What an Amazing World!

Cambodia is one of few remaining kingdoms in Asia, and the world, with King Norodom Sihamoni as the current ruler who succeeded his father, King Norodom Sihanouk, in 2004. In my previous posts I have said that Angkor used to be the capital of the […]

After spending about 3 days in Siem Reap, I headed to Phnom Penh which is 6-hour-bus-ride away from Siem Reap. Actually, when I planned for this trip months ago, I didn’t put Phnom Penh on the list and intended to go directly to Ho Chi Minh City instead. However, a friend […]

Siem Reap is a small city which serves as Cambodia’s gate to the world due to its strategic location near Angkor Archaeological Park, which contains well-known temples such as Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm. The entire Angkor complex is comfortably accessible from Siem Reap by various means of transportation. You […]

Another well-known temple at The Angkor Archaeological Park is Ta Prohm. Partly thanks to Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’s movie which was filmed around this temple and brought to the world the mysterious atmosphere of this place with those picturesque large tree roots holding onto the […]

Angkor Wat served as the capital of the Khmer empire until mid-12th century, when the death of King Suryavarman led to the invasion of the Chams (present-day Vietnam) to the Khmer capital. However, a few years later, a Khmer prince successfully defeated the Chams and […]

In the 12th century, when the Khmer gained its independence from Java (present-day part of Indonesia), their king (Suryavarman II) instructed the construction of a religious monument which also serves as a national capital (and later becomes the world’s largest religious compound). At that time, […]