Use the links above to see more photos.

In 1177 the Chams, in a surprise attack from Tonlé Sap Lake, sacked the city of Angkor. But their victory was shortlived.

This bas-relief in one of the galleries of the Bayon celebrates the triumph of the Khmers over the Chams in a fierce naval battle under the reign of - who else? - Jayavarman VII. He then consolidated Khmer power and extended the boundaries of the Empire east into Vietnam, west into Burma, north into Laos and south as far as Malaysia. Only after his death in 1219 did the empire begin to decline.