You’d never guess that apart from Angkor Wat, Cambodia also boasts such pristine islands.

In thelonely planetlatest poll of the world’s75ultimate travel experiences, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat received the highest number of votes. As a national symbol, the charm of Angkor Wat is self-evident. Besides this mysterious and ancient Khmer heritage site, you can also enjoy many other memorable experiences in Cambodia, such as the pristine islands in Sihanoukville.

The original name of Angkor Wat wasVrah Vishnulok, meaning"the Temple of Vishnu", which ancient ChineseBuddhisttexts refer to as"Sangxiang Buddhist Temple".What people commonly refer to as“Angkor Wat”is actually a general term for the Angkor ruins complex. In reality, Angkor Wat is just the best-preserved and most intricately detailed temple within the entire complex, and it is also known as Angkor Temple or Angkor Thom.(Angkor Wat). The formal name for Angkor Wat is the Angkor Archaeological Park,(Angkor Acheological Park)which includes the Grand Angkor (Angkor Thom),(the Capital City,)Angkor Wat (the Small Angkor), and several other nearby ruins and sites.

12In theAngkorDynasty, KingSuryavarman II(Suryavarman II)envisioned building a grand stone temple on flat land to serve as the capital and state temple of the Angkor Empire. He mobilized the entire nation and spent about35years constructing it. It is the best-preserved structure among the Angkor ruins, renowned worldwide for its magnificent architecture and exquisite bas-reliefs.

12Centurywas alsothe era ofAngkor architectureThe art reached its climax. The Angkor temples built at that time had all their walls covered with exquisite bas-reliefs, and each platform was surrounded by long corridors facing the four directions, connecting the sanctuaries, corner towers, and stairways. Even the walls of the corridors were carved with bas-reliefs depicting ancient Indian mythological stories. The Angkor temples were not only of an incredibly grand scale, but there was also a nearly10-meter-wide causeway leading straight to the temple’s main gate, with towering and majestic statues of the naga serpent deity erected on both sides of the causeway.—Generally speaking, temples around the world all face east, but uniquely, the Angkor temple’s main gate faces west, which puzzled archaeologists studying ancient Khmer civilization for years. After that, the city-building efforts of successive kings of the Angkor Dynasty—were passed down from generation to generation.

The architectural brilliance of the Angkor civilization is breathtaking to behold, yet in the15th century, the city suddenly became deserted. Over the following centuries, the Angkor region turned into an overgrownjungleand wilderness, with only—ruins of a once-glorious ancient city hidden within. It wasn’t until the19th century, when Mouhot discovered this site, that evenCambodia’slocal inhabitants were—completely unaware of its existence.

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