Angkor Thom

Tongwangcheng, also known as Great Angkor and Angkor Thom, was the last capital of the Khmer Empire. It was destroyed by war and rebuilt several times. It was the "heart" of Angkor's monuments. At its peak, it had a population of millions. Today, the moat bridge, the city gate, and the remains of the Bayon Temple, Bapuang Temple, and the Palace in the Sky are the main attractions of the tour. The entire Tongwang City is square, with a perimeter of 14 kilometers and a moat with a width of 100 meters. There are 5 city gates in the whole city, above which there are four-sided Buddha statues facing the four directions, and there is a bridge across the moat outside each gate. The south gate and the north gate are the gates for people to pass through, the east gate is used for funerals, and the west gate is for criminals. These four gates all lead to the Bayon Temple in the center of the city. The East Gate was once the filming location of the movie "Tomb Raider", and there is a "Victory Gate" on the north side of the East Gate that leads directly to the palace, which is dedicated to the king and the triumphant army. Tour guide The general way to visit Tongwang City is from the south gate. There are 27 stone statues on both sides of the moat bridge outside the gate. The stone statues are about 2.5 meters high and sit in a kneeling shape, holding the snake king "Wasuki" in his arms. This is the legend The Indian myth of "churning the sea of milk". From the south gate to the north to the center of Tongwang City, you can see the Bayon Temple, which is a magnificent and important building in the city. The top of its pagoda is the "Khmer Smile", and the reliefs on the walls of the cloister are also It is worth watching carefully, and it is recommended to spend more time visiting here. To the northwest of the Bayon Temple is the Ba Puang Temple. This common three-story platform building in Angkor used to be the center of the old royal city. The bottom floor was carved with various animal statues, but the top has collapsed. To the north of Bapuang Temple is the Palace in the Sky. Although it is called a palace, it is actually a temple in the palace. A golden pagoda was built on the top platform, but it is no longer visible. The real palace is about 200 meters northeast of the palace in the sky. Because it is a wooden structure, it no longer exists, and only the entrance remains. Not far from the original location of the palace, there are symmetrical war elephant steps and leprosy king steps. If you enter Tongwangcheng from the Victory Gate, you can see it if you walk straight ahead. The War Elephant Step is the king's reviewing stand, and it is also the place where the celebration ceremony and the elephant fighting meeting are held. The surviving giant elephant stone sculpture is its major feature. The Leprosy Steps were the site of the royal crematorium at that time, named after a genderless statue of the "Leprosy King" at the top of the platform. In addition to these well-known ruins, there are other buildings such as the Zodiac Pagoda in Tongwang City. If you have time, you may wish to visit them one by one. It takes a long time to visit Tongwangcheng in one visit. You can bring your own food to eat in the city, and then please take away the garbage. Of course, you can also enter and exit Tongwangcheng multiple times, and each time you see some scenic spots, it will be more calm.