Angkor Dormitory

Enjoy some of our most favoured Day trips in Siem Reap - Cambodia, visiting some of Cambodia's most notorious sites, temples and monuments. We can also offer fully customized day trips to suit your needs depending on what your preferred desire will be, as well as when would like to go by speaking to one of our dedicated team!

Buddhism in Cambodia Buddhism in Cambodia is currently a form of Theravada Buddhism . Buddhism has existed in Cambodia since at least the 5th century, and in its earlier form was a type of Mahayana Buddhism . Theravada Buddhism has been the Cambodian state religion since the 13th century (except during the Khmer Rouge period ), and is currently estimated to be the faith of 95% of the population. The history of Buddhism in Cambodia spans a number of successive kingdoms and empires. Buddhism entered Cambodia through two different streams. The earliest forms of Buddhism, along with Hindu influences, entered the Funan kingdom with Hindu merchants. In later history, a second stream of Buddhism entered Khmer culture during the Angkor empire when Cambodia absorbed the various Buddhist traditions of the Mon kingdoms of Daravati and Haripunchai . For the first thousand years of Khmer history, Cambodia was ruled by a series of Hindu kings with an occasional Buddhist king, su...

Water Hyacinth Water hyacinth is a free-floating perennial plant that can grow to a height of 3 feet. The dark green leave blades are circular to elliptical in shape attached to a spongy, inflated petiole. Underneath the water is a thick, heavily branched, dark fibrous root system. The water hyacinth has striking light blue to violet flowers located on a terminal spike. Water hyacinth is a very aggressive invader and can form thick mats. If these mats cover the entire surface of the pond they can cause oxygen depletions and fish kills. Water hyacinths should be controlled so they do not cover the entire pond. Submerged portions of all aquatic plants provide habitats for many micro and macro invertebrates. These invertebrates in turn are used as food by fish and other wildlife species (e.g. amphibians, reptiles, ducks, etc.). After aquatic plants die, their decomposition by bacteria and fungi provides food (called “detritus” for many aquatic invertebrates. Water hyacinth has no...

Lotus: A symbol of purity The leaves of the lotus are completely dirt- and water-repellent which led to the reputation as a symbol of purity, fidelity, creativity and enlightenment. Even in mythology of the Khmer times and the kingdom of Cambodia the flower is of special importance. Numerous reliefs in Angkor show evidence of Apsara dancers on lotuses. Lotus grows wild in Cambodia and is also cultivated. Everything is suitable for consumption. Salads and vegetable dishes can be prepared from the long stems. The rhizomes are edible, but should first be blanched to kill potential pests. The seeds look like the fruit of oak trees and can be eaten raw. For this, break the seeds out of the lotus fruit and free them from their shells. They taste slightly nutty and are sold dried in western countries.

Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) north of the modern town of Siem Reap and a short distance south and slightly east of the previous capital, which was centred at Baphuon. In an area of Cambodia where there is an important group of ancient structures, it is the southernmost of Angkor's main sites. According to legend, the construction of Angkor Wat was ordered by Indra to serve as a palace for his son Precha Ket Mealea. According to the 13th-century Chinese traveler Zhou Daguan some believed that the temple was constructed in a single night by a divine architect. The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113 – c. 1150). Dedicated to Vishnu, it was built as the king's state temple and capital city. As neither the foundation stela nor any contemporary inscriptions referring to the temple have been found, its original name is unknown, but it may have been known as ...

Let’s be honest, most of your travel albums from South East Asia will be littered with pictures of monks. Their orange garments, yellow umbrellas, and dawn/dusk processions definitely make for some picturesque photo opportunities – but there is so much more to a monk’s life than being a model for your lens. Suong is a monk at Wat Piphetthearam in Battambang and came to the pagoda when he was just a young boy. “I became a monk when I was a child and at the time my mother asked me, do you want to become a monk? I asked her that if I go the pagoda can I study, and she said yes why not! My mother said f want to go to the pagoda then you can study with the monks and if you stay with me then you cannot study. When I lived with my mother we had to do a lot of work to help my mother and earn money rather than go to school. If you live in the pagoda though you can just study everything with the monks, we also get food and somewhere to live which is really good.” Many young boys choos...

Angkor Wat ( Khmer: អង្គរវត្ត or "Capital Temple") is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world, on a site measuring 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m 2 ; 402 acres). It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple of god Vishnu for the  Khmer Empire, gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century. It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yasodharapura ( យសោធរបុរៈ , present-day  Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction fo...