Overview
Angkor Thom is the biggest stop after Angkor Wat in the temple region. It is not one temple but the walled former capital of the Khmer Empire, containing a dense collection of temples and urban remains.
The scale becomes clear when a tuk-tuk needs 10 to 15 minutes to travel from one gate to another. Gates were built as narrow passages and now handle traffic in both directions, producing strange evening jams beneath ancient stone faces.
The gates are attractions in their own right. A giant Bayon-style face looks down from above, while rows of figures on the approach hold a naga serpent: gods on one side, demons on the other. We saw a similar design at Preah Khan.
Main Sites
Bayon
Bayon stands at the center of Angkor Thom and is famous for giant serene faces carved into its towers. Counts vary with the reconstruction, but the temple is often described as having roughly 200 surviving or original face images rather than a securely fixed 216. It is large but compact, not spread across the landscape like some complexes.
Wayfinding inside was poor and the central section was closed during our visit. It also smelled strongly of bird droppings. None of that cancels the experience of walking among the faces.
Phimeanakas
Phimeanakas is a Hindu temple inside the old Royal Palace enclosure. Its reddish stone and steep, pyramidal shape give it a different character from the face towers.
Baphuon
Baphuon has one of Angkor's best restoration stories. Conservators dismantled and numbered huge parts of the monument, then Cambodia's civil war destroyed or scattered the records. Later teams spent years reconstructing hundreds of thousands of stone blocks, earning the project the nickname "the world's largest jigsaw puzzle."
The upper levels were excellent, but the descent is genuinely steep and hard in the heat. Children under 12 were not allowed up during our visit. Angkor Thom was quieter than Angkor Wat, and Baphuon was one of our favorite low-crowd stops.
Terrace of the Elephants
The elephant reliefs are easier to appreciate from the road than from the pedestrian path.
Practical Advice
Start early, take a midday break, then continue. The midday heat is murderous.