Angkor Wat

The temples of Angkor were just as impressive as we have been led to believe. We hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day who picked up up from our hotel at 5AM. We watched the sun rise over Angkor Wat, the world's largest religious monument. We then spent the next few hours visiting the different temple complexes of Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm, as well as stopping at smaller temples along the way. Angkor Thom's highlight is Bayon- the temple has over 200 serene and massive stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak. Ta Prohm is amazing to walk through as the complex of temples has been overgrown by trees and plants.
According to recent research, Angkor was the largest pre-industrial city in the world, with the he closest rival being the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, which was between 100 and 150 square kilometers.