Any experienced Angor Wat tourists?

Parent Cafe
1

I’m finding myself in the unexpected position of being able to consider some vacation trips to Asia in the next year. Probably traveling solo. I’m quite experienced with European solo travel (and love it - both the Europe and the solo bit), but have not traveled to more developing countries like Cambodia.

I wondered if anyone has stories or advice they could share? If I do this alone, my sole aim would be Angor Wat and whatever other cities are best for air and ground travel to Siem Reap.

I have never taken a group tour, but would be very interested in one for this venture. Can someone recommend a tour company they liked? Other than plenty of time in Siem Reap, I don’t particularly care where else the tour travels. It would all be new and different and fascinating for me, I’m more interested in a group tour that doesn’t keep the group running from before dawn till late into the evening, fewer rather than many destinaions.

I am a regular Tripadvisor reader, but I thought I’d ask here . CCers are such an interesting bunch and the perspectives and experience is often better for my purposes than on Tripadvisor.

2

Angkor Wat is an amazing place! We booked a 2 day tour with a private tour guide so that we were sure to be able to see and do everything we were interested in at our own pace. H is very into photography and that allowed him to be able to get the shots he wanted without being hustled about with a larger group. It also gave me and the kids the opportunity to explore more while he was doing his thing. You absolutely must do the sunrise view of Angkor Wat. They take you out super early and you wait in the dark for sunrise. It was the most spectacular view of stars that I’ve ever seen. Cambodia has beautiful night skies. Then seeing the sunrise over Angkor Wat was just gorgeous.

There are lots of ruins in Siem Reap and it’s quite interesting to see how different they are from one another. Another favorite memory is the children in Cambodia. They truly are beautiful. We bought more than our fair share of trinkets and all the kids were just delightful.

Good luck planning your Asia trip - sounds like fun!

3

My friend has visited a couple times and was just there recently. She and her H love it there. They traveled on their own, though, so I don’t have any tour groups I can recommend. If you don’t get much help here, do check out Tripadvisor … they have so much great info, and if you post there you are sure to get responses.

4

We travelled to Combodia with our kids with a private guide and combined it with Thailand and Vietnam ( a 3 week trip). Great trip. As far as group travel, try Asia Transpacific Journeys. We have travelled with them on a group trip to Papua New Guinea. They do a very good job with private or group travel. As their name says they are an American company that specializes in Asia travel. They are not budget ( but not over the top - you usually get what you pay for) and very well known in the industry.

5

Whoops - Cambodia (sp)

6

It’s been 6 years since I visited Angkor Wat. Absolutely fabulous! I don’t think I’ve ever taken more photos on a trip anywhere else in the world. :slight_smile:

GUIDE BOOK
In addition to a standard guidebook, pick up a copy of this book:
Ancient Angkor, by Michael Freeman
http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Angkor-Michael-Freeman/dp/0834804263
If you can’t get a copy of it in the States, no worries. This book is available everywhere in Siem Reap-- the hawkers at the temple sites will be waving copies of it to buy. The book has beautiful photos of the temples, suggested itineraries, along w tips on the best time of day to visit. It’ll be very useful to have on the trip and will double as beautiful coffee table book after the trip. FYI, the version of the book I have has a different cover than the one shown on Amazon.

WHAT TO SEE
Besides the obvious temples, it is well worth the effort to see a smaller site: Banteay Srei, a very compact and exceptionally well preserved and beautiful site. Banteay Srei is mentioned in all the guidebooks, but it’s just a bit of a ride to get to it. When we visited it, there was a tour group with nutty women struggling to walk around in high-heeled shoes (hello? it’s an archeological site!). I can’t stress enough the need to wear comfortable shoes. Bring a hat.

WHEN TO GO
Angkor offers a very different attraction in the monsoon season (“winter” months). Yes, it’s rainy, but what’s unique is that the Tonle Sap River (spelling?) reverses flow and forms a huge inland lake that floods the rural villages and turns them into a “floating” village. There are tours to take visitors to see this cultural spectacle.

