Ancient Civilizations
Cambodia
The largest religious monument ever built. Still being reclaimed from the jungle in places.
The Forgotten Atlas — Field Report
The largest religious monument ever built. Still being reclaimed from the jungle in places.
Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument ever constructed by human beings. The numbers are almost incomprehensible: 1.6 million square metres of ground plan, a moat 5.6 kilometres long surrounding a central temple complex of five towers, 800 metres of bas-relief carvings depicting the churning of the sea of milk and the battle of Lanka in such detail that individual warriors can be distinguished. It was built in the 12th century by King Suryavarman II as both a state temple and his eventual mausoleum. The construction required an estimated 300,000 workers and 6,000 elephants over 37 years.
Angkor Wat does not look like something humans built. It looks like something humans found, and then moved into, and then carved their story into the walls of.
The Forgotten Atlas
Angkor Wat is one structure in a complex that once covered 400 square kilometres — larger than modern-day Paris — and housed a million people. Angkor Thom, the royal city, is entered through five enormous gates each topped with four giant stone faces looking in the cardinal directions. The Bayon temple at its centre has 216 of these faces gazing in all directions simultaneously. Ta Prohm, deliberately left partially unrestored, has the roots of enormous strangler fig trees growing directly through the temple walls and over the stone galleries — the most atmospheric ruins you will see anywhere.
The tourist infrastructure around Angkor is now so developed that it is entirely possible to have a mediocre experience here. The way to avoid this: stay in Siem Reap, hire a tuk-tuk driver who is also a licensed guide, and enter the site for the first morning before dawn. Watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat reflected in the reflection pool. The tourists will arrive at 7am. You will already have had an hour alone with it. Spend three days minimum covering the different temple complexes. The small circuit one day, the grand circuit the next.
Three-day pass is the right choice. Stay in Siem Reap old town. Hire one driver for all three days — negotiate a daily rate and they become your guide, driver, and keeper of logistics.
The central temple. Arrive before dawn. The five towers at sunrise from the reflection pool is the defining image of Cambodian civilisation.
The royal city. The 216 stone faces of the Bayon watch you from every angle. Deeply strange and magnificent.
The jungle temple. Massive tree roots growing through stone walls. Deliberately preserved in this state. Extraordinary.
The base town. Good hotels, good food, the Pub Street area for evening drinks. The Angkor National Museum is worth an evening.
The most important Cambodian restaurant in the world. Chef Joannès Rivière takes Cambodian ingredients and elevates them without losing their identity. Book ahead.
Traditional Khmer cooking in a beautiful setting. The fish amok and the lok lak are the dishes to order.
The street food around the old market in the evening. Nom banh chok (rice noodles with green fish curry) for breakfast. Fish amok for dinner.
A training restaurant for street youth. The Cambodian food here is excellent and the social mission is real. Good choice for lunch.
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