Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
COMBINATIONS AND VARIATIONS
As they stand, the traditional Small and Grand circuit itineraries are far from ideal. You could,
however, mix and match to come up with something far more rewarding.
Small Circuit in reverse order
You
might consider doing the Small Circuit in
anticlockwise order, starting at Banteay
Kdei and finishing at Angkor Wat. This has
the great advantage of seeing the sights
in ever-increasing orders of magnificence,
but also runs the risk that by the time you
finish up at Angkor Wat you'll be so
frazzled with myriad monuments that you
won't be able to properly appreciate what
you're seeing.
Small Circuit/Grand Circuit combo
It
makes most sense to only tackle part of the
Small Circuit on one day, and then mop up
the remaining Small Circuit sights during a
tour of the Grand Circuit on a later visit,
maybe by delaying a visit to the Small
Circuit temple of Ta Prohm to the
beginning or end of your Grand Circuit tour
(which also allows you to visit the temple
when it's less crowded), or doing the same
with a couple of the temples within Angkor
Thom (visiting the Bayon at the end of a
Grand Circuit tour, for example, which
again will land you at the temple when
most of the coach parties have gone).
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RECOMMENDED ITINERARY
Taking into account all the points raised above, the following itinerary allows you to get the
most out of three days.
Day One
Tour the Grand Circuit in
clockwise order, with the addition of Ta
Prohm at the end (aiming to arrive at Ta
Prohm after 4pm, when the worst of the
crowds will have departed).
Day Two
Tour the Small Circuit (minus
Ta Prohm) in an anticlockwise
direction, finishing at Angkor Wat (and
visiting the Bayon at the end of your visit
to Angkor Thom in order to avoid
the crowds).
Day Three
Visit the temples of Roluos,
combined with a second visit to Angkor
Wat (perhaps early in the morning, when
the crowds are thinnest) and/or Angkor
Thom and the Bayon (or, indeed,
anywhere else that's caught your
particular fancy).
European explorers (although, from the end of the eighteenth century, as part of
Battambang province, it actually came under Thai rule - a state of affairs that lasted
until 1907, when the French negotiated its return). The first proper account of Angkor
Wat, published by the French missionary Charles-Emile Bouillevaux in 1858, failed to
arouse wide interest, but in 1864, the diaries of botanist and explorer Henri Mouhot,
who had stumbled on Angkor by accident a few years earlier, were published
posthumously, and the temples gripped the world. The Briton J. Thompson published
the first photographs of Angkor in 1867, and was the first to suggest a link between
temple architecture and the mythical Mount Meru. Close behind him came Doudart
Lagrée, who discovered Beng Mealea and Preah Khan (Kompong Thom).
Angkor Wat
However many times you've seen it on film or in photographs, nothing prepares you
for the majesty of
ANGKOR WAT
. Dominated by five majestic, corncob towers, this
masterpiece of Khmer architecture, consecrated in about 1150 to Vishnu, is thought to
have taken around thirty years to complete. Stunning from a distance, as you approach
its intricacy becomes apparent, with every surfaced covered in fine detail. If time
allows, it's worth visiting at different times of day to see how the colours of the stone
change with the light.
Experts have long debated whether Angkor Wat was built for worship or for funerary
purposes, given that the site is approached from the west and the gallery of bas-reliefs is
