The New 7 Wonders of the World - Angkor

Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia They are the ruins of Khmer Empire that lived here about a thousand years ago and disappeared leaving their cities and temples to the jungle. They were uncovered again about a hundred years ago and some of them have been restored, some not at all. In 1992, UNESCO inscribed Angkor on the World Heritage List, as well as the World Heritage in Danger List to save it from further destruction and looting due to destruction during the country’s recent civil war. I've longed to see the ruins at Angkor for years, and to actually be there in person was truly unbelievable. It's one thing to see the sights on TV but it's another to be there in person to experience it.





The temples of Angkor located 8km outside of Siem Reap where all the tourist stays. We hopped in a convoy of Tuk-tuks and took off to Angkor. After buying a 3-day pass with our photograph stamped on it, we headed towards our first day sightseeing. Keep in mind that the city of Angkor is enormous, and there's a lot more to see than Angkor Wat alone. We spent the whole day being dropped off at various temples along the Small Circuit. Each temple was unique and had many unusual features to make it different from the last. The day was finished by watching sunset over Angkor Wat from Phnom Bakeng, a temple on the only hill in the area.



The 2nd day, we stared the Big Circuit from Srah Srang, a hand-cut lake with a majestic landing platform, for sunrise. The day was continuing with sites along the Big Circuit and then meeting our driver for a lift to the next one. In the afternoon, we went back to some site Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom belong to Small Circuit for another look and to take photographs in a different light. It's still fantastic a second time round.



We headed to visit 3 sites 25-60km far away from the Angkor Wat - Banteay Srey, Kbal Spean & Beng Memala. Beng Memla becomes the highlight of our 3rd day. It like all other temples in the Angkor, abandoned for hundreds of years and the trees took over most of the temples long ago, but it’s unique because it has not been restored except a wooden walkway built along a path through the temple (built for the movie The Two Brothers).




I'd love to tell how marvelous the Angkor was but lack of writing ability. My photos will have to do it justice.