Cambodia

Get there for sunrise at the main entrance and prepare to be floored. The sunset from its upper gallery is also unforgettable. There is an air of immense mystery to the Angkor complex, like a pervading fragrance that intoxicates the traveler. Once in your lifetime you simply have to see this.

ANGKOR THOM

Angkor Thom, the "Great City," was the last capital of the Khmer Empire, built by King Jayavarman VII at the turn of the 12th to 13th centuries. Inside its walls lie Baphuon, Phimeanakas, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King, and at the very center, the Bayon, with over 200 faces carved on its 54 towers. If you have only a day, visit the temples above and Ta Prohm, which has been mostly untouched by archaeologists and remains in the grasp of the jungle.

Within its jungle-covered ruins immense kapok trees grow through the gray sandstone galleries. An almost overwhelming sense of wonder and awe will wash over you in this sanctuary, as your imagination attempts to fathom the life pulsing throughout these structures at the height of the Khmer empire.

PREAH KHAN

This magnificent and massive maze of corridors and carvings is currently being restored by the World Monument Fund and is well worth a visit.

PREAH NEAK PEAN

With its collection of five ponds and unusual design, this is a compact, and generally untouristed, little-known gem.

Other important structures to visit if you have two days are Prasat Kravan, Pre Rup, Ta Keo, Banteay Kdei and Sras Srang.

ROLUOS GROUP

This area is a daytrip from the main Angkor complex and well worth a visit. The three temples (Bakong, Lolei and Preah Ko) were built in the late 9th century and are the oldest at Angkor. Stop in the morning at the little upcountry market in Roluos town.

TUOL SLENG & CHOEUNG EK

Sobering but necessary to understanding contemporary Cambodia, these two important sites provide insight into the brutality of the Khmer Rouge’s ultraradical Marxist regime of the 1970s. A visit to this prison and mass execution site is undeniably intense but we highly recommend it to understand the hurdles the country is struggling to overcome.

Several times a week that establishment puts on a classical dance performance by the river. The Angkor National Museum, which opened in 2007, features eight galleries that explore many facets of Khmer culture in a well-interpreted collection.

About 6 miles outside of Siem Reap in the rural countryside is the Cambodia Landmine Museum. Far more than an exhibit, this facility is home, school, orphanage and clinic to 30 landmine victims. Former Khmer Rouge child soldier Aki Ra founded the facility. Ra was forced to lay thousands of mines as a child soldier with the Khmer Rouge, but has spent the last decade removing over 50,000 mines and has become a legendary landmine activist in his country. Millions of mines still exist in Cambodia's countryside, making otherwise arable land impossible to farm and forcing villagers into squalid cities in search of work. This museum and facility provides great insight into this dynamic in modern-day Cambodia, and it is a moving experience to visit this place.