I feel like I can't even begin to try and describe or give a backstory on Angkor Wat and the surrounding structures. The Angkor Wat complex is one of the most stunning collections of ancient structures in the world and the largest religious site in the world. What started as a Hindu temple and later transitioned into a Buddhist temple, the Angkor Wat complex is one of the most popular travel destinations in Southeast Asia.
While the main focus of the area is Angkor Wat itself, the temple is surrounded by many other ancient sites, including Angkor Thom, Preah Khan, and others, each worth your time while visiting the surrounding city of Siem Reap.
The guide we used for our tour of Angkor Wat was The Angkor Guide and he was fantastic. We got a full tour of the massive Angkor Wat temple that included tons of history. While I enjoyed most of it overall, the sheer amount of information from both the tour guide and the temple can be a bit overwhelming. There's so much to know and see within the walls of Angkor Wat it eventually became a bit of an information overload for me. So overwhelming I really didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to of Angkor Wat itself.
In addition to Angkor Wat, we also toured the aforementioned auxiliary sites at our own pace by hailing a tuk-tuk driver outside of our hotel in Siem Reap for $10 USD for the whole day. While typically I'm not too fond of most tours of any kind, our guide for the main Angkor Wat temple was well worth it. While it's impressive in solely its physical beauty, the history behind all the carvings is well worth the cost of a guided tour. I think the rest of the sites can be explored at your own discretion, but I'm sure a guide here could be beneficial as well.
Again, I can't pretend to be able to truly summarize the Angkor Wat complex's history in words, so enjoy some pictures.
