| INTERESTING
|
|
Angkor Wat
|
Location: 6km north of Siem Reap, south of Angkor Thom, was built in the first half of the 12th century by the King Suryavarman II, dedicated to Vishnu.
Angkor Wat is the largest and undoubtedly the most breathtaking monuments of Angkor group and also the best preserved, is an architectural masterpiece. Its perfection in composition, balance, proportions, bas-relief's and sculpture make its one of the finest monuments in the world.
After 1432 when the capital moved to Phnom Penh, Angkor was cared by Buddhist monks. it is generally acepted that Angkor Wat was a funerary temple for the king Suryavarman II (ruled 1112-52) to honour Vishnu who the king identified with.
On the four sides of the wall, there are the bas-relief's designed for viewing from left to right in order, tell the stories of Hindu and Buddhism religion, and also about 1,600 different sculptures of celestial dancers "Apsara" on the wall of this temple.
The pyramid at the heart of the temple is built on three levels, with the famous five towers at the summit, the central spire rising 65m above the ground. Other than the topmost level of the complex, where your reward for a steep climb is a fantastic view in every direction, the most important thing to see at Angkor Wat is the gallery of remarkably detailed bas - reliefs carved into the third enclosing wall, relating tales from Hindu mythology and a military procession led by Suryavarman II.
Nothing prepares you for th emajesty of Angkor Wat, built my Suryavarman II of literate and sandstone on an expanse 1500 squre metres. The five majestic corncobshaped towers hold the eye captive, while the mind mavels at the vision of the architects who created this masterpiece of Khmer architecture.
Angkor Wat Rediscovered
The French "discovery" of Angkor in the 1860s made an international splash and created a great deal of interest in Cambodia. But 'discovery', with all the romance it implied, was something of a misnomer. For a start, as historian David Chandler points out, when French explorer Henri Mouhot first stumbled across Angkor Wat it was found to contain a 'prosperous monastery tended by more than 1000 hereditary slaves'. What is more, Portuguese travellers in the 16th century seem to have come across Angkor, referring to it as the Walled City. A 17th century Japanese polgrim even drew a detailed plan of Angkor Wat, though he mistakenly concluded he had seen it in India and not in Cambodia.
Visiting Angkor Wat
Angkor Temples served as unique venues to meet the millennium, the concert by the famous opera artist Jose Carreras, and Miss Universe 2002 Justine Paserk, have all help bring Cambodia to the international spotlight.
Cambodia attracted 786,525 international tourists in 2002. With the introduction of the "open skies" policy to Siem Reap, the number of tourist arrivals rose by 30% from 604,919 in December 2001 to 786,524 in December 2002. Some 68 percent of arrivals were by air and the remaining 32% by land or sea, with the opening of new border crossings, especially between Cambodia and Thai.
Tourists come mainly from Japan, France, the United States, China,
Thailand, Singapore, Australia, the UK and Taiwan.
International visitors arriving by air rose by 16%. Pochentong Airport welcomed 348, 313 tourists in 2002, 5% more than in 2001, while Sieam Reap Airport welcomed 13% more than a yer ago.
Who Visits Angkor Wat?
The largest number of foreign tourists visiting Cambodia in 2002 were Japanese, at 13.41% (105,545) of the total. The other largest groups were:(88,396), rench 7.98% (62,817), Thai 7.57% (59,575), Chinese 6.87% (54,045), British 6.12% (48,170), Taiwanese 4.19% (33,020) and Vietnamese 4.01% (31,608).
A large percentage of tourists were visiting Cambodia for the first time (57.39% in the case of visitors to Phnom Penh, and 62.5% for visitors to Siem Reap). Some 47.63% of visitors to Phnom Penh, and 41.43% of visitors to Siem Reap, indicated they were on holiday.
The length of stay of tourists in Cambodia averages 6.8 days.
Only a small percentage of tourists visited both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap during the same stay.
Only a bout 10% of tourists who landed at Siem Reap by direct flights continued on to viit Phnom Penh. About half of those who arrived via Phnom Penh airport extended their visit to Siem Reap/Angkor.
About 10% of foregn tourists coming to Cambodia (mostly overseas Cambodians) visited Phnom Penh, Siem Reap\Angkor and other provinces during the same stay.
Top | Angkor Rediscovery | Angkor with visitors | Who visit Angkor
|
|
