Siem Reap: 2-Day Temple Highlights Sunrise and Sunset Option

Day 1: Pre Rub, Neak Pean, Preah Khan, Banteay Srei, and Bakheng Temple Today we visit the most interesting temples outside Angkor Thom city. You begin with first stop at Pre Rup Hindu temple built as the state temple of Khmer king Rajendravarman and dedicated in 961 or early 962. It is a temple mountain of combined brick, laterite and sandstone construction. Continue a drive for the intricately carved and well-preserved Banteay Srei. The detailed reliefs on this smaller sandstone structure are regarded as the finest, most skillfully crafted in Cambodia. Banteay Srei has only been accessible since the late 1990s, when the Khmer Rouge left the area. Return your journey back and visit Neak Pean temples, an artificial island with a Buddhist temple on a circular island in Jayatataka Baray and continue your afternoon to Preah Khan temple, a ruined but highly atmospheric mélange of tree roots and crumbling stone structures. Construction of this site was commissioned by the great 'temple builder' Jayavaraman VII (in honor of his father) and a visit to this smaller site makes for an interesting contrast with the more imposing Angkor Wat. Preah Khan is currently being restored by the World Monument Fund and in places is in remarkably good condition. On the way back, enjoy a brief stop and discoveries with an ascent for sunset at Bakheng mountain temple. Late afternoon return to town after a memorable day exploration. Day 2: Angkor Wat at sunrise, Ta Nei & Ta Prohm Temple, Angkor Thom Bayon  Begin with a pre-dawn departure for sunrise outside of Angkor Wat. Enter the great temple in darkness (please bring a torch) from the little-visited eastern side, and creep along hoary cloistered corridors past the longest stretch of bas-relief carvings in the world. End your tour at Angkor with breakfast outside the temple. Continue by moving on to the jungle-enveloped Ta Prohm – one of the most atmospheric of all temples in Angkor. Once home to 2,740 monks, Ta Prohm today looks much as it did in the early 1850s, when French explorer Henri Mouhot ‘rediscovered’ this crumbling site. Move to drive to Ta Nei, a late 12th Century stone temple located in Angkor. Visit the southern Gate of Angkor Thom, flanked by a row of 54 stone figures on each side - gods to the left and demons to the right – and the fortified city of Angkor Thom. At ‘The Bayon’, you will see its beautifully crafted central towers, covered in more than 200 enormous faces, then explore the famous Terrace of the Leper King and the Terrace of Elephants.