Angkor Park: Getting Started

The Angkor Archaeo-logical Park is home to the magnificent temple ruins of Angkor, including the legendary Angkor Wat, Bayon and dozens of other ancient ruins of the, Angkorian-era Khmer Empire. The Angkor Park is a World Heritage site and encompasses more than 400 square kilometers just outside Siem Reap City in northwestern Cambodia.

Siem Reap City is the gateway to the Angkor Archaeological Park. There are no hotels within the Park grounds and most visitors stay in Siem Reap where almost all of the area's hotels and restaurants are located. Siem Reap City  is just south of the Angkor Archaeological Park with the Park entrance located only 3km north of town. With the exception of the Roluos Group of temples 13km east of Siem Reap, the most important temple ruin are within 6-25km north of town, the closest major temple being Angkor Wat. To arrange your visit to the Angkor Archaeological Park you will need to decide how long to stay, purchase an admission pass, arrange transportation to the temples, obtain a guidebook or tour guide and plan out your temple itinerary.

Angkor Archaeological Park

The temples ruins contained within the Park represent the remnants of the millennium-old capitals of the old Khmer Empire. The Khmer people were and are the dominant ethnic group in Cambodia. The name ‘Angkor’ refers both to the Angkorian-era Khmer Empire that stretched across much of mainland Southeast Asia between the 9th and 15th centuries A.D., and also refers to the capital city of the empire that was centered north of Siem Reap Cambodia.

Most of the temples within the Park were constructed between the 9th and 12th century A.D. and represent the pinnacle of ancient Khmer architecture, art and civilization. At its height, the Age of Angkor was a time wealth and power for the Khmer Empire. The capital city at Angkor was populated by more than a million people, Khmer kings constructed vast waterworks and grand temples and the Empire's military, economic and cultural dominance held sway over the area of modern Cambodia, as well as much of Thailand, southern Vietnam and Laos.

There are dozens of ruins within the Angkor Archaeological Park, others further afield. The temples vary in importance, interest and condition and are spread over a large area, often kilometers apart. In order to get the most of your visit, it is best to prepare a preliminary itinerary. Your itinerary should depend largely on the length of your visit and your level of interest, though some ruins are must-sees. Any itinerary should include the legendary Angkor Wat and Bayon. These two temples offer the most spectacular and unique examples of Angkorian art and architecture. On the road trip to Bayon, you will also see the South Gate and other minor ruins. As it is within walking distance of Bayon, even the briefest visit can usually include central Angkor Thom with its artistically interesting terraces and massive ‘temple-mountains,’ Baphuon and Phimeanakas.

As time and interest allows, build the rest of your itinerary around visiting each type of major ruin – temple mountains such as Pre Rup, Ta Keo, Bakong and West Mebon; flat, sprawling monastic complexes such as Ta Prohm, Preah Khan and Banteay Kdei; and unique monuments such as Neak Pean and Srah Srang. The Roluos Group, which is comprised the monuments of an early Khmer capital, lies about 13 km west of Siem Reap. It is a bit out of the way, but offers some fine examples of early Angkorian art and should be included in two or three day itineraries. Of special note is the artistically exquisite but more even distant temple, Banteay Srey. If there is any way of squeezing it into your itinerary, it is well worth it.