Angkor Thom was built by Cambodia's greatest builder, Jayavarman VII. This ten square kilometer city is enclosed by an eight meter high wall and encircled by a hundred meter moat said to have been inhabited by fierce crocodiles. Five twenty-meter-high gates pierce the walls, each approached via causeways flanked by fifty-four gods on the left and fifty-four demons on the right, locked in an eternal tug of war.
At the geographical heart of Angkor Thom sits the Bayon, a fifty-four-tower temple that initially looks like a shapeless mass of stone. As you get closer, you realize each tower is carved with enormous, enigmatic faces of Avalokiteshvara — over two hundred of them, gazing in every direction. The Bayon is the most popular sight after Angkor Wat itself, and for good reason.