There is nothing like the temples of Angkor anywhere on this planet. The Khmer civilization built in the middle of the jungle was one of the most remarkable to flourish in Southeast Asia. There are over 100 temples in the area and during its peak between the 11th and 13th century it covered and area of over 100 square kms and contained a population of over 1 million. The walled city of Angkor Thom, the largest of the Khmer cities was estimated to have a population between 80-150,000 while London at the time had only about 30,000. King Jayavarman VII also known as the great builder king ruled from 1181 to 1218 and moved more stone than every other Angkorian king, he is responsible for the city of Angkor Thom and the famous temple of Bayon “the temple of faces” as well as many others. After his death the Kingdom slowly fell to ruin until it pretty much ended in 1431 when the Thais sacked Angkor looting everything and enslaving the people. While there, I was much less of an invader and more of a tourist. I spent two full days visiting 10 temples from morning to sunset. I had originally planned three, but after day two I was too templed out.
Day 1
I awoke at 7am and met my tuk tuk driver to leave at 7:30. We had a full day of temples to explore. The morning consisted of:
-Ta Prohm,
-Ta Keo
-Angkor Tom/Bayon
-Elephant and leaper King terraces (former pavilions of the kings palace)
By 12:00 I was exhausted so I paid him $4 more to take me back to the hostel so I could have lunch, rest and jump in the pool. After a 3 hour break he picked me up at 15:30. The rest of the day was spent at Angkor Wat until sunset
Ta Prohm (aka The Tomb Raider temple because it was featured in Movie Laura Craft Tomb Raider)
-It was built by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th to early 13th century. It’s famous for its strangler fig and silk-cotton trees entwined among the ruins. I had extremely high hopes for this temple but was let down, they had raised platform paths that you had to stay on and they were doing restoration work (good for the future of the temple) but it ruined the atmosphere for me
Ta Keo
I didn’t intend to stop here but was driving past it on the way to the next temple. It looked too good to pass up. It was built by Jayavarman V in the late 10th to early 11th century. It stands out because it’s the first of these ‘temple-mountains’ to be built entirely out of sandstone.
Angkor Thom/Bayon
It’s not a temple, but a city that includes many temples within it. It was the largest of all Khmer cities and was founded by Jayavarman VII where it remained the capital until the 17th century. It covers an area of 9 sq km (3.5 sq miles), ensquared (I’d say encircled but it’s in the shape of a square) by an 8m (26 feet) high wall and a moat. Within it is Bayon temple “the temple of faces”
Angkor Wat
The magnum opus of the Khmer empire and the most well known temple. Built between 1113 and 1150 by Suryavarman II (finally someone different!) and unlike anything else. It’s the worlds largest religious building and contains more stone than was used to build the great pyramids of Giza. Surrounding it is a 200m (650ft) wide moat that encompasses a perimeter of more than 5km (3 miles). A stone causeway under renovation when I was there connects the two. It’s also a building I learned about freshman year of college in architecture in global context class. A class my sister also happen to choose, so we were in it together. We never expected that nor did I ever expect to have the opportunity to visit it in my life.
Day 2
We started an hour later leaving at 8:30am. The morning consisted of
-Pre Rup
-East Mebon
-Banteray Srei (which was one of the furthest away)
-Preah Khan (amazingggggggggggg)
Lunch break at an overpriced restaurant that I was forced to go to
-Neak Pean
-Ta Som (smaller version of Preah Khan)
Pre Rup
While in the tuk tuk I saw this temple (but didn’t know it was the one we were stopping at) and thought my god that’s beautiful and just as I was thinking I hope we stop here, he pulled over. I couldn’t have been more excited. It was built in 961 by Rajendravarman as a temple mountain.
East Mebon
Built by the same ruler as Pre Rup 8 years earlier, it use to be surrounded by an artificial lake to guarantee a regular water supply to the city. It was nice to see, but probably one of the least interesting temples I saw. The temples were like the churches of Europe, around them a town, a village or a city flourished.
Banteay Srei
Located 20km away from the main temples I was hoping a visit to this one would escape the crowds, however I seemed to have found the bulk of them. It was the most crowded temple I visited and because it’s small, like a doll house version of the other ones it felt cramped. It was built in the second half of the 10th century and unlike the other temples it was not a royal temple. It was built by a counselors of Rajendravarman. It’s described as the “Jewel of Khmer Art” because the near decoration of the temples surfaces are exceptional.
Preah Khan
Probably my favorite temple because it’s what I imagined going to the temples would be like. Built by our man Jayavarman II in 1191 as a temple city. It was massive and walking through it I felt as if I was the first person exploring it, chunks of the temple remained in ruin where they fell letting in patches of sunlight while trees grew throughout. It was also surprisingly empty, most of the time I was walking through it alone.
Neak Pean
By this point I was exhausted, I had just eaten an overpriced lunch and had been exploring temples all day. Luckily where I had lunch (probably on purpose) was right next to this monument and I only had 2 more to go! It’s located on an island in the middle of a lake, walking out to it was one of the coolest things about it, it was like walking through a watery graveyard of trees. It was also built by…..our main man Jayavarman II in the late 12th century.
Ta Som
How I felt about going to this temple is exactly how I feel about writing about it, I just want it to be over. I walked through it in a haze having already seen its attributes in the 9 other temples I saws. It was like a smaller version of Ta Prohm, so I almost didn’t see the best part about it. The gate at the back had one of the heads of Bayon, I casi didn’t go through it because I was exhausted. When I did and turned around, bam a full strangler fig tree sitting on top of the entrance. One of the coolest views I saw especially with the angle the sun was at, it created such a beautiful site only to be disturbed by children trying to sell me postcards and magnets. Who still buys magnets…
Two days of temple seeing and I was templed out. The next two days I literally spent doing nothing at the hostel, hanging out and chillin by the pool. Actually one of the days I had the amazing idea to get fresh fruit smoothies, buy a bottle of rum and combine the two! A group of us went into town, posted up next to a smoothie and a food cart and just hung. The smoothie women gave us some watermelon and bananas. It was a wonderful afternoon.
*Almost all my information about the temples came from Ancient Angkor by Michael Freemand and Claude Jacques or was previous knowledge I had. If you want a copy of the book, go to the temples and buy them from the guys selling them there, just make sure they’re not a fake. I bought my for $8 even though on the back says $27.