Through the Gates of Angkor Thom, to Bayon

Angkor Thom announces itself before you even get inside. You pass through one of its massive gates, a stone face gazing down from the tower above while two rows of figures line the causeway, devas on one side and asuras on the other, each gripping the body of a serpent. Together they are churning the Ocean of Milk, the Hindu creation myth in which gods and demons set aside their rivalry and pull in opposite directions to churn out the elixir of immortality.