In the early 9th century AD, the British Empire was still a pipe dream, and the Vikings were still the terror of seaside communities. But at this time, a new empire was coalescing amidst the rice fields of present-day Cambodia, one whose buildings still inspire awe today.

The Khmer Empire, founded by “king of kings” Jayavarman II in 802 AD and later centered on the capital city of Angkor, lasted about 700 years, and in its heyday ruled over present-day Thailand, Laos, and parts of Vietnam.

Angkor was not the Empire's first or last capital, but it is the only one that stood the test of time. Its most famous structure, the mega-temple is known as Angkor Wat, stands outside the walls of Angkor Thom, the actual metropolis and site of the royal palace. These, together with several outlying temples in varying states of preservation, now constitute the Angkor Archaeological Park, Cambodia's most significant tourist destination.

The temples of Angkor stand at the very heart of Cambodian identity. The flag of Cambodia has Angkor Wat at its center; Cambodian nationalists still seethe at the memory of Thailand claiming Angkor as its own. Angkor Park draws about two million foreign visitors a year, racking up to US$80 million in tourism revenues a year.

If you're planning to join the masses of tourists coursing through Siem Reap on their way to see Angkor Wat and its surrounding temples, read this explainer before pushing onward. That way, you'll avoid “temple fatigue”, inadvertent bad behavior and getting too little of your money's worth.

How to Enter

The Cambodian tourist town of Siem Reap is the main entry point to the Angkor Archaeological Park. To get there, travelers either fly in via Siem Reap International Airport or ride a bus from Phnom Penh or Bangkok.

Once you arrive in Siem Reap and check into your local hostel, you must decide how to tackle your Angkor Temples tour. Ask yourself a few questions:

How many days can you spare to see the Angkor temples? Before entering the Park, you'll buy an entry pass that varies in price depending on the length of validity.

You are not permitted to stagger the use of multi-day passes; these should be used only on consecutive days.

What transportation do you plan to use? Siem Reap is crawling with tuk-tuk drivers who want to take your business. They'll take you on a whole-day tour that covers the small circuit (more on that in the next bullet point) starting at Angkor Wat and circulates around Bayon, Phnom Bakheng, and Ta Prohm, among others.

All told, you can hire a tuk-tuk for about $15 to $30 a day, depending on the number of temples on the route, with lower per-day costs for multi-day hires. Tuk-tuks can accommodate up to four tourists in one group, and many provide free drinking water for guests.

For solo travelers, you can hire a motodup (motorcycle taxi, where you ride pillion behind the driver) or electric “e-bike” you can ride yourself. Old-fashioned bicycles can be rented in Siem Reap daily.

An automobile taxi is the fastest, comfiest, and obviously most expensive way to see the temples. These will cost about $20-30 a day.

Walking is ill-advised: the temples in this list are scattered over two hundred hectares of Siem Reap real estate. 

Small and Grand Circuits, and Tour Guides

Two more, important questions you should ask yourself before starting your Angkor Temple tour continue below.

How many temples do you plan to see? It's not called “temple fatigue” for nothing; either you spend too little time seeing too many temples, or take multiple days doing nothing but traipse all about Angkor Park. Either will tire you out, and neither will leave you with a positive impression of the Angkor temple experience.

You can spend just one day exploring just the 10-mile loop called the “Small Circuit”, beginning at Angkor Wat and proceeds in a rough rectangle that takes you through the former city of Angkor Thom and some temples immediately outside the temple walls.

The “Grand Circuit” encompasses a 16-mile loop that heads north, taking in a few additional outlying temples, among them Preah Khan and the Eastern Mebon. You'll need to take a multiple-day entry pass to cover the Grand Circuit.

More outlying temples can be tacked onto your itinerary, among them the Roluos Group and the gorgeously carved temple of Banteay Srei.

Do you plan to explore Angkor with a guide? It's advised you do; while this image gallery or your average dog-eared Lonely Planet guidebook will give you the gist of the area you're exploring, a tour guide will be able to answer questions and provide a more customized travel experience aimed at your interests.

