SHOPPING and sightseeing are not the main reasons that drive thousands of visitors to Angkor Wat at Siem Reap in Cambodia.

This complex of temples used to be the center of religion, politics and social life of what was then known as the Khmer Empire, some 800 to 1,200 years ago. Within these temple strongholds, the Khmer lived and mingled and worshipped their gods and goddesses.

Angkor Wat is said to be the world?s largest religious building, a source of amazement for Asians, who now take pride in and visit what their newly emerging neighbor has to offer. The Chinese, who come in droves, the Vietnamese, the Thais and some Filipinos are among millions of tourists from all over the world who have visited the temples that are said to be but fragile skeletons of the old Khmer empire that spanned most of Southeast Asia.

The main temple?s walls are covered with 800-meter long bas-relief depicting, among others, battle scenes from the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Unlike temples in India that are tightly guarded and protected by the military and cameras and photography are strictly banned, Angkor Wat temples have no guards, and people are free to take photographs and touch the walls, as least as of early March this year when I visited the place.

Next to Angkor Wat, the main temple, are other temples and ruins that are equally impressive. They include Bayon, with huge faces carved in stone that are looking into the jungle; Ta Prohm, known for temple ruins now embraced by huge roots of centuries-old trees and made famous by Angelina Jolie in the movie ?Tomb Raider?; and the Bakheng Temple found on a hill called Bakheng, where tourists flock to experience the breathtaking sunset from atop the temple ruins. And hundredsmore.

Visitors to Siem Reap have to line up to get a pass at the temple complex entrance for a fee. They can opt to watch the sunset from here, or clamber up steep, uneven and narrow steps to get to the highest point of the temple. It is only close to the top when one comes upon the warning sign, ?Climb at your own risk.? By then, it?s too late, so you take that as a warning for the even more difficult route going down. People say that those steps were deliberately constructed to be so hazardous that visitors would have to be bent over and not facing the altar as they reached the top. By the time climbers make it back to ground level, it gets so dark one would need a flashlight.

At dawn on the second day, I went to Angkor Wat to wait for the sunrise. Most of the tourists line up a wall surrounding the temple and meditate while waiting for the sun to rise beneath the whole expanse.

Depending on your interest, each temple would take two hours to a day to reach, and then explore and appreciate. Going back a thousand years and absorbing an ambience filled with memories of a golden age may be your cup of tea. Or, you may just want to sit down under a huge tree and relish the sweet mangoes, pineapples or bananas offered by local vendors after hours of walking and clambering up uneven steps.

At the end of a tiring day, you?re ready for Pub Street at the center of Siem Reap, where massage parlors and fish spas are waiting to relieve you of the fatigue.

At the outskirts of Angkor Wat, most noticeable are the number of legless people who announce their condition with a poster appealing for help and urging visitors to buy their products. After the destruction that the war for the liberation against imperialism has wrought on the Cambodian people, the throng of visitors to Angkor Wat seems to be the best thing that has happened to this country.

History books and tour guides will surely help, but you might want to get tour assistance through a tuktuk (local pedicab) driver, like I did. He can fetch you at the Siem Reap International Airport and bring you to a guest house in the city, and later on a tour of the different temples. The service includes orienting you about each place, advice on what to bring in terms of food and drinks, and even lending out his camera when your camera?s memory card runs out.

My guide knew exactly how long it would take to tour a temple, and was there when it was time for me to leave and go to the next site. He also brought me to the market for souvenir items, dining places and recreation areas, and ferried me to the bus station when it was time to me to leave for another city. ?