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CAMBODIA > PLACES TO VISIT
PHNOM PENH
Phnom Penh became the capital of Cambodia in 1866.
The city is particularly attractive in the area
surrounding the Royal Palace where magnificent
Khmer towers and French villas overlook the banks
of the Tonle Sap River. There are a number of
interesting sights including the palace of the
king with its wonderful curved roofs. Unfortunately
visitors are not allowed inside but just having
a look from the outside still gives an impression
of its splendor. Next to the palace is Wat Preah
Keo, the famous Silver Pagoda. It was built in
1962, replacing the original wooden temple from
1900. The name comes from the 5281 silver tiles
that cover the floor. On the altar there is a
life sized Buddha, made of pure gold and covered
with 9584 diamonds, the largest of which is 25
karats. The National Museum is an interesting
record of Cambodian history and contains many
statues from Angkor. There are three markets worth
visiting in Phnom Penh: the Central Market, the
Russian Market and the Tuol Tum Pong Market. Meanwhile
Tuol Sleng, the Killing Field Museum, is a former
school that was taken over by the Khmer Rouge
and turned into a torture chamber.
ANGKOR AND SIEMREAP
The magnificent Angkor, one of the ancient wonders
of the world and the cultural home of the Khmer
people, is located in the Siemreap Province. It
is indisputably the most famous, most enormous,
most impressive and most important attraction
in all of Southeast Asia. First discovered by
western archeologists in the late 19th century,
the temples of the lost city are spread out over
an area of about 40 miles around the town of Siem
Reap, 192 miles from Phnom Penh. They were built
between the 8th and 13th centuries and range from
single towers constructed of brick to enormous
stone temple complexes. The city probably covered
large areas between the temples and palaces, but
there is nothing left of these surrounding settlements,
probably because they would have been constructed
of wood.
ANGKOR WAT
Angkor Wat is the most famous temple ground in
the entire Angkor plain and was built by King
Suryavarman II in the 12th century as an architectural
representation of the Hindu religion. A wall,
and a moat 100 meters wide that was probably inhabited
by fierce crocodiles surround the temple ground.
The city has five monumental gates, decorated
with stone elephant trunks and four huge faces
of the bodhisatva Avalokitesvara. Angkor Wat is
in better structural condition than many other
temples on the Angkor plain because it was converted
into a Buddhist temple and used continuously.
ANGKOR THOM
Angkor Thom is the inner royal city, built by
the end of the 12th century during the reign of
King Jayavarman VII, shortly after Angkor had
been conquered and burnt down. It was not built
on open terrain.
BAYON
Newly built by Jayavarman VII was the Bayon: a
colossal central temple exactly in the middle
of Angkor Thom.
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