Visit Angkor Thom and the Bayon temple

“After entering Angkor Thom through the Southern gate we headed straight for the Bayon which stands in the exact centre of the city of Angkor Thom. There are so many memorable temples in Siem Reap, but based on the volume of photos I took, the Bayon was my favourite. [...] The entire Bayon is a maze of galleries, grand towers, claustrophobic passages, and low ceilings, which all add a sense of intrigue and adventure to your visit. Around every corner you’ll have eyes upon you. It’s easy to get lost, but that’s one of the endearing features of the Bayon, and it doesn’t matter that you may pass the same place multiple times because you’ll be so absorbed by the intricacy of the Bayon that it’s worth seeing again and again.”

“We started our first day as early as 5am in the morning. Since Angkor Wat has been getting a lot of tourist lately, I thought that we should avoid the crowds as much as possible. [...] Once we got our pass, our Tuk-tuk went on rolling and off we go to see our first temple at Angkor Thom also known as the “Great City“. On the way though, we passed by Angkor Wat, although it’s tempting to see it early at that time we sped past it and headed north by the west road until we were greeted by a gopura at the South Gate. We decided to leave Angkor Wat for the moment and just build on the momentum by visiting the other minor temples first. Hell, from the South Gate itself I think we spent more than 30 minutes of photo frenzy and we haven’t got into the city yet and our driver is waiting on the other side of the wall, sleeping. [...] After pulling ourselves from the gate we rode the Tuk-tuk again for quite a distance, about 1.5 km from the gate to the heart of the city where we can find the temple of Bayon. And yey, there’s no people yet. Initially I had the idea that the temples here are walking distance from each other, I was so wrong. The whole Angkor Archaeological Park is so vast that you couldn’t cover much just by walking. Biking probably may. We ate a quick breakfast at one of the stalls there and waited for some morning light to hit the structure and off we go exploring the temple.”

“That Japanese man just took your photo,” I say to my husband, Mark, as we’re wandering around Bayon Temple under the shadow of a massive face carved into a tower. [...] “Hey, that woman just took your photo, too,” I say, catching eyes with a stout Japanese woman holding a bright red parasol in one hand and a camera in another. She grins and gives me a thumb’s up. I look back at the man. He gives me a thumb’s up, too. “Maybe I was in the way of her shot,” Mark says. “I don’t think so.” I look quizzically at the woman. As if trying to explain, she points to the carved head above Mark. I burst out laughing. “She thinks you look like the king.”