The Angkor Wat up close

It was a dream of a text message from Rita Dy, Singapore Airlines marketing and communications manager, inviting me to join other media for a discovery tour of Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore.

Momentarily caught off guard but without a moment's hesitation, I accepted the gracious offer.

Within days I received a fax with a detailed itinerary complete with other relevant information, this time from Nabil Rohman, Silkair's Manager Philippines.

A few days prior to our departure, my travel companions Nelia Neri of Sun Star Daily and Jaime Picornell of Cebu Daily News met Nabil over cups of brewed coffee. I knew without a doubt that the trip would be fun and fabulous.

We flew into Singapore after a three-hour flight which was hardly felt because of the quality of Silkair's in-flight service, a service that passengers only dream of and hope that the flight would not end so soon.

The following day at the airport, we met the rest of the group from Manila that included Ambassador Preciosa Soliven of UNESCO, Sari Yap of Lifestyle Asia, ANC's Raymond Legaspi and Daphne Oseña, Anton San Diego of the Philippine Tatler and the ever bubbly Rita Dy.

Equipped with comfortable walking shoes, camera, pen and paper we were off to our great adventure. Cambodia

Siem Reap is a cluster of old villages that stretches along the Siem Reap River which serves as the gateway to the millennium-old temple ruins of the Khmer Empire.

Designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO, the Angkor Archaelogical Park encompasses dozens of temple ruins including Banteay Kdei, Bayon and the legendary Angkor Wat whose artistic and archeological significance and visual impact put it in the same class with the Pyramids in Egypt and the Taj Majal in India.

We bounced out of town passing through quaint villages and weathered peasants working in the fields of waving paddy and then when we least expected it, the van turned a corner and there before us stood majestically - Angkor Wat.

Angkor literally means "Capital City" or "Holy City" while Khmer refers to the ethnic group in ancient and modern Cambodia. It has come to refer to the capital city of the Khmer Empire that existed in the area of Cambodia between the 9th and 12th centuries. Angkor Wat, built by the Angkor ruler Suryavarman II, is a Hindu temple. It was constructed as a royal tomb and the central sanctuary housed an image of Shiva, the god with whom the king was said to be one. Three galleries enclose the central sanctuary, rising as one approaches the center of the complex. The tallest is called the Peak of Mount Meru, the very center of the world. It was here, in this sacred place that the secret ceremony uniting the King and the god was conducted. Carvings of female deities called devatas appear throughout the temple and the galleries display scenes from the ancient Indian epic the Mahabharata, as well as other Hindu myths.

The temple is surrounded by a moat 570 feet wide and about 4 miles long. Unlike many other world class monuments, the ruins of Angkor are as yet unspoiled by progress and development. But this will not be true in a couple of years. Though the major temples are relatively well touristed, it is still possible to get away from the crowds, to explore the area and discover Angkor.

It's an experience of a lifetime. Make it happen the moment you embark on your flight with Silkair, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines voted Best Regional Airline, Asia and China by the readers of a leading travel publications . It is the fifth time that Silkair has captured this title since the category was first introduced in 1995.