There are dozens of temples in this area, and they each have their own merits, but most are ruined as the Angkor empire moved it's capital from here to Phnom Penh in about the 15th century, and the place was left to the elements until the French colonials discovered it in the 1860's and started to restore it.
As a result of all the efforts to save it from the forest, many of the trees that were growing on the buildings have been cleared and on some temples, there are replacement parts, slowly weathering to look the same as the originals.
First on our list for the day was Ta Prohm, the temple used in Tomb Raider, so lots of people have seen it on film at least. Have to say, although I know I have seen it, I didn't remember it at all. It is supposed to be one of the most atmospheric temples, one of the few remaining which are ruined and overgrown with trees, but the busload of Vietnamese tourists that were there at the same time really didn't help the ambience. Most of the trees have been removed except where the roots are so intertwined with the structure that to remove them would destroy the building, and those show how long the building lay fallow.
Then it was on to the next place, Bayon temple, which was the central hub of the capital city of the time, Angkor Thom. I've never seen anything quite like it, and it was my favourite of the day. In each temple, there are towers, and the towers in this one are composed of faces. 
There are four giant faces on each one, facing the four cardinal directions, i.e. N,E,S & W. The scale of the place was impressive and although it was getting hot and I was already flagging, it was well worth the time spent there. By this point it was only 11am, but we were starving, so after a stop for lunch, we then headed for Angkor Wat itself.
At this point, if anyone reading this is a die-hard Angkor Wat fan, they should stop reading, because I'm about to commit the ultimate faux pas... I wasn't blown away by it. I know that this is supposed to be the ultimate achievement of the Angkor kings, that nothing else is as big or as splendid, blah-blah-blah... but it didn't wow me. I agree it is big. It is sort of splendid in a crumbling manner of speaking. This was number 2 in my top 3 "places-to-see-before-I-die" list, so I'm really disappointed.
We trekked through the complex in the midday heat, which didn't help, and I learned a lot about the number of people it took to build it (300,000), how many elephants were used (6000), how long it took (37 years) and more besides, but not once did I feel the sense of awe that I've felt looking at other man-made wonders like Macchu Picchu or the Colosseum. So there you have it. Clearly I am an uncultured heathen. More temples tomorrow so we'll see if I feel any better about them.
The one other event of note today was that we saw the dress rehearsal for the Royal ploughing ceremony. Each year, the king leads a pair of oxen in a ploughing ceremony in order to herald the coming of the wet season.
He can delegate to a senior official, but they take their job seriously here, so it is usually the king himself. It is normally in PP, but this year it is here at Angkor, and the preparations are impressive. There is the equivalent of a county agricultural show taking place at the site as well as the ceremony, and the tents and stands are being erected at the moment, although the event is three days away. I'd like to see it, but it will be crazy busy and we'll lose most of a day with it, so i have to make do with seeing the dress rehearsal instead, hence the photo.
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