Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Angkor Wat, meaning the "city of temples" in Khmer, is the largest religious monument in the world, and lies three miles north of the modern town of Siem Reap. It takes at least two days to see the major temples and monuments. 

Constructed in 1H 12th c, during the reign of Suryavarman II, and originally dedicated to Hindu God Vishnu, the king's state temple was also the capital city. 

In 1177, approx 27 years after the King's death, Angkor was sacked by the Chams, the traditional enemies of the Khmer. 

Thereafter the empire was restored by a new king, Jayavarman VII, who established a new capital, Angkor Thom, and state temple, Bayon, a couple miles to the north. 

Transforming to a Buddhist temple complex in the second half of the 12th century, the history is told through detailed sandstone carvings on the walls of the Angkor Wat structures. 

Cambodian snack food

Tarantulas, scorpions, crickets, cockroaches and lots of other bugs and amphibians, fried, are sold at the market as a favorite food. Yum! The fangs were removed from a live tarantula and become a nice pet at the insect market.

The Killing Fields, Cambodia

A visit to the capital is incomplete without paying respects to the 2mm victims of torture, starvation, and genocide, nearly 25% of its then population, led by the brutal Pol Pot regime in the "killing fields" 1975-'79. Mass graves are still being unearthed at the site of the stirring Choeung Ek Memorial where Buddhist monks across the provinces gathered to chant prayers.