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The fortified city of Angkor Thom, more than 10 square kilometres in size, was built by Jayavarum VII in the 12th century over a 40 year period. The sheer scale of the city dwarf nearby Angkor Wat which is a little under one fifth the size.

The city has five monumental gates, each topped with a four headed image of Avalokitesvera, and each with a different purpose, such as Victory gate which was used by soldiers departing for war.

At the centre of the city is The Bayon - a temple we visited numerous times to see the effect of morning and afternoon light.

Nearby is the Terrace of Elephants, a 350m long wall from which the King would watch his armies parade. The wall is decorated with giant Garudas (half eagle, half human figures) which were pitched opponents of the water serpents (called Naga).

Next to this is the Terrace of the Leper King - a platform 7m high upon which is mounted a nude statue of Shiva (probably) - saucy!  This structure was built over the top of an earlier work - a hidden corridor containing hundreds of seated Apsaras (dancing girls). The fact that this corridor was covered and only recently discovered means that these carvings are still very distinct and show up the minute differences in style between the numerous stone masons.

The heat of the day, and the endless baying of food stalls and postcard sellers eventually wore us down - while they are banned from selling within the temple boundaries, its impossible to escape them as you exit to find your moto driver, and on this day our drivers had gone AWOL meaning a march up and down the main stretch of tourist stalls. Finding them, we beat a rapid retreat to the tree shaded Ta Prohm.

Just on the outskirts of the city is Phnom Bakheng, a hilltop temple that becomes a circus at sunset - hundreds of people climb a steep, dusty and tree root laced route to the top to view the sun setting over Angkor Wat some 2km away. The actual sunset we watched was not so impressive, but the spectacle of people arriving and leaving was well worth the hike.

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