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One of the famous aspects of Angkor Wat is the bas-relief murals carved in stone. These extend 800 meters (12,900 square feet of carvings!) around the perimeter of Angkor Wat. These images tell many stories - there are images of day-to-day life of 13th century Cambodia and images of famous battles of the era. There are two particularly interesting murals - one that tells a story of a quest for immortality and another that tells a story of heaven and hell.

In the story of the quest for immortality, a set of murals called the "Churning of the Ocean of Milk" shows a kind of tug of war between the gods and the devils, each pulling the body of a serpent in different directions. The center of the serpent is wound around a mountain in the sea, which churns the ocean during the give and take of the tug of war. From the churning of the ocean came the elixir of life.

In the story of heaven and hell, the murals show scenes depicting 37 heavens and 32 hells. There are different punishments in hell for different sins, e.g. theft and gluttony. In heaven, there are beautiful mansions with servants. A god directs the dead to either heaven or hell.

In addition to the beautiful bas-relief galleries at Angkor Wat, there are 1500 carved images of "apsaras" - beautiful women, sometimes in a standing pose and other times dancing.

This is the left side of the "Churning of the Ocean of Milk", showing the devils pulling the end of the multi-headed serpent - a common image throughout Angkor.

This image shows the right side of the "Churning of the Ocean of Milk", with the gods pulling the tail of the serpent.

This bas relief stone mural in Angkor Wat shows the 37 heavens and 32 hells. The bottom portion shows hell, where people are tortured in ways according to their sins. In the top portion is heaven, where people live in comfort with servents that supply their every need and want.

This photo shows the inner courtyard of Angkor Wat.

These are the steps leading to the highest and innermost part of Angkor Wat. They might not look that bad, but at 70 degrees, they're very steep.

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