Angkor Wat is one of the many temples situated near the small Cambodian city of Siam Reap. This region was the seat of government for the Khmer empire for about 500 years from the 7th to the 13th century. Each of the rulers during that period built their own temples, temple mountains, shrines, and government buildings. 1000 years later the region gets around 400,000 tourists each year who come to see the ruins of those buildings.

The most impressive (and most popular) of the Angkor sites is Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat was built towards the end of the Angkor period, and it was built to a much greater scale than most of the other Angkor sites. It's surrounded by a 200m wide moat, which is bridged by a 250m long sandstone causeway. At the end of that causeway you pass through the gopura (gate) into the compound of Angkor Wat which is surrounded by a high stone wall. From the gopura, you have a 350m walk down a raised sandstone path to the wat itself. At the wat you walk through a number of sandstone hallways before you come to another open area in the center of the wat. This is where the main feature of Angkor Wat is - the five towers that represent the five peaks of mount Meru (from Buddhist and Hindu teachings).

Bayon is very close to Angkor Wat. It has 54 towers each with a carving of King Jayavarman's face gazing in each cardinal direction. Around the wall surrounding the temple is an unbroken series of carvings.

Ta Phrom was one of my favorite places out of the temples I visited. It's sometimes referred to as "The Jungle Temple" because of the trees that have taken root on top of the buildings, spreading their roots through the stonework to the soil below.