Angkor, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 4-day tour

As an ancient civilization with a long history, Cambodia established a unified kingdom as early as the first century AD. Beginning in the 1970s, Cambodia experienced a long war. In 1993, with the successive establishment of national authorities and the realization of national reconciliation, Cambodia entered a new period of peace and development.

Here is a typical Khmer architecture, the Royal Palace of Phnom Penh, which is the shrine of rituals and Buddhas of the previous kingdoms; you can experience the most unique local customs and lifestyle on the characteristic cruise of the Mekong River; Angkor Wat, one of the seven wonders of the world, Worth a visit.

Phnom Penh - Siem Reap, DAY 1

Phnom Penh City Tour: The Independence Monument is commemorated on November 9, 1953, when Cambodia broke away from French colonial rule and gained complete independence. It is located at the intersection of Norodom Avenue and Sihanoukville Avenue, in the center of Independence Square. Designed by the famous Cambodian designer Van Moniwang, the monument was completed in March 1958. It is 37 meters high and has 7 floors. There are 100 seven-headed snake gods (Cambodia's cultural symbol) on it. Bud-shaped, beautiful and spectacular. Every year on National Day, the King of Cambodia or his representative will hold a grand celebration here, which is very memorable.

Later, I visited the bronze statue of Sihanoukville. The Cambodian government built this bronze statue of the King Sihanoukville to make the Cambodian people remember the great monarch for generations and continue to work hard to build Cambodia . The Chairman of the Sihanouk Bronze Statue Construction Committee and Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia, So An, stated that the construction of the bronze statue began on February 20, 2013 and was completed on October 8. The pagoda containing the bronze statue was 27 meters high and the bronze statue was 4.5 Meter.

The Royal Palace of Phnom Penh, also known as the Grand Palace of the Four Arms, is named after the intersection of the Mekong, Tonle Sap, and Basa rivers. It was built by King Norodom from 1866-1870, and is full of Khmer traditional architectural style and religious color . Phnom Penh Royal Palace is the palace of the King of Cambodia. It consists of a group of buildings surrounded by golden roofs and yellow walls. Including more than 20 large and small palaces such as Chaya Hall, Golden Hall, Silver Hall, Dance Music Hall, and Treasure Hall, the palaces all have minarets, representing prosperity; the halls are mainly yellow and white, yellow represents Buddhism, and white represents Brahmanism . Then head to Siem Reap, another famous tourist city.

Siem Reap - Little Angkor - Big Angkor - Siem Reap, DAY 2

Drive to Little Angkor. Little Angkor is one of the most famous sights in the Angkor historical sites and the best-preserved building among them. Angkor Wat in the narrow sense refers to this place. It is generally believed that Angkor Wat is the largest religious building in the world. It is not only large in scale, perfectly symmetrical in shape, but also exquisitely embossed. It reflects the peak of Khmer classical architectural art and is printed on the national flag as a Cambodian symbol. 

Big Angkor, also known as Tongwang City and Angkor City, was the last capital of the Khmer Empire. It was repeatedly destroyed by war and rebuilt several times. It is the heart of Angkor's historic sites and its population reached millions in its heyday. Today, the moat bridges, gates of the ancient city, and the ruins of Bayon Temple, Bapang Temple, and Air Palace in the city are the main highlights of the tour. The entire Tongwang City is square, with a wall of 14 kilometers in circumference and surrounded by a moat up to 100 meters wide. There are five gates in the city, and there are four-sided Buddha statues facing the Quartet. There is also a bridge across the moat outside the gate.

Bayon Temple is the center of Tongwang City (Big Angkor) and its most important part. It was built at the end of the 12th century and was a temple built by King Jayavarman VII for himself. Here you can find not only the famous Khmer smile, but also the rich and vivid reliefs on the corridor. Many people choose to watch the sunrise at Bayon Temple in the morning. In fact, Bayon Temple is also worth visiting in the evening. Not only can you appreciate its relatively quiet side, it is also good to see the sunset. 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, and large and small stupas are erected.

