Lonely Planet’s top authors and researchers all had a hand in compiling what will be issued as the Ultimate Travelist, or a similar title, this month in selected countries. The Angkor Wat complex consists of 1,000 separate temples of varying sizes which were built when the Khmer Empire was at its zenith a millennium ago.
Lonely Planet noted that Angkor resembled the Hindu vision of heaven on earth and that it still looked like a city of spires and pagodas poking up above the verdant rainforest of the region. The statement also claimed that the temples did not win by just a few votes and it was really a landslide nomination.
Angkor Wat is in good company in the tourism wish list. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef took second place and was followed by the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. The Great Wall of China and India’s Taj Mahal Temple were fourth and fifth on the table.
Lonely Planet names Angkor Wat best global tourist site
News in Asia
Lonely Planet this week labelled the Angkor Wat ruins as the ultimate global tourist site. The ancient Cambodian temple city topped the travel guide publisher’s list for a forthcoming book detailing the world’s 500 best tourism destinations.