Ruins fascinate a great many people. We stump up hefty sums to fly halfway around the world and marvel at the achievements and mysteries of defunct civilizations, snapping photos and saying "Gosh, isn't that something?", as we shake our heads in disbelief that there were people before us who were capable of producing structures that would present a serious and even insurmountable challenge to modern architects and engineers. We stand humbled.

Though it may seem strange that anyone would wish to spend a vacation steeped in a feeling of profound humility, the booming popularity of the ruins of Angkor in Cambodia are testament to that fact.

Nothing can prepare you for the impact when you first clap eyes on Angkor Wat. It is a massive square structure covering 500 acres, and as you get closer, it only gets bigger. This mind-numbing collection of massive stone temples, built between the 9th and 13th centuries, was rediscovered by French explorers in the Cambodian jungle in the 1860s. This short yet comprehensive travel program will take you to marvel at the grandeur of Angkor Wat, the walled city of Angkor Thom as well as other religious sites around the town of Siem Reap.