Angkor is bigger than most visitors expect, and its scale only starts to make sense once you realise that it was a city, not a temple. The great complex north of Siem Reap, in north-western Cambodia, was the capital of the Khmer Empire from the ninth century to the fifteenth, and at its height it covered hundreds of square kilometres, with reservoirs, canals, roads and houses of wood that have long since vanished. What survives is the stone: Angkor Wat, built in the early twelfth century by King Suryavarman II as a temple to Vishnu, with its five towers, long galleries of carved relief and a moat that mirrors the sunrise, and Angkor Thom, the walled city built by Jayavarman VII, with the Bayon and its dozens of towers carved with huge, smiling faces.
The jungle played its part, too. At Ta Prohm, silk-cotton and strangler fig trees grow over the roofs and walls, their roots pouring over the stones like melted wax, and the place has a hushed, green stillness that few other sites match. The complex was listed as a World Heritage site in 1992. Sunrise at Angkor Wat draws large crowds, so go to a quieter temple at dawn, and visit the main ones at midday, when many people retreat to lunch and the heat is fierce.
For riders, the situation is changeable. A pass, bought at the ticket office, is needed for entry to the park, and rules for foreign visitors on motorcycles and scooters have changed several times in recent years, so ask locally before you hire or ride anything. The roads between the temples are flat and smooth, shaded by tall trees, and the traffic is slow, with tuk-tuks, bicycles and tour buses. The ride on to Koh Ker, the tenth-century capital far to the north-east, with its stepped pyramid, takes you out of the tourist zone onto the main road, past rice fields, palm trees and stilted houses, with good tarmac and lots of children waving.
Siem Reap, eight kilometres away, is a lively town of well over a hundred thousand people, with fuel stations, restaurants, markets and every kind of hotel, so stock up there. The best time is the cool dry season, from November to February, while the hot months of March to May can be oppressive, and the rains from June to October bring heavy showers and green rice fields. Try amok, the fish curry steamed in banana leaf, and fresh coconut water from a roadside stall.