Angkor Wat - Cambodia's special tourist destination

Located about 5 km from the center of Siem Reap city, Angkor Wat temple was built under the reign of King Surja-warman II (1113-1150) - the heyday of the Khmer empire. Angkor Wat was originally built to worship the Hindu god Vishnu. Later, when the Khmer dynasty adopted Buddhism, Angkor Wat became a Buddhist temple.

Located on a 200-hectare land, Angkor Wat temple complex has 5 towers: the main tower is 65m high, 4 secondary towers are 40m high. The temple has 3 floors, the higher it gets, the smaller it gets, simulating the image of the "cosmic mountain Meru" of the Indians. The entire temple is made of stacked stones and does not use any connecting materials such as mortar or cement.

Ms. Mai Vu - a Chinese tourist was surprised and admired by the extraordinary strength and skillful hands, talent of the ancient Khmer people. "Angkor Temple is a glorious architectural achievement of the Khmer empire, it shows a remarkable level of development in architecture. At that time, the architectural style techniques in the world were still very limited, the use of stone with properties like using wood, the semicircular structures and domes of the Khmer, were techniques that we did not know - its comprehensive effects surprised everyone".

In the main temple, there are 398 rooms with stone carvings on the ceilings, corridors, and railings. When entering the large rooms, you will be overwhelmed by the grandeur and sophistication of the temple. The decorative motifs on the stone such as Buddha statues, dancers, warriors, and lotus illustrations are all very vivid and soft. Those are the feelings of Ms. Thu Trang, a Vietnamese tourist when visiting Angkor Wat temple. “I am very impressed by the patterns on the stone walls, as well as the stone statues at Angkor Wat temple. Especially the Apsaras. Among the thousands of Apsaras carved on the walls, each Apsara has a different face and body shape, and is very vivid.”

According to the locals, Angkor Wat was once the capital of the Khmer Empire, but due to war and epidemics, the Khmer kings had to move the capital to Phnom Penh and then the whole place was gradually covered by jungle and forgotten for many centuries.

In 1860, Henri Mouhot - a French archaeologist found this Angkor Wat temple. With its unique architectural and artistic values, Angkor Wat temple was recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage in 1993.

And with the help of the international community, the Cambodian government has restored and renovated the relic site, and every year this complex attracts millions of tourists from all over the world.

Sharing about the number of international tourists recently, Mr. Hong Polin, a tour guide at Angkor complex, said: “During the COVID-19 period, the number of tourists coming here dropped significantly and could be said to be zero. After COVID was controlled, tourists started to return to Angkor Wat with increasing numbers every day. Especially in October and early November, I saw that the number of international tourists returning to Cambodia was very large.”

Angkor Wat is the only temple in Cambodia with its main entrance facing west, towards the setting sun. Therefore, visitors often flock here at dawn or dusk, when the golden sunlight illuminates the entire temple complex. From afar, the entire majestic Angkor Wat temple complex looks like it is wearing a brilliant dragon robe.

After a day of sightseeing, visitors can relax and stay in a corner of Angkor Wat's corridor to immerse themselves in the mysterious space, let their souls wander to the pentatonic orchestra or Apsara dance. And visitors can also leisurely ride an elephant around the ancient citadel, enjoying famous Cambodian dishes.