If you go in the hot summer months, I suggest you visit the temple sites early in the morning, come back to the hotel/town for a swim or siesta, then return to the temple sites in the late afternoon when it’s cooler and the low angle light is great for photos. We visited in the summer. But we have friends who did the winter rainy season and found the floating villages to be very interesting.

MONEY
Some practical money considerations. I recommend only exchanging a minimal amount of cash to Cambodian currency. We made the mistake tof exchanging 100 USD and ended up with a stack of local currency about 4 inches high. The ATMs there dispense USD, and you can pay in USD for practically everything. The local currency is useful for very inexpensive purchases and making change less than 1 USD.

THE TOWN
The town of Siem Reap is fun. We enjoyed eating at the Red Piano and at the Dead Fish. The tourists who visit are culturally minded-- you don’t get the drunken Aussie trailor-trash beach crowd you find in Bali (I love Bali, too, as long as it’s not Kuta Beach).

SOUVENIRS
A nice locally produced item to buy is silk textiles. Bootleg copies of other Cambodia-topic books can be cheaply purchased. I bought some interesting history books.

WHAT ELSE TO DO
There are some super high-end diversions offered: balloon rides, helicopter rides (we didn’t do these because we were leery about the safety standards of the operators), and evening concert/cultural performances right at Angkor Wat.

LOGISTICS
We did the trip independently and simply hired a driver.

FLIGHTS
There are no non-stop flight from the States to Siem Reap, so you will have to transit thru somewhere. Here are some options for carriers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siem_Reap_International_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations
We did a few days in Bangkok and flew via Bangkok Airways. If you need tips on Bangkok, I can help w that, as I visit quite frequently.

Again, it’s been 6 years since I’ve visited, so things may have changed.

7

The easiest way to see the Angor Wat ruins is to hire a private driver. Many are English speaking tour guides as well. Any reputable hotel will be able to set you up.

The area is quite large and it would be difficult to do without a driver or a bicycle and lot’s of stamina.
It’s best if you have a map or have consulted a tour book prior to getting to the site, since you’ll be able to determine where you want to go and be able to direct your driver as to your preferences.
Then the driver will drive you out to the entry of the ruins, wait while you purchase your ticket (one-day, or multi-day) and ask you which of the ruins you want to see first.

Some sites are much more popular than others. Depending on when you go, be prepared for crowds.
The driver will take you to one of the sites, then wait in the car for you to return – or if the exit is not the same place as the entrance, he’ll meet you where as you’re leaving.
You can take as long or as short as you want to. The drivers are paid by the day, so you can do as many or as few of the sites as you want.

When my kids and I went, we did the sunrise and self-toured several sites until about 11:00 am, when we went back to our hostel for lunch and to get out from the heat of the day. Our driver picked us up again and we returned in the late afternoon and were there for sunset. We then did the same thing the following day. One of our favorite photo’s was of the army of Toyota Camry’s waiting for their fares to return.

Getting there, we drove overland from Bangkok in a taxi to the boarder, walked across the boarder, then had a taxi meet us just outside of the US Visa office. I had arranged for and paid for our visa’s online while still in the US. We then drove in another comfortable Camry taxi, arranged for in advance by our Siem Reap hostel.

There is a small but comfortable airport in Siem Reap, with regular flights to and from Bangkok, but they can be expensive.

Hotel/hostel accommodations are plentiful these days. Try to stay near the Old market or by the river. Note that the larger, newly built places are rather sterile and charmless.

Have a great time.

8

For the cost & hassle factor involved in this, I would just fly.

9

You can do tours – but it’s really easy to do it on your own, too. Cambodians have been taking tourists through Angkor Wat for decades. They have it down to a science. It’s totally doable with little or no advance planning.

I was just there (in October.) We flew in to Siem Reap, and booked all our tours through the hotel. (It was a small, locally-owned place, not a huge western-style hotel.) Super easy, many options, competitively priced. We opted for getting a tuk tuk rickshaw to take us to the sites, but no guide. (We had books with us.) The rickshaw had a cooler with bottled water – you’ll need it: it gets hot! The driver took us to each site, located it for us on our map so we’d know where we were, and let us explore at our leisure while he napped in the shade. Once we were done, we’d hop back into the rickshaw and went to the next place. Some of these sites are far from one another, and it’s very pleasant to just kick back and take in the scenery (and hopefully the breeze) as you scoot from site to site. I personally thought this was better than a bus tour: more intimate, nice to be outside. We explored the area for 2 1/2 days, spending the rest of the time in Siem Reap - a very pleasant town small enough to give you a sense of Cambodia and large enough to offer all the necessary amenities.

