Avoiding Winter (again).... oh and getting married: Angkor Thom

A new museum has opened in Siem Reap since we were there. We went in 2007 and its well worth the visit. It is very modern and has some excellent displays to put the temples and building of the various temples into context. And it's pretty deserted too- sadly. Not many tourists go even though its on the way to the temples and a new shopping mall next to it has now shut

Angkor Thomas is another well known temple and the biggest collection of temples. It is surrounded by a 7.5 mile wall and moat and inside has a range of temples including Baphoun, Phimeanakas ( the royal temple that the King comes to pray at) the terrace of the elephants - another 300m long structure engraved with huge elephants on which the king stood to inspect his armies and address the people

It was all built by King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century and as with kings all over the world it was an attempt to build bigger and better than his predecessors. Which he did. And also used most of the nations resources doing it so it also signalled the start of the decline of the Khmer empire.

In his defence he was considered one of the greater kings as he spent money on buildings for his people - he built 100 or so shelters around the country for travellers to rest in . He also built 120 hospitals scattered around and staffed them to ensure his people got access to healthcare. But ultimately this version of the welfare state was too much spending...

All of the kings are called 'something.... varman '. so you only have to remember the first bit.

The most famous temple is the Bayon which has 54 large towers with 4 faces on each side. It is said that the faces are either Jayavarman or Buddha. The 54 represent the states in Cambodia at the time. As well as the faces there are galleries of bas reliefs depicting many scenes from everyday life and the battles again the bitter rival the Cham (Vietnamese)