ALPHABET TRAVEL CHALLENGE
Angkor Wat — The Heart and Soul of Cambodia
A to Z of my favorite travel destinations — A is for Angkor Wat
If you squint really hard, you can imagine the magnificence of what was once the capital city for the Khmer Empire, one of the most powerful in the world in the 9th to 12th centuries. You can still see the beauty carved into the stones that create a solemn, awe-inspiring spiritual temple complex.
There are an estimated 1-thousand temples, some elaborate and some nothing more than a pile of rocks, all spread out over 400 acres of forests and farmland, just outside Siem Reap, Cambodia.
These massive ancient temples were part of a Hindu holy site in honor of the god Vishnu. Angkor Wat was built in the first part of the 12th century but was converted to a Buddhist temple near the end of the century. It apparently occurred when the Khmer ruler converted to Buddhism.
On my first day, I hired a tuk-tuk for just $13 USD for the entire day to transport me from the city of Siem Reap to the Angkor Wat complex.
