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I allways get the feeling that this statue
is in meditative slumber and going to wake up
at any minute ...

Bayon is the state temple of King Jayavarman the 7th. It lies in the center of a huge walled enclosure - Angkor Thom i.e. Angkor "The Great",
the last Imperial Capital of the Khmer Empire. Unlike previous kings Jayavarman was a Mahayana Buddhist and Bayon is one of the most complicated temples to wonder through.

The faces are believed to be portraits of the King in deep meditation depicting Lokeshvara - The Boddhisatva of compassion and merci ...
The temple sees huge amounts of tour groups nowadays ... Best time to visit and photograph are very early morning or late afternoon.

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A less conventional explanation for these faces:
Jaya was an absolute Tyrant in an age with no media,newspapers,tv etc... By depicting his all knowing face over the gateways of the cities he was actually telling the people that he constantly is hovering overthem and they can't hide anything from him ...