We begin with a pre-dawn departure (4.30 to 4.45am depending on the time of year) from your hotel for sunrise outside Angkor Wat. Enter the great temple in darkness from the little-visited eastern side, and creep along hoary cloistered corridors past the longest stretch of bas-relief carvings in the world.

The south gate of Angkor Thom is the best preserved. It is approached from outside via a causeway that extends about fifty meters across a moat. On each side of the causeway are railings fashioned with 54 stone figures engaged in the performance of a famous Hindu story: the myth of the Churning of the Ocean. On the left side of the moat, 54 'devas' (guardian gods) pull the head of the snake 'Shesha' while on the right side 54 'asuras' (demon gods) pull the snake's tail in the opposite direction. In this myth, the body of the snake is wrapped around the central mountain—Mt. Meru—perhaps corresponding here to the Bayon temple at the center of the site. In any case, the myth relates that as the Devas pulled the snake in one direction and the gods pushed in the other, the ocean began to churn and precipitate the elements. By alternating back and forth, the ocean was 'milked', forming the earth and the cosmos anew.

Angkor Thom is the majestic site once served as the Khmer Empire's glistening capital city. Take a moment to consider its grandiosity before venturing inside the city. Arriving at the temple at Bayon, appreciate its beautifully crafted central towers covered in more than 200 enormous faces.

The 350m-long Terrace of Elephants was used as a giant reviewing stand for public ceremonies and served as a base for the king's grand audience hall. It has five outworks extending towards the Central Square-three in the center and one at each end. The middle section of the retaining wall is decorated with life-size garuda and lions; towards either end are the two parts of the famous parade of elephants complete with their Khmer mahouts.