Angkor Wat Travelers Recommend

Divine in all senses of the word, Angkor Wat is the world's largest religious building. Built by King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century, his aim was to go bigger and better than his predecessors. In the high classical style of Khmer architecture, it was first a Hindu temple, then Buddhist and now it has become an icon, appearing on the Cambodian flag since 1863, and attracting over half of the international visitors annually to Cambodia. The place is massive and people spend a week or more exploring it. The outer wall stretches for 2.2 miles (3.6 kilometers), there is a moat, and the building itself is three stepped rectangular galleries topped by a quincunx of towers - imagine the five spots on a dice and you've got the shape these five towers make. Along with the sheer size, there's the intricate decoration: bas reliefs in the galleries and devatas (guardian spirits) on the outer walls. This place is the perfect fusion of spiritual devotion and earthly egomania.