As is the case with so many civilizations that built their monuments in stone but their homes of vulnerable wood, we have only a vague idea of people’s daily life during the Khmer Empire. What little we do know is thanks to the records of Zhou Daguan, a Chinese emissary who spent from 1296 to 1297 in Angkor and described, among other things, the king emerging from the walled city to visit a nearby temple. The procession, he wrote, was led by soldiers, followed by some 300 to 500 silk-clad, bare-breasted palace girls carrying lighted candles. Ministers and princes were mounted on elephants, and the king rode out on an elephant whose tusks were sheathed in gold.

At the empire’s height, the kings constructed temples of sandstone and laterite blocks fit together so expertly that they resembled one stone. Most temples were dedicated to one of the triumvirate of Hindu gods (Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva) and modeled after Mount Meru, Hinduism’s celestial home of the gods, with pyramid-like tiers rising to a central sanctuary surrounded by towers. But along with creating shrines to Hindu deities, the Khmer also incorporated Buddhist themes in their architecture. The two religions coexisted in Southeast Asia, after being brought there by Indian merchants around the time of Christ. 

These days it’s remarkably easy to reach Angkor Wat. An early morning flight goes from Bangkok to Siem Reap, where you can throw your luggage down in any number of hotels, pick up a 3-day pass to the Cambodian historic sites, and set off for the ruins, just a 15-minute drive from downtown. Hiring a licensed guide is an absolute must: A good one will steer you away from the crowds and help you narrow down your visit to a digestible number of sites (see Making It Happen). Plan on spending at least two days in Angkor Wat and nearby Angkor Thom, and make a concerted effort to visit at dawn or in the late afternoon, when light is at its softest.

First timers should begin at the south gate to Angkor Thom, a moated, walled complex built in the late 12th century and reached via a long causeway. This entrance, one of five, is lined by 108 hulking stone spirit figures (good on one side; evil on the other). Each side’s grouping holds a giant naga (a semi-divine serpent creature) that forms a balustrade, and in the distance stands the much-photographed gate, an imposing 75-foot-tall construction crowned by four massive, serene stone faces staring in the four cardinal directions. 

Inside Angkor Thom, critical sites to see include the Bayon, a mile from the south gate and the Khmer Empire’s first solely Buddhist temple (where 200 stone faces gaze out from the towers), and to the northwest, the Terrace of the Elephants, the Terrace of the Leper King (where kings held audiences), and the Baphuon Temple, which once towered over other monuments there. Another essential temple to visit is a 2-minute drive to the east of Angkor Thom: Ta Prohm has been left largely unrestored, so that it gives a good idea of what Angkor Wat looked like when it was “found” by Western explorers. 

 

Both Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom can be so packed that visits take on a certain maddening lemming quality. Fortunately, within easy driving range of Siem Reap are comparatively empty temples where it’s possible to wander peaceful ruins that beautifully illustrate different aspects of Khmer history and artistic achievement.

The Roluos Group is a 20- to 30-minute drive southeast of Siem Reap. Three important ninth-century ruins remain of Hariharalaya, a capital of the Khmer Empire before Angkor: the temples of Preah Ko, Bakong, and tiny Lolei. The most impressive, Bakong – surrounded by a lily-filled moat – is the first great temple-mountain the Khmer built. It has eight towers, and the five-tiered structure is topped by a sanctuary.

Banteay Srei, a small pink-sandstone Hindu temple reached by a 30- to 45-minute drive north of Siem Reap, is known as the “citadel of the women” for its graceful carvings of female divinities called apsaras. It is unfortunately now attracting tour buses, mainly at midday (nearby restaurants are a lunch stop). Built in the 10th century by the Brahmin Yajnavaraha and dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu, this was the spot from which, in the 1920s, a young André Malraux (later France’s minister of cultural affairs) was caught trying to loot – the subject of his novel The Royal Way.

Beng Melea, dating from the early 12th century, resembles Angkor Wat when it was overgrown and unrestored. It’s about a 1.5-hour car ride northeast from Siem Reap, just far enough to be off the scope of tour bus leaders. Strangler figs and ficus trees have spread their roots like fingers to grasp tumbled blocks of stone bearing bas-reliefs. Although there are a few areas where boardwalks and wooden stairs can help you navigate the 267-acre ruins, for the most part you’ll be hopping across crumbled walls, encountering sinuous carvings all by yourself.