Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It was established in the late twelfth century by King Jayavarman VII. It covers an area of 9 km², within which are located several monuments from earlier eras as well as those established by Jayavarman and his successors. At the centre of the city is Jayavarman's state temple, the Bayon, with the other major sites clustered around the Victory Square immediately to the north.

One inscription found in the city refers to Jayavarman as the groom and the city as his bride. The most notable earlier temples within the city are the former state temple of Baphuon, and Phimeanakas, which was incorporated into the Royal Palace. The Khmers did not draw any clear distinctions between Angkor Thom and Yashodharapura: even in the fourteenth century an inscription used the earlier name. The name of Angkor Thom—great city—was in use from the 16th century. The last temple known to have been constructed in Angkor Thom was Mangalartha, which was dedicated in 1295. Thereafter the existing structures continued to be modified from time to time, but any new creations were in perishable materials and have not survived. The Ayutthaya Kingdom, led by King Borommarachathirat II, sacked Angkor Thom, forcing the Khmers under Ponhea Yat to relocate their capital southeast. Angkor Thom was abandoned some time prior to 1609, when an early western visitor wrote of an uninhabited city, "as fantastic as the Atlantis of Plato". It is believed to have sustained a population of 80,000–150,000 people.

The south gate into Angkor Thom is the best restored gate. You head north from Angkor Wat and reach the gate in a kilometre or two. My tuk tuk driver dropped me just before the bridge. Later when we left Angkor Thom via the east gate, I saw that there were very few complete sculptured heads at that gate, rather just pillars.

Bayon temple is the first temple after the south gate into Angkor Thom. Each heads face in the 4 compass directions. In many ways the unique architecture and design make Bayon my favourite, it is much more compact than Angkor Wat, which is spread out over a much greater area. Bayon is set on two major levels, the heads being on the upper level.

A short walk north west of Bayon is Baphuon temple, an older and less restored temple. It is the second largest one in Angkor Thom.

I walked from the back of Baphuon to the royal palace compound. Unforttunately this meant I walked too far past the elephant terrace and had to head back when I realized my mistake. It is easier to head back to the main road if you want to go from Baphuon to Elephant terrace, which the southern one of the Elephant and Leper terrace area.

The Elephant and Leper King terraces stretch over a kilometre, the former to the south and the latter to the north. They are on the east side of Phimeanakas, which only contains small ruins and two large rectangular pools.  It is impressive to see the great length of the terraces and hard to capture on a photo.