One of the places I was lucky to visit when I lived in Asia was Angkor Wat. It is the largest religious monument in the world, often considered to be the symbol of Cambodia, and it even appears on their national flag.
You truly have to be there to realise how vast and magnificent Angkor Wat is. It’s a few kilometers outside of Siem Reap, so you need to take a tuktuk or bike to get there.
There are places in Angkor Wat where you can walk for hours and see many amazing buildings and ruins and not see another human being and of course some parts of the ruins draw lots of tourists. Take a bit of time before you kick off the exploration to work out the best routes to avoid the crowds.
Explore on your own and you can find parts that are hidden further away. Walking around these ancient temples in the middle of a rainforest without anybody else around is a once in a lifetime experience.
The area, as you would expect, has an incredible history and was a very advanced society and culture for its time. The population in the 15th century dwarfed that of London with 750,000 (London at that time only having 30,000.) You can still see the remains of the sophisticated canal system that connected the different structures and areas.
Taking pictures at Angkor Wat is not as easy as it seems. There is beauty everywhere, but ideally you want to catch the sunrise or the sunset. Since it is close to the equator, that will be maximum of 30 minutes to get the best of the day. You must make some choices: find the temple, get the right angel, try to avoid the other photographers, and pray for beautiful light. Since most people only stop by for a day or two you the opportunity for a successful shot can be quite limited and stressful.
Hopefully I have captured a bit of the beauty of Angkor Wat, so you can enjoy it without travelling to Cambodia. And hopefully you can find me in the last picture!