The main entrance of Angkor Wat has a magnificent arch that goes over the street. Either side of the street are lined by statues - some with faces and some with heads or faces chopped off.

There is a long walkway leading up to the main temple at Angkor. You pass through an outer set of temples into a large courtyard that surrounds the main area. There are statues of Buddhist and Hindu gods and goddesses throughout, since the temples were built by Buddhists, but taken over by Hindus hundreds of years later.

You have to be careful in speaking to one of the fellows hanging around in the temples, because they'll walk up to you and act like they are just being friendly and want to tell you about a statue, then they'll want ten bucks for a three minute conversation.

There are hundreds of Japanese and Korean tourists here making pilgrimages to the largest of Buddhist shrines. Buddhists take sabbaticals from their jobs, shave their heads, and spend their time tending to the many shrines to Buddha. You can buy incense from them for about 500 Dong, which is about a nickel, then you bow three times and place the lit incense into a large holder in front of the statue.

There is a corridor going all the way around the main temple area and a carved mural depicting holy wars going all the way around the inside wall of the corridor. There are elephants, warriors, kings and slaves depicted in the many stories along the wall.

When the Khmer Rouge took power they helped themselves to the statues and relics of the Angkor Wat temples. They chopped off heads and chopped out whole statues from the walls of the temple and sold them to dealers in Thailand.

After the Khmer Rouge were driven out, the landmines had to be removed. There are no landmines along the main paths of the ruins anymore, but don't stray too far off of the beaten path.