

Built in 1186 and originally known as Rajavihara (Monastery of the King), Ta Prohm was a Buddhist temple dedicated to the mother of Jayavarman VII. It is one of the few temples in the Angkor region where an inscription provides information about the temple’s dependents and inhabitants. Almost 80,000 people were required to maintain or attend the temple, among them more than 2700 officials and 615 dancers.

The trees are definitely the stars of the show towering over the temples and casting a dappled light over the ruins. We followed the trail that runs through the temple, passing through courtyards and the remains of once-stately towers. There is a maze of passages through the temple complex but many of these are blocked by piles of stones with intricate carvings on their sides that have been dislodged by the advancing jungle. Among our fellow visitors were a couple of Buddhist monks in their bright orange robes that ‘popped’ against the grey of the ruin’s walls and the green of the jungle. Worthy of a photograph or two!

The most popular of the many strangulating root formations is the one on the inside of the easternmost gopura (entrance pavilion) of the central enclosure, nicknamed the Crocodile Tree. One of the most famous spots in Ta Prohm is the so-called Tomb Raider tree, where Angelina Jolie’s Lara Croft picked a jasmine flower before falling through the earth.

Planning your visit to Angkor Archaeological Park

The Angkor Ticket Office (Angkor Enterprise) is the only place to purchase entrance tickets for the Angkor Archaeological Park. Tickets purchased elsewhere are not valid. The ticket office is on Road 60, 4km from Siem Reap’s centre.

You can also book the tickets online and save waiting in a line.

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Getting to and around Siem Reap

Flying

Flying into Siem Reap is something most travellers do; Siem Reap International Airport is about 7 km west of the town centre, and is busier than the capital city Phnom Penh.

Because there are no direct flights between Siem Reap and the West, if you’ve chosen to fly you’ll need to transit through an Asian hub. The most common direct flights to Siem Reap leave from Bangkok, Saigon (HCMC), Phnom Penh, Guangzhou, and Singapore.

The airport is a hub for Asian airlines, so you’ll be able to find flights to Siem Reap with carriers like Air Asia, China Southern Air, Vietnam Airlines, as well as Cambodia Angkor Air and Sky Angor Asia Airlines.

Airport facilities are pretty basic; there are a couple of cafes, shops, ATMs and a foreign currency exchange, but that’s about it. The building itself though is very clean and modern.

Bangkok’s metro system (MRT) is also good for travelling between the Sukhumvit or Silom districts to reach Hualamphong Train Station. Ticket costs on the Metro are inexpensive.

The popular Chatuchak Weekend Market is located at Mo Chit station on the Sukhumvit BTS line and Chatuchak Park on the MRT line.

Bus
A bus is a popular budget way to get to Siem Reap, especially from big hubs like Phnom Penh and Bangkok. Getting from Phnom Penh – Siem Reap by bus can be as cheap as $10 ($23 from Bangkok), and the vehicles are surprisingly modern and comfortable.

Because this is a popular way to get to Siem Reap, there is a huge range of bus companies to choose from. They leave daily from 6 am to 12 am, and facilities vary, so we highly recommend using a booking comparison site to find the best bus.

Boat
Another option for getting to Siem Reap is by boat or cruise ship. Boats from Phnom Penh leave every day to Siem Reap and will cost you around $25 – USD 35 for a 4 – 6 hour journey.

Boat routes are typically more geared towards locals rather than tourists, so there may not be the comfort or safety facilities that you’re used to, and boats from Phnom Penh have a reputation for breaking down.

Getting around Siem Reap

Tuk-tuks (also known as remorks) are the cheapest, and best way to get around town in Siem Reap. Short one way journeys will cost around $2 – 3 USD, for instance if you’re traveling from your hotel, into Pub Street (the main tourist food district).

A tuk-tuk is essentially an open air taxi; it’s a large carriage hitched to a motorcycle like a trailer, with four seats in the back. Once you start getting close into town they’re absolutely everywhere – you won’t have trouble finding one – tell the driver your destination, and agree on a price before you leave.

