Angkor Wat tours - the Temples around Siem Reap, Cambodia

The Angkor Archaeological Park (400 square km) has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Angkor Wat has also just been voted in the top few wonders of the world by international travellers.

The scale and majesty of these temples and monuments, legacies of a mysteriously vanished civilisation almost defy belief. The moat of Angkor Wat alone is edged with 10km of beautifully worked interlocking stones brought from over 30 km away. The stonemasonry is of such quality that often it is not possible to insert a credit card between the giant blocks after a thousand years.

Rumours reached early Portuguese traders and explorers of an 'ancient giant city hidden in the depths of the jungle to the north of the great lake' (Tonle sap) but it wasn't until the French took control of Cambodia in 1864 that the temples began to be systematically explored and popularised.

For descriptive summaries of the major archaeological sites open a clickable map of Angkor Wat - Cambodian temples. For more detail see history of the Angkor period. Follow this link for sample itineraries of angkor wat tours and more general Cambodia tours.

Specialist terminology is used to describe many architectural features of Angkor era temples. The may find the illustrated glossary of temple terminology and its printable version useful.