Siem Reap
— — the town that wakes before the temples.
Not only on a wall.
“A river town in the flat country north of the Tonle Sap, settled long before the Khmer kings raised Angkor and still defined by the temple complex six kilometres up the road. Wooden shophouses line the Siem Reap River. Tuk-tuks leave at four in the morning for the western causeway. By midday the heat sits heavy and the cafés fill again. *from the studio*
Siem Reap, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Siem Reap lies in the flat alluvial plain of northwestern Cambodia, about 18 metres above sea level and roughly 15 kilometres north of the Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. The Siem Reap River runs south through the town centre on its way to the lake. The provincial capital holds a population near 245,000 and serves as the gateway to Angkor Archaeological Park, which begins about six kilometres to the north. The town's name translates roughly as 'defeat of Siam,' referring to a 17th-century battle.
Angkor Archaeological Park, listed by UNESCO in 1992, covers more than 400 square kilometres of temples, baray reservoirs, and the remains of the medieval Khmer capital. Angkor Wat itself, built by Suryavarman II between roughly 1113 and 1150, is the largest religious monument in the world by land area. Bayon, Ta Prohm, and Banteay Srei lie within the same park. The temple sandstone was quarried from Phnom Kulen, 40 kilometres to the northeast, and floated down on canals carved by the engineers of the empire.
The classic Angkor visit begins before dawn, with travellers crossing the western causeway in the dark to watch the towers of Angkor Wat rise against a pale sky. The temple faces west, which is unusual for Khmer architecture and aligns with the equinox sunrises behind the central tower. November through February holds the cool dry season, with morning temperatures near 22°C. By March the heat builds toward the May monsoon, which keeps the moat full into the autumn.