Taxis are more expensive, and you can’t hail these off the street with the same ease as a tuk-tuk. They’re not very common in Siem Reap so your best bet is to have your hotel book one for you if needed.

Walking is a great way to get around Siem Reap, especially if you’re sticking within the city. It’s very safe despite the chaotic look of the street, though you should keep your bags at the front of your body; bag snatching here is rare, but it’s always better to be safe.

The best time to visit Siem Reap

The annual temperatures in Krong Siem Reap generally range from 19°C (66.2°F) to 36°C (96.8°F). The cooler conditions, with temperatures between 19°C (66.2°F) and 31°C (87.8°F), occur in December. By contrast, the hottest period, with high temperatures from 36°C (96.8°F) to 36°C (96.8°F), occurs from March to April. There are slight variations in temperature throughout the year, but the average high stays above 30°C (86°F), providing a consistently warm climate.

A significant feature of the weather here is the rainfall variations throughout the year. The driest month is January with a minimal rainfall of 1mm (0.04″), while the wettest month, with a rainfall from 250mm (9.84″), is observed in September. On average, the city experiences rainfall on 18 days in August, September, and July, while only a single day with rainfall occurs in January.

The best time to visit Siem Reap
Considering the weather parameters like temperature, rainfall, and sunshine hours, the ideal period to plan a visit to Krong Siem Reap would be from November to February. During these months, temperatures range from 20°C (68°F) to 34°C (93.2°F), providing comfortable weather suitable for outdoor activities. In addition, these months witness less rainfall, between 1mm (0.04″) and 61mm (2.4″) which significantly reduces the possibility of facing rain-induced disruptions.

The worst time to visit Siem Reap
The period from May to October proves to be the least favourable time to visit Krong Siem Reap. During these months, the city faces the highest rainfall ranging from 146mm (5.75″) to 250mm (9.84″). Also, the number of days with rainfall is remarkably high, with up to 18 rainy days in a month. Additionally, the peak of summer, from 33°C (91.4°F) to 36°C (96.8°F), occurs during these months, which when combined with high humidity due to frequent rain, might cause discomfort to visitors.

Other places to visit while in Siem Reap

1. Tonlé Sap

Belonging to the Mekong River system, Tonlé is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in the world. From Siem Reap you visit Tonlé and take a ride on a boat to visit one of the floating villages that call this place home.

2. APOPO Visitor Center

Visit APOPO’s Landmine Rats! If you’re looking for cool things to do in Siem Reap, why not stop by the APOPO Visitor Center and take a unique guided tour? You can find out all about how they train our amazing HeroRATs to find landmines

Where to stay in Siem Reap

1. Mid Range: Boutique Indochine d’Angkor

During our stay in Siem Reap, we stayed at this hotel. The staff were so kind and helpful, which is typical of Cambodia. It is a small and compact hotel a little way outside of the main tourist area of Siem Reap – hence quieter. We walked to the Riverside area from here in about 15 minutes, but you can always catch a tuk-tuk ride.

The rooms were comfortable and there was on an onsite restaurant that served breakfast where you could always get lunch and dinner if you didn’t fancy venturing out.

2. Luxury – Viroth’s Hotel

Located in the vibrant Wat Bo area, Viroth’s Hotel offers accommodations amid private vertical gardens in the heart of Siem Reap. Boasting a 20-yard outdoor pool and an open-air restaurant, Viroth’s Hotel offers 50’s-styled contemporary accommodations with free WiFi throughout the property. It operates a 24-hour front desk, features free parking on-site and provides daily housekeeping service.

Strategically located, the hotel is just 1312 feet from the Old Market and 1476 feet from the famous Pub Street.

3. Budget – Onederz Siem Reap

Located 984 feet from Pub Street in Siem Reap, Onederz Hostel Siem Reap features free WiFi access and free private parking. Guests can enjoy the on-site restaurant or relax at the two swimming pools, one located on the rooftop where a view of the sunset can be admired.

Featuring both private rooms and dormitories, each unit at Onederz Hostel Siem Reap comes with air conditioning. Guests staying in dormitory rooms will find electric sockets, reading lamps and accessory cases in each bed.