Angkor-a place in mystery

Angkor Wat

I went to Angkor on lunar New Year’s holiday last year. I try to collect all the information to get some idea about the place where I would like to visit before my trip. And it is what I learned with all of you to discover this mysterious place.

Angkor Wat was called one of the four oriental miracles. It has the same fame with the Great Wall in China, Pyramid in Egypt and Borobudur Temple Compound in Indonesia.
The celebrated temples of Angkor are Cambodia's greatest tourist attraction. The 100 or so temples are the sacred remains of what was once a much larger administrative and religious centre, and were built between the 9th and 13th centuries to glorify a succession of Khmer kings. The three most magnificent temples are Bayon, Ta Prohm and the immense Angkor Wat.
Most of Angkor was abandoned in the 15th century and the temples were gradually cloaked by forest. The site became the source of scholarly interest in the late-19th century after the publication of French naturalist Henri Mouhot’s notes. Efforts were undertaken to clear away the jungle vegetation that threatened to completely destroy the monuments, and restoration continues today.

Very little is known about prehistoric Cambodia, although archeological evidence has established that prior to 1000 BC Cambodians subsisted on a diet of fish and rice and lived in houses on stilts, as they still do today. All we know about this place were from its neighboring country. The most important record was written by a Chinese envoy that visited Angkor in 1296 and stayed there for one year. After he returned to China and wrote a book called “Jenlan social practices (真臘風土記)”. (Jenla is the old name of Cambodia) to describe the life of Jenla.

Next time I am going to share what I saw and what I really learned from this trip.