The elephant tower is also called the war elephant stage. It is a place for celebrations and a king's ceremonial stage. The long platform extends to the king king's platform and has a relief of more than 300 meters. The most famous is that the platform consists of three heads. Elephant stone guards, three elephant trunks pick lotus from the ground. The appearance of the observatory is mainly decorated with thick-skinned animals such as elephants, rhinos, hippos, and so on. The ancient king of Angkor stood on the elephant platform for review and held various public ceremonies. Horse teams, convoys and elephant teams walked on the square.

The Zodiac Pagoda is also called the Temple of the Twelve Pagodas. It is located in the city of Tongwang and has twelve small towers. It is called a zodiac sign because different animals are carved on each tower, similar to the Chinese zodiac sign. Enter from the Shengli Gate north of the east gate of Tongwang City, and walk along the road to the front of the war elephant stairs. In the bush opposite it is the Zodiac Tower. You can take a look after the tour of the Elephant Stairs. Twelve red clay ancient towers lined up in a row, with abstract shapes, have gone through stormy years.

The original name of the aerial palace is Jinjiaoshan, located in Tongwang City, northwest of Bayon Temple. It is a temple in the Angkor Palace. It was originally a Shiva temple and was later converted into a Sumi-style Hindu temple. It was the tallest building in Tongwang City at that time, and it is also the only relatively complete building in the Royal Palace. Standing on it has a good view and gives people a feeling of being in the air.

Baben Temple is located in the northwestern area of ??Greater Angkor Thom. This huge temple hill was built in 1060. Udayadityavarman Ⅱ is dedicated to the Shiva and was built in the national capital Yasodharapura. According to records, this tower is taller than the Golden Pagoda (Bayon Temple), with more than 10 inner rooms built on the ground floor.

Ta Prohm Temple, located to the east of Angkor Wat, was built in 1186 by King Khmer King Yayavarman VII in honor of his mother, so it is also called the mother temple. It was built of large stones. It used to be a temple with monks, priests, and dancers. It has the dual functions of a temple and a monastery, but it was invaded by wanton growing tropical trees over time, like python-like tree roots. It was full of temples and penetrated into the building, causing the internal stone towers and surrounding walls to collapse. The originally regular building became a labyrinth due to the interlacing of gravel and plants.

Siem Reap, DAY 3

The Darongshu Folk Culture Village was formerly called the Darongshu Pond Village. It is said that there was a large banyan tree growing on the side of the pond. The water in the pond was very cool because there were no rivers or rivers passing through it. Therefore, the villagers of that time used to drink water daily. It all depends on this pond, but the most regrettable is that because of political and social changes and the war that has gone through several stages, this ancient village has been completely destroyed, and the pond has disappeared, so the word pond is slowly being deleted. It has fallen, and the current rural name is only Darongshu Village.

Tonle Sap Lake, also known as Phnom Penh, is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. It is connected to the Mekong River flowing through Phnom Penh through the Tonle Sap River. There are several floating villages on the lake, inhabited by a large number of Vietnamese refugees, known as Vietnamese floating villages. You can take a cruise to visit these floating villages to see the houses, churches, schools and other buildings on the water. In the evening, you can enjoy the sunset on the lake different from Angkor Wat.

Siem Reap - Phnom Penh, DAY 4

The Royal Independence Sports Garden, also known as the Lotus Garden, is a free open park located near the Angkor Museum. The park has beautiful and clean lotus flowers, with manicured flowers and towering trees, which are perfect for walking. The most amazing thing in the park is that there are bats hanging on the trees all year round, as if they are not leaving, especially in the early morning and evening, the scene of thousands of bats hovering in the air is breathtaking, and there are many large nanko trees in Angkor Wat. In the Royal Park, you can see many giant trees for more than 100 years.

The sister temple is located next to Siem Reap Royal Park in Cambodia. The temple is not very large and the incense is full of incense. In addition to locals, many foreign tourists also come to worship. Policemen maintain order at the temple entrance. There is a white elephant kneeling down in the courtyard, cast like copper or iron, which is hollow and painted with lacquer on the outside, bringing it to life. The naughty child crawled to the top of the elephant's neck to play.

King Sihanouk Palace is a temporary residence of the King of Cambodia when he came to Siem Reap. It has no royal royal style and looks comfortable and refined. It is not open to the public and can only be seen outside.