1 destination · 10 things to do

Cambodia

Siem Reap is the riverside town at the gate of Angkor, the vast capital of the Khmer Empire and one of the great archaeological sites on earth. A few kilometres north of the town’s markets, cafes and colonial shophouses, hundreds of temples rise from the forest: Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, glowing at sunrise behind its moat; the walled royal city of Angkor Thom, where the giant stone faces of the Bayon smile from every tower; and Ta Prohm, where silk-cotton and fig trees have wrapped their roots around the galleries. Further out lie the rose-pink carvings of Banteay Srei, the sacred waterfall and riverbed carvings of Phnom Kulen, the jungle ruins of Beng Mealea and the stilt villages of the Tonle Sap lake. Back in town, the evenings belong to Phare, the Cambodian circus, to night-market food and to tuk-tuk rides through the rice fields. This guide books the tours and tickets worth booking, explains the Angkor Pass and its timing rules, and shows how to fit the temples into a first trip.