Sot Nikum in a Day: Unveiling the Wonders of Angkor

Tonle Sap Lake is a famous freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. It is connected to the Mekong River in Phnom Penh through the Tonle Sap River. There are several floating villages on the lake. Because of the large number of Vietnamese people living in them, they are called “Vietnamese Floating Villages”. You can take a boat trip to the lake to visit these floating villages, where you will see houses, churches, schools and other buildings all on the water. In the evening, you can also enjoy the magnificent sunset on the lake.

The Angkor National Museum mainly exhibits cultural relics and works of art from various periods of the Khmer dynasty, including stone carvings, images of Buddha, multimedia images, etc. The collections are vast and precious. The exterior shape of the museum is uniquely designed and the roof has the charm of the ancient tower of Angkor Wat. The promenade, the doorway and the window are inspired by the design of Angkor Wat. Modern elements are also blended in, making it more magnificent and spectacular.

Siem Reap's Pub Street is located next to the bustling old downtown. This street has dozens of different bars, pubs and clubs, many of which are popular with tourists. The bars here are quite unlike traditional pubs and clubs, in that many of them also serve full meals. During daylight hours you can enjoy authentic Southeast Asian cuisine at the restaurants which line the street and, once night falls, you can relax with a drink at the bar while you experience Siem Reap's unique nightlife. Furthermore, many of the bars and restaurants on Pub Street also sell English-language books, postcards, souvenirs and handicrafts.

Bayon Temple is the center and the essence of Tongwang City (that is, Greater Angkor). It was built at the end of the 12th century as a temple built by King Jayavarman VII for himself. Not only can you find the famous "Khmer Smile" here, you can also admire the rich and vivid reliefs on the cloisters. Many people choose to watch the sunrise at the Bayon Temple in the morning, so there are often crowds in the morning. In fact, the Bayon Temple in the evening is also worth visiting, not only to appreciate its relatively quiet side, but also to watch the sunset here. The entire Bayon Temple building is divided into three floors, the lower two floors are square, and the walls of the cloister are engraved with reliefs; the top floor is circular, with large and small pagodas erected. Originally there were 49, but now there are only 37 left. The larger stupa in the middle is about 40 meters high, and the others are surrounded by stars like the moon. The over 100-meter-wide corridor originally had a wooden roof, but now only broken walls and huge stone pillars can be seen. On the walls of the existing cloister, you can see very rich reliefs. The inner layer is mainly about myths and religious stories, such as stirring the sea of milk and the image of God Vishnu. The outer layer is based on real life, ranging from ancient war accounts to ordinary People's life, the scenery of Tonle Sap Lake, etc. These vivid reliefs seem to be telling a distant story, and they are precious historical relics that must be seen. The top of the pagoda is engraved with a huge four-faced Buddha. The four sides of the Buddha statue represent compassion, compassion, joy, and equanimity, and they all have a peaceful smile. If you look closely, you will find that these smiles have subtle differences, and the slightly upturned corners of the mouth can't tell whether they mean tolerance or ridicule, as if there is a secret that the world will never understand. And this is the "Khmer Smile" that makes Angkor Wat famous in the world.