“Cambodia 🇰🇭 Siam Reap ~Angkor Archeological Park Part 1 of 3”
We spent over a month in Cambodia, as we expanded our adventures way beyond Siam Reap and the famous Ancient Ruins, but that is not to say Angkor Archaeological Park should NOT be missed. What an amazing place!
We spent day after day self-touring the enormous grounds. No matter how many guidebooks, magazine articles, or travel blogs you read, you won’t be completely prepared for the sprawling wonder of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat Temple complex, which is the world’s largest religious monument. The complex is part of Angkor Archaeological Park, which spans nearly 100,000 acres.
It’s easy enough to figure your way around. Just get a map of the Park, with photos (they are in souvenir shops) and show the Tuk Tuk drivers where you want to go. Only in the evening, did we pay a driver to wait for us, while we walked the ground. This was because the sunset at one of the ruins is a popular event, and finding an available driver after, would be a long wait, when super tired from all the hiking in the day.
There are also plenty of group or private tours available to take you around, if that appeals.
Each day, at the end of the day, we were hot, tired, hungry and dirty from exploring, but we continued the pace, day after day, till we were satisfied we had seen everything we wanted to see! 
Even with the days we invested into this Park, there was still more to see. For us, it was a matter of being filled up on all things Angkor, and ready to move on. On our last day, when we only had a few hours of daylight left, we had our TukTuk driver just drive us round. The roads are mostly very nice through the Park, and it was also fun and enjoyable to ride around, as there is plenty to see from the road, if you aren’t into or are unable to hike.
Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over 1,000 acres 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. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. UNESCO has set up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings.
Angkor, in Cambodia’s northern province of Siem holds scores of temples, hydraulic structures (basins, dykes, reservoirs, canals), as well as communication routes. For several centuries, Angkor, was the center of the Khmer Kingdom. With impressive monuments, several different ancient urban plans and large water reservoirs, the site is a unique concentration of features testifying to an exceptional civilization. Temples such as Angkor Wat, the Bayon, Preah Khan and Ta Prohm, are exemplars of Khmer architecture, and are closely linked to their geographical context, as well as being imbued with symbolic significance.
The architecture and layout of the successive capitals bear witness to a high level of social order and ranking within the Khmer Empire. Angkor is therefore a major site exemplifying cultural, religious and symbolic values, as well as containing high architectural, archaeological and artistic significance.
The park is also inhabited with several villages, and many villagers have ancestors who date back to the Angkor period. The current population practices agriculture, and more specifically rice cultivation.
Angkor Wat Temple Ruins
is an enormous Buddhist Temple Complex, located in northern Cambodia.
It was originally built in the first half of the 12th century, as a Hindu Temple, and ruins are spread across more than 400 acres. Angkor Wat is also said to be the largest religious monument in the world.
Angkor Wat was built by King Suryavarman II; r 1113–1150. 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.
*Click on the links below to see all the photos mentioned in this blog:
Angkor Wat Temple Ruins on Sunrise Morning
This is something really pretty to see, so we recommend you make the effort to get up way early and wait for sunrise. It’s a popular event, so you will not be alone on the grounds. We thought this sunrise location was perfect. Seeing the ancient site come to light with the rising sun was beautiful!
Bayon Temple Ruins
is one of the more famous, popular and beautiful of the structures in the Angkor Archaeological Park. It is easy to see why, too! Bayon was my favorite ruin! It was a maze of faces all around.
It is situated just to the north of Angkor Wat itself, and the Temple was once at the center of the ancient city of Angkor Thom. It is sometimes called Jayavarman’s Temple, in honor of the Khmer king who ordered its construction. Bayon is best known for its many towers with gently smiling faces on each side.
There are some 50 towers around the ruined Temple, with over 200 faces showing varying degrees of erosion and wear. Each face is just over 13 feet high and is facing one of the cardinal directions of the compass. They all have the same serene smile, with eyes closed, representing the all-knowing state of inner peace, and perhaps even a state of Nirvana. There are also many complicated and exquisite bas-reliefs around the temple, with scenes depicting land and naval warfare, market scenes and even the construction of the Temple itself.
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Click on the links below to continue viewing the blog series; Parts 2 and 3 of Angkor Archeological Park:
Cambodia 🇰🇭 Siam Reap ~Angkor Archeological Park
Part 2 of 3
Cambodia 🇰🇭 Siam Reap ~Angkor Archeological Park
Part 3 of 3
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Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More