Cambodia's Angkor Wat-Visiting Angkor Wat of Cambodia

Visiting Angkor Wat with an English speaking guide

It will make about 4 years since the first time I went to Angkor Wat. Like most of those who are lucky to visit this magical place, I was stunned. Therefore, in founding the World Travel agency Nomad Travel, the first thing I wanted was to offer an escape to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat in Thailand routes we organize.

These have long breaks that are offering, but until recently, I had not had the chance to visit Angkor Wat from the hand of a local English speaking guide. The story and photos (Check it better resolution) I bring below are the result of my recent visit to the historic site of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. The Cambodian guide was who explained most things about the temples that story in the article:

Introduction to the History of the Temples of Angkor
Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire (or Khmer) that dominated the area and parts of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand since early ninth century AD. C. until the fifteenth century AD. C., when the Kingdom of Ayutthaya (Thailand) conquered the city. Citizens of Angkor was then moved to the city of Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia today. That was about the year 1351. Since then only religious and pilgrims lived the temples of Angkor Wat and the vegetation was invadiéndolos through the centuries. In 1860, the French naturalist Henri Alexandre Mouhout rediscovered temples and start writing about them. In 1901 the French begin to restore some temples and the first visitors arrive in 1907. Today more than 2 million people visit the temple every year.

Exploring Angkor Wat in Castilian
The guide was called Phola and came to pick me and my companion, Mati, in the hotel with a tuk tuk. We went to the entrance of Angkor Wat historical park and bought the ticket for one day ($ 20).

Ta Prohm, famous for Tomb Raider
About 8 and a half in the morning we started our visit knowing the temple of Ta Prohm (built in 1186 d. C. during the reign of Jayavarman II). This temple was virtually unknown until the film Tomb Raider was filmed.

Ta Prohm is the best example of the relationship between nature and ruins. A huge tree stands just above the temple and its roots envelop eating it and keeping it at the same time. Pure symbiosis. If the roots are cut, the temple will surely collapse.

In the next picture you can see one of the little surprises that appeal to tourists, especially the more superstitious. It is a relief of a smiley face carved into the rock of the temple suggests that through the roots that seem to express respect.

The fortified city of Angkor Thom
We went back to the tuk tuk and reached the fortified city of Angkor Thom (built between 1181 and 1219 d. C. by King Jayavarman VII). In this city are some of the most famous sights of the historic park.

As Ayutthaya in its heyday, Angkor Thom was the center of a mega city of one million inhabitants when the main European cities barely reached 50 thousand. The city had 12 km of walls surrounded by a moat full of crocodiles. It had 5 doors 20 meters high.

The first thing we saw upon entering the grounds of Angkor Thom was the Terrace of the Elephants. The terrace is a high stone structure with a front esplanade. The king went up to the terrace and from there watched the shows in the form of parades or elephant struggles. From afar we also saw the Terrace of the Leper King, a similar terrace where there is a statue believed to represent a king who became ill from the disease.

Then we were in Phimeanakas, a former palace of the kings of Angkor that you can climb up and get wonderful views. In the palace you can see several ponds that served to the royal ablutions.

Then we met the Baphuon temple, a fairly large temple that is believed to be the most beautiful city. It began as a Hindu temple but when the empire of Angkor was passed to Theravada Buddhism, the king of the time built a huge reclining Buddha Baphuon. When I was in 2010, that Buddha was being restored and now you can see. Still we need a little imagination to see it all since half of his body collapsed and was not restored.

Even within the walled city of Angkor Thom, we found my favorite temple of all those I have seen in the area: the temple of Bayon. It is the most visited after Angkor Wat. The main feature of Bayon are 54 towers decorated with 216 faces. See believes that the faces are those of King Jayavarman VII or Avalokiteshvara. It is impressive to walk through the temple surrounded by all these giant sculptures and smiling faces of more than 8 centuries ago.

Another attraction of Bayon reliefs are more than 11,000 characters carved that tell us how the people of Angkor Thom and naval battles between the Khmer and the Cham (Muslim who lived in the center of Vietnam at the time) lived.

We went back up to the tuk tuk and headed to Angkor Wat, the largest in the world and is named after the historic site religious monument. Angkor Wat is also the image of the Kingdom of Cambodia and the figure is on the flag and in their tickets.

It was almost 12 when we stopped for lunch near the temple. It started to pour as it does during the monsoons in Southeast Asia. As usual, after less than an hour I had stopped.

When we went to Angkor Wat it was 1pm and rain should have scared the few tourists who had to be low season, so we were almost alone visiting the central part of the temple. Angkor Wat was built as a mausoleum of King Suyavarman II (1112 -. 1152 AD) and in honor of the Indian god Vishnu (the conservative). Angkor Wat is considered that it was both a mausoleum to keep the ashes of the king, as a Hindu temple.

It is possible to climb to the top of the main temple, a square building with three floors connected by galleries and a central tower in the middle. At the top of that tower was a golden statue of Vishnu.


Angkor Wat also has many of its walls filled with reliefs that tell the history and especially the beliefs of the empire.


Leaving Angkor went to our last temple, Pre Rup, 1.5 km. It is a 3-story building that you can climb and admire part of the wooded landscape of the area. It is believed that the temple was a royal crematorium.

For example, if you are two people, one-day visit that is described in this article speaking guide by private car (no tuk tuk), it will cost you about € 55 per person. This price would also include airport pickup included, but not tickets to the historic site that cost $ 20 per person.

By visiting Angkor Wat on your own?
If you visit the ruins of Angkor Wat on your own you should know:

• The Angkor Archaeological Park is 6 km. the town of Siem Reap, Cambodia.

• Discover how to get from Bangkok to Siem Reap.

• There are over 1000 temples. The most famous are those mentioned in this article. Be visited in a day.

• The price of a day ticket is $ 20. 2 or 3 days, $ 40. And 4 or 7 days, $ 60.

• You can access the ruins of 5 to 17h. From 17h you can log in to see the sunset if you have input for the next day.

• You can visit the ruins by bike (1-3 $ per day), taxi-moto (8-10 $ per day), tuk tuk ($ 12-16 per day), car ($ 25 per day) or minivan ($ 50 per day). You can also see a helicopter for $ 1500-2000.

• Within the complex there are several restaurants.