Angkor Wat, Siem Reap in Cambodia
Angkor Wat tour guide for Angkor Wat at Siem Reap in Cambodia, along with Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm Temple (Jungle Temple), and River of a Thousand Lingas in Siem Reap and surrounds
Angkor Wat at Siem Reap in Cambodia and surrounds are an absolute must see. In the 13th century it was the largest religious monument and city in the world, with a population of nearly 1 million, and then it simply disappeared about 400 years later.
Allow at least 3 full days to see the key sites, and you’ll need a licensed Angkor Wat tour guide and transport (which the guide organises). At the Jungle Temple you can see the amazing tree routes dripping down the stone walls like mercury. This is the famous Ta Prohm Temple – as seen in the movie Lara Croft Tomb Raider with Angelina Jolie.
Ek Wibol is fluent in English and one of the best guides we have ever used. He grew up in a small village beside Angkor Wat and used to play there as a child. His village had to be moved when Angkor Wat was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992 and for the last 20 years he has been sharing his professional knowledge of the temples and surrounding area with thousands of tourists.
Wibol at Banteay Kdel Temple
Tree roots dripping like mercury, slowly strangling the Jungle Temple at Angkor Wat
You’ll be impressed with Wibol’s humble, gentle charm and his warm, yet always professional manner, especially after the suffering he experienced as a 6 year old child when he was imprisoned in a bamboo cage and immersed in water and lost many members of his family during Pol Pot’s brutal rule.
Put Angkor Wat on your bucket list now. It’s a spectacular place to visit, It was “rediscovered” by the French explorers Garnier, Delaporte and Lagrée on the French Mekong expedition (1866–1868), all overgrown and virtually deserted.
Then as a special treat get Wibol to take you on a day trip to Beng Mealea about 60 kms NE of Siem Reap, where there are very few tourists, to see the little known River of a Thousand Lingas (a linga is a stone penis), where water flows over thousands of stone phalluses carved into the stream bed, to sanctify it before reaching Angkor Wat.