Angkor Wat, (1113-1150) was built by Suryaverman II during the first half of the 12th century. It's a funeral pyre dedicated to Vishnu.

The temples covers a 1300x1500m. area. It spreads over three levels and is surrounded by four protective walls. Outside the walls are large moats, covering and area of over 200 hectares.

Occasionally nature is allowed to take over - The temple fights a slow battle with it. The roots are crawling everywhere.

Ta Prohm, (1186) was built by Jayavarman VII and dedicated to his mother.

It's one of the most fascinating temples at Angkor - It seems completely untouched by human hand.

All around Angkor you see a lot of people trying to earn a penny or two.

Outside Angkor Wat it's crowded with people selling books or postcards, water or Cokes and all sorts of Cambodian souvenirs.

You should expect a dozen of children hanging around you at the temples mostly visited.

And other places you can walk for a while, with nobody pulling your shirt, but instead you may enjoy this traditionally music.

From the 9th to the 13th centuries, the Khmer god-kings ruled from Angkor. 27 kings are known to have ruled between 802 and 1327. Using the wealth and enormous labor force of their empire, they made several monumental constructions. The idea was to glorify the kings and their capitals. The site of Angkor, from the Sanskrit "nagara", meaning city or capital. Angkor includes about fifty monuments spread over 230 km2.

In the fifteenth century, the Angkor temples was abandoned to the jungles after an invasion by Siam, (Thailand) and was not rediscovered before the nineteenth century by French explores.

According to the legend, the god Indra gave life to his son Ketomealea as a human being whose mission was, to protect Buddhist religion and to take care of the Kingdom in glory, prosperity and peace.

One night, Indra sent the god Meatolei to Earth on his divine chariot to bring Ketomealea back to the "Heaven of The Thirty-Three Gods". During his short stay, Indra taught him the ten royal duties and bathed him seven times a day for seven days in the perfumed bath in the garden. Then he invited seven divine Brahmans to recite magical formulas and splash Ketomealea with magic water to bless him with a long life lasting over a century. After which they flew over Indra's palaces on a divine chariot: Ketomealea was to choose one he would use as a model for the one he would build on Earth.

So a heavenly architect built Angkor Wat. Ketomealea was very pleased with the palace and asked the architect Pis nouka to build a few others.

The day prince Ketomealea was sacred King of The Kingdom, Indra descended on Earth to bless his noble son and give him the sacred name "Aritha-polape a-hano" or "Powerful Destroyer of Enemies". Indra then named the country "Kampuja" or Cambodia.