Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AROUND ANGKOR THOM
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Baksei Chamkrong
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Southwest of the south gate of Angkor Thom, this well-proportioned, petite temple is one
of the few brick edifices in the immediate vicinity of Angkor and was once decorated with
a covering of lime mortar. Like virtually all of the structures of Angkor, it opens to the east.
In the early 10th century, Harshavarman I erected five statues in this temple: two of Shiva,
one of Vishnu and two of Devi.
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Phnom Bakheng
Located around 400m south of Angkor Thom, the main attraction at
Phnom Bakheng
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is the sunset view over Angkor Wat. For many years, the whole affair turned
into something of a circus, with crowds of tourists ascending the slopes of the hill and jock-
eying for space once on top. However, numbers have now been restricted to just 300 visit-
ors at any one time. In practice, this means arriving pretty early (4pm) for sunset to guaran-
tee a spot. Some prefer to visit in the early morning, when it's cool (and crowds are light),
to climb the hill. That said, the sunset over the Western Baray is very impressive from here.
Allow about two hours for the sunset experience.
Phnom Bakheng also lays claim to being home to the first of the temple-mountains built
in the vicinity of Angkor. Yasovarman I chose Phnom Bakheng over the Roluos area,
where the earlier capital (and temple mountains) had been located.
The temple-mountain has five tiers, with seven levels (including the base and the sum-
mit). At the base are - or were - 44 towers. Each of the five tiers had 12 towers. The sum-
mit of the temple has four towers at the cardinal points of the compass as well as a central
sanctuary. All of these numbers are of symbolic significance. The seven levels, for ex-
ample, represent the seven Hindu heavens, while the total number of towers, excluding the
