Angkor Wat Travel Forum

Hello,

I'm a first timer moving through SE Asia on a relaxed but not lazy pace. After hitting NE Asia (Mongolia, Far East Russia, Korea, Japan and then Taiwan), I'll be spending a week or so in Vietnam before entering Cambodia.

My question is, since I grew up in India and have seen a lot of amazing rock-cut temples, I want to know how different and unique the Angkor Wat temples are to those in India.

Will a novice to temple architecture might be a lot more fascinated with Angkor Wat than someone like me who's been exposed to Indian temple architecture?

Will a one-day trip from Sunrise to Sunset be enough in my case to see Angkor Wat?

Thanks and Happy Travels,

Ram

I personally feel the major pull to the temples of Angkor Wat is the the sheer size, the fact that the ancient temples pre-date almost all others, and the mysterious feel that the jungles give as they slowly swallow them back into the shadows.

You could see ~20% of Angkor Wat in one full day. Most people skip the far off and small things anyway, so usually only spend ~3 days.

Hey Ram,

I am from India, and went to Angkor Wat recently. I myself have seen a lot of Indian temples, rock cut or otherwise. But Angkor Wat just blew me off my feet.

What is enticing is the sheer size of the temples and the lush thick forests which surround them. Some of the temples at Angkor have been consumed by the jungle and thick undergrowth, something which gives a very eerie feel to the whole place.

Moreover, the architecture is different from what we have seen in India, combining a Dravidian style with distinct Oriental twist.

I suggest you stay there for 3 days (that's what we did) and you will be able to see all the main temples comfortably.

Angkor is in a class of its own, it is unfair to compare to other temples or ruins of temples in India or elsewhere. It would be unfair to you to go there for just one day, to do aesthetic justice, you should spend three days there.
As the poster above mentioned, as an Indian, you might be even more fascinated by the evolution of the Tanjore temple architecture and the Tamoul script into a Khmer temple architecture and a script in which the Khmer language is written. I have no experience with Indian temple architecture but have seen almost all the major Native American Temple Ruins ( chichen, Tikal, Machu Pichu) and it is not unfair to compare the temples. they are all magnificent in their own ways. but angkor is the largest temple complex in the world and one of the oldest still preserved to this degree. There are lots of information on siem reap on various VT pages.