My Travel Experience

I and my friends visited Siem Reap in November 2012. After we arrive Siem Reap town, we took a rest a little and we have the same goal to catch the view of Bakheng Mountain to see sunset.
Phnom Bakheng located slightly to the northwest of Angkor Wat is a temple mountain constructed in the late 9th century, more than 200 years before Angkor Wat. Standing on top of a hill, this Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva was the state temple of the Angkor region during the reign of King Yasovarman.

To reach the temple, we had to hike up to the hill top. Phnom Bakheng seemed to be a very popular tourist attraction in Cambodia as there were many people hiking up with us that day.
We reached the base of the temple about thirty minutes later. I was a little shocked seeing what was in front of me. There are lot of people try to climb up on the Bakheng Temple.

Phnom Bakheng is actually a step pyramid with ascending square terraces. The steps were steep and quite challenging for us to climb. Each stone step is approximately 50 centimetres (or 1.6 foot) high and extremely narrow!

we climbed up step by step to the top of the mountain.
The hilltop was overcrowded with tourists. Looks like most tourists are obsessed with sunsets too! I learnt that because of the large number of visitors, Phnom Bakheng is now considered one of the most threatened monuments of Angkor.

This is the Hindu temple or what was left of it. There is nothing much else to see here as most of the structures were in various states of repair.

As there was nothing much to do, we waited for the sun to set. By 5:50 pm, everyone was snapping away at the setting sun. It was difficult taking a good picture. I did the best I could. I find the sunset particularly fantastic. Still, as a first timer to Bakheng mountain, I would not want to miss this for the world! It is the wonderful for me with my friend at there in my life that I never forget.

We did not wait for the sun to completely set before making our move. It would be too dark. Despite the challenges climbing up and down the steep steps, I would still highly recommend visiting Phnom Bakheng for the fun of it!