Along the Royal Roads to Angkor

Along the Royal Roads to Angkor by Yoshiaki Ishizawa.. Photographed by Hitoshi Tamura

From the ninth to the fifteenth century, the Angkor Empire was the greatest civilization in Southeast Asia, reaching from the coast of Vietnam to Myanmar, from southern Laos down to the Malay Peninsula. At the heart of this great kingdom ruled by god-kings rose the magnificent towers of Angkor Wat and the nearby capital city of Angkor Thom. The rulers of Angkor were great builders and engineers. They fed their people with a sophisticated irrigation system that made the Cambodian plains green year-round, and they built a network of roads connecting the capital to all the major outlying cities. Along the Royal Roads of Angkor is a photographic journey following those royal roads, featuring 165 stunning images of the many beautiful Angkor-period temples and monuments in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. Photographer Hitoshi Tamura has also captured scenes along the road recording the contemporary lives of the descendants of the Khmers, Chams, Thais, and Mon and Qoi peoples of ancient Angkor. An informative text by Yoshiaki Ishizawa treats the rise and fall of the empire, and the achievements of its rulers, and discusses the important temples and other buildings in detail.