It's also the ethical thing to do: hiring local guides is the best way you can infuse your much-needed money into the local tourism economy.

The Khmer Angkor Tour Guide (KATGA) represents over 300 local guides trained by the local Ministry of Tourism and UNESCO. Travelers can choose a guide who speaks one or more of ten languages, among them English, German, Thai, French, Mandarin Chinese and Italian.

Angkor Wat, Center of the Universe

All Angkor temple tours start here: the most perfect Angkor-era temple in all of Siem Reap, and quite possibly in the universe. Ever since its re-discovery by European explorers in the mid-19th Century, Angkor Wat's sheer massiveness and breathtaking beauty have awed generations of tourists.

The complex was built between 1130 and 1150 AD by King Suryavarman II, and consists of an enormous temple pyramid covering an area measuring 4,250 by 5,000 feet, surrounded by a moat over 600 feet wide. "Enormous" doesn't do it justice: you only have to stand by the gates to be overwhelmed by the complex's massive scale.

Angkor Wat is intended to symbolize the universe, as the Hindu Khmer understood it: the moat stands for the oceans around the earth; the concentric galleries represent the mountain ranges surrounding the divine Mount Meru, the Hindu home of the gods, which is itself embodied by the five central towers. The walls are covered with carvings depicting the god Vishnu (to whom Angkor was principally dedicated), as well as other scenes from Hindu mythology.

"At the sight of this temple, one feels one's spirit crushed, one's imagination surpassed. You look, admire and respect. One is silent. For where are the words to praise a work of art that has no equal anywhere in the world?" wrote Henri Mouhot, the first European to set foot on Angkor Wat.

Trivia: Unusually for a Hindu religious structure, the whole complex is oriented to the west, the direction traditionally associated with death. The mystery may be solved if we believe the experts, that Angkor Wat was a funerary temple for its builder King Suryavarman II.

Phnom Bakheng, Best for Sunset Viewing

From Angkor Wat, you can embark on the 10-mile Small Circuit covering the Angkor Park's most popular temple sites, many of them inside or just beyond the moat that delineates the former Angkor Thom metropolis that served as the Khmer capital from the 12th to the 15th century. 

The hilltop temple of Phnom Bakheng can be found just before you cross the Southern Gate into Angkor Thom. Phnom Bakheng was the center of the capital that preceded Angkor Thom, Yashodhara; its fortuitous location on top of a hill gave it a commanding view of the surrounding plain.

On this summit, the Khmer built a five-tiered pyramid with a central sanctuary harboring a stone lingam that represented the Hindu god Shiva.

Getting to the top requires a hike ascending 200 feet to the temple wall; alternatively, you can take an elephant ride up the southern path to the very top, starting at 4 p.m. As going up or down can be dangerous work in the dark, travelers are not allowed to ascend past 5:30 p.m.

Phnom Bakheng is Angkor's most popular sunset spot, the lofty elevation permits travelers to witness the sun setting over the Angkor plain and its temples, its gorgeous warm rays casting dramatic shadows on the countryside.

Trivia: Phnom Bakheng was converted to a Theravada Buddhist site in the 16th century, but it continued to attract pilgrims from different religious faiths until as late as the 20th century, for starters, a stela praising Allah was left at Phnom Bakheng by Arabic visitors. 

Entering via the South Gate

Beyond Angkor Wat and past Phnom Bakheng, you'll travel north up the Angkor Park's paved road into the South Gate that precedes Angkor Thom. 

A moat surrounds Angkor Thom, requiring that you cross a causeway into the South Gate. The causeway is lined by carvings of fearsome divinities, facing outward from Angkor Thom as if to guard the passage.

Trivia: the divinities along the causeway recall the Hindu legend of the churning of the sea of milk, a constant theme in Angkor architecture, also recapitulated in a massive relief along an interior wall in Angkor Wat.

Devas (benevolent divinities) flank one side of the causeway, asuras (malevolent spirits) flank the other. As with the legend, each line grasps a serpent's torso; in the legend, the devas and asuras pulled alternately at a serpent coiled around a mountain to churn the sea of milk.