Angkor Thom.

Today is the biggest, longest, most gruelling, hottest and most humid of the tour.

The plan is to visit Angkor Thom this morning, have lunch, return to the hotel for a couple of hours to cool off a bit and then head off again about 3.30 to visit Angkor Wat later in the day, hopefully when there are fewer tourists. After that, a gondola ride on the temple moat, have a beer and watch the sunset.

We will visit the UNESCO managed Angkor complex which boasts over 1,000 temples, and was the seat of the colossal Khmer Empire from the ninth to the fourteenth centuries.

Angkor Thom was established as the capital of Jayavarman VII's empire and was the centre of his massive building program. One inscription found in the city refers to Jayavarman as the groom and the city as his bride.

Angkor Thom seems not to be the first Khmer capital on the site, however. Yasodharapura, dating from three centuries earlier, was centred slightly further northwest, and Angkor Thom overlapped parts of it. The most notable earlier temples within the city are the former state temple of Baphuon, and Phimeanakas, which was incorporated into the Royal Palace. The name of Angkor Thom—great city—was in use from the 16th century.

Angkor Thom was abandoned sometime prior to 1609, when an early western visitor wrote of an uninhabited city, "as fantastic as the Atlantis of Plato". It is believed to have sustained a population of 80,000–150,000 people.

Most of the great Angkor ruins have vast displays of bas-relief depicting the various gods, goddesses, and other-worldly beings from the mythological stories and epic poems of Hinduism. Mingled with these images are actual known animals, like elephants, snakes, fish, and monkeys, in addition to dragon-like creatures that look like the stylized, elongated serpents (with feet and claws) found in Chinese art.Read more