Top 10 Tourist Attractions in Cambodia

10. Tonle Sap

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The largest freshwater lake in South East Asia, is a seasonally inundated freshwater lake. that connects the lake to the Mekong. The Tonlé Sap Lake and an attached river, and that connects the lake to the Mekong. They form the central part of a complex hydrological system, situated in the 12,876 km2 Cambodian floodplain covered with a mosaic of natural and agricultural habitats that the Mekong replenishes with water and sediments annually. Tonlé Sap is home to many ethnic Vietnamese and numerous Cham communities, living in floating villages around the lake.

9. Kratie

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Kratie is a tiny town, lies on the banks of the Mekong River in northeastern Cambodia. The city is dominated by a central marketplace surrounded by old, French colonial buildings. Red flowered trees grow in rows along the riverbank. The town includes big islands with white sand beaches within the Mekong. It is the place in Cambodia to see the rare Irrawaddy dolphins, which live in the Mekong River in ever-diminishing numbers. The dolphins are the town's main tourist attraction.

8. Sihanoukville

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Sihanoukville, formerly Kompong Som is a seaside town featuring Cambodia's best-known beaches. The beaches of Sihanoukville are some of the most unspoiled in Southeast Asia, filled with lovely beaches and facilities for swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, and sunbathing. Sihanoukville is a good place to relax and unwind, tourists can enjoy the white-sand beaches and fresh air in nearby islands such as the Koh Rong Island, Koh Rong Somloem, Koh TaKiev, and the Bamboo Island.

7. Bokor Hill Station

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Bokor Hill Station refers to a collection of French colonial buildings  (hotel & casino, church, royal residence etc. ), constructed as a temperate mountain luxury resort and retreat for colonial residents in the early 1920s atop Bokor Mountain. It has since been abandoned twice, first in the 1940s when the Japanese invaded Cambodia and again in the 1970s, when the Khmer Rouge engulfed the country. Today, modern infrastructure has made the location easily accessible as re-development is taking place. It was used as the location for the final showdown of the movie City of Ghosts (2002) and the 2004 film R-Point.

6. Preah Vihear

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Preah Vihear Temple is an ancient Hindu temple built during the period of the Khmer Empire, that is situated atop a 525-metre (1,722 ft) cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, Cambodia. It has the most spectacular setting of all the temples built during the six-centuries-long Khmer Empire. Most of the temple was constructed in the 11th and 12th century during the reigns of the Khmer kings Suryavarman I and Suryavarman II. On July 7, 2008, Preah Vihear was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

5. Koh Ker

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Koh Ker is a remote archaeological site in northern Cambodia about 120 kilometres away from Siem Reap. It was the Capital of the Khmer Empire for a very brief period from the year 928 to 944 AD. In this short time; some very spectacular buildings and immense sculptures were constructed. An enormous water-tank and about forty temples, the most significant temple‑complex, is a double sanctuary (Prasat Thom/Prang), is the seven‑tiered and 36-metre (118 ft) high pyramid. A giant Garuda (mythical half-man, half-bird creature), carved into the stone blocks, still guard the very top, although its partially covered now. Only about two dozen monuments can be visited by tourists because most of the sanctuaries are hidden in the forest and the whole area is not fully demined.

4. Silver Pagoda

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Located within the Royal Palace compound in Phnom Penh. The Silver Pagoda houses many national treasures including gold and jeweled Buddha statues. Most notable is a small green crystal Buddha (the "Emerald Buddha" of Cambodia) and a life-sized gold Maitreya Buddha decorated with 9584 diamonds. During King Norodom Sihanouk's pre-Khmer Rouge reign, the Silver Pagoda was inlaid with more than 5,000 silver tiles and some of its outer facade was remodeled with Italian marble. However, only a small area of these tiles are available to be viewed by the public on entering the pagoda. The internal wall of the Silver Pagoda courtyard is decorated with a richly colored and detailed mural of the Ramayana myth, painted in 1903–04 by 40 Khmer artists.

3. Banteay Srei

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Considered by many to be the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art. Banteay Srei (or Banteay Srey) is a 10th-century Cambodian temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Located in the area of Angkor in Cambodia. Banteay Srei is built largely of red sandstone, a medium that lends itself to the elaborate decorative wall carvings which are still observable today. The buildings themselves are miniature in scale, unusually so when measured by the standards of Angkorian construction. Banteay Srei is the only major temple at Angkor not built for a king, instead it was constructed by a brahman, who may have been a tutor to Jayavarman V.

2. Bayon Temple

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The Bayon is a well-known and richly decorated Khmer temple at Angkor in Cambodia. Built in the late 12th or early 13th century as the official state temple of the Mahayana Buddhist King Jayavarman VII, the Bayon stands at the centre of Jayavarman's capital, Angkor Thom. The Bayon's most distinctive feature is the multitude of serene and smiling stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak. The temple is known also for two impressive sets of bas-reliefs, which present an unusual combination of mythological, historical, and mundane scenes.[wiki]

1. Angkor Wat

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Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. Built around the first half of 12th century by King Suryavarman II, the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, and it is one of the finest monuments in the world. Angkor Wat is the country's prime attraction for visitors.