Visit Banteay Chhmar, Cambodia

Also known as the Palace of the Cat because of the statue of a cat that once reputedly graced the entrance.

This 12th-century temple lies in the northwest of Cambodia, a beautiful rural area seldom visited by tourists.

Constructed in the reign of Jayavarman VII at the height of the Angkor era on the site of a former temple, Banteay Chhmar remained off limits until 1999. Although not as magnificent as the main temples at Angkor it does offer a wonderful foretaste, the ruins being gradually reclaimed by the surrounding jungle.