These are the delicate dancing girls carved in their thousands at the Wat and the other temples at Angkor.

BBC: Millennium mayhem at Angkor Wat

Unlike other temples at Angkor, Ta Prohm has been left as it was found, preserved as an example of what a tropical forest will do to an architectural monument when the protective hands of humans are withdrawn.

UNESCO: Culture

At ancient Angkor, for example, Phnom Bakheng temple is a prime spot for sunset viewing, which results in a lot of tourists congregating, climbing on ancient sculptures and platforms, and leaving empty water and beer bottles.

BBC: Are there too many tourists?

For over 65 years, from Abu Simbel to Angkor, UNESCO has been at the forefront of world heritage rescue and protection operations.

UNESCO: Indigenous Peoples

Large-scale renovation projects have been carried out at sites like Angkor and ground-breaking case studies have been published on the effects of climate change on sites around the world.

UNESCO: Building the Wealth of Nations

Mystics, backpackers, new-age yuppies and thousands of others are expected to show up at Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat complex, which will be enshrouded in darkness for one minute 48 seconds.

CNN: HE GODS WERE DRINKING

At Ta Prohm, to the northeast of Angkor Wat, strangler figs spill like liquid over 39 temples in various stages of ruination, creating a tangle of tipsy roofs and dark hallways.

BBC: The perfect trip: Cambodia

As she guided tourists to the ancient Angkor Wat temples in Siem Reap, she saw children begging tourists for money at the temples.

CNN: Tour guide helps kids find way to school