Angkor Thom - Bayon

We spent Christmas morning with Voss and Todd visiting Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm. We hired a guide through the hotel, but he wasn’t that great, mainly due to his mediocre English. We had thought maybe Christmas would be slow, but the temples were quite crowded with local families.

Angkor Thom is one of the absolute highlights of Cambodia and SE Asia.
It was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by King Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his successors. At the center of the city is Jayavarman's state temple, the Bayon, topped with dozens of towers carved with enigmatic faces of the bodhisattva Lokesvara, one of ancient Cambodia’s most iconic images.Read more