Rice paper rubbings of Angor Wat bas relief that are sold at Siem Reap make great, and inexpensive, gifts. There’s also a lot of silk to buy, in varying degrees of quality (and price.) I would recommend doing something outside of the city as well - maybe go visit some of the floating islands nearby. (This too you can easily arrange through your hotel.)

Enjoy. If you haven’t been to Asia, prepare to be blown away (in a good way!) And if you’ve been to Asia but not Cambodia, prepare to be charmed. It’s quickly becoming a favorite destination not just because of its incredible sites and low prices - but also because of its warm and very gracious people.

10

I’m afraid of bugs. Nobody discuses bugs. My kids and I must have sweet meat. Even in Hawaii, we still get bitten quite a bit.

11

I get bitten too, but somehow forgot whether it was an issue in Angkor Wat. I either bathed myself in DEET or repressed the bites, the way people repress, say, labor pains :slight_smile:

12

Besides some local souvenirs in Siem Reap, I would save all shopping for Thailand, better quality.
I suggest besides Cambodia, you can also go to Vietnam, Thailand and to gain another perspective of Asia, Singapore.

13

Laos is nearby and another great place to visit. I found it to be a hidden gem. A little further away is Kuala Lumpur. Big city, spectacular food, and lots to do.

Now, a trip to Cambodia would not be complete without a tour of Phnom Penh and the “Killing Fields”. I found that tour to be more memorable than Angkor Wat. I traveled to Cambodia and Laos alone and hired my private guides at the last moment. If I remembered correctly, I used Toursbylocal or Grayline to book my tour guide. Nothing beats a private guide who is very knowledgeable.

If you go between January and April, all of these places get very hot. Wear appropriate clothing and hats. I wasn’t prepared the first time and quickly suffered from dehydration. I think the heat kept the bugs away because I never had an issue with bugs at any point.

Also check the WHO recommendation for Cambodia. For some reason I remember taking malaria prophylaxis.

14

I thought Jan to April is cool for that area.

15

Wow! How wonderful to return to CC after a busy day and see all the very specific advice and encouragement! This is definitely something I will pursue as a solo trip if I can’t interest a family member in traveling with me. Sounds quite doable and I prefer not to be tied to a group schedule. The suggestions of other destinations are also wetting my appettite. Thank you all.

16

My DD was there a year ago. She said it was fabulous no she would return. She and her friend hired a driver for the two or three days they went to Angkor Wat. She said it was not costly at all, and was well worth the money.

17

If u have not visited Asia before, I recommend also visiting or at least transiting thru a rich, developed asian country, lest u leave w the unbalanced impression that asia is charming but poor & undeveloped.

DragonAir (low cost arm of Cathay Pacific) flies from HKG, and Jetstar (low cost arm of Qantas) flies from SIN. There are non-stop flights to HKG & SIN from the US. Jetstar is really inexpensive but may have to be booked directly from its own website (like Southwest Airlines). I have flown both frequently. Both airlines are well run & have good safety records.

Now that @DrGoogle mentions it, there were definitely bugs. What was handy to bring was small, spay vials of high percentage DEET repellent. U can find them in the hunting/fishing section of Walmart. The vials are compact (about the width of a finger).

18

A higher percentage of DEET isn’t more effective than say 30%.

Consumer Reports Health says that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has judged DEET to be safe when used as directed, but that it has caused rare toxic reactions when not used as instructed. The EPA also says DEET shouldn’t be applied to babies less than 2 months old.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has advised against using repellents with DEET concentrations higher than 30% on any kids. And Consumer Reports Health says no one should use a repellent with more than 30% DEET.

http://health.state.tn.us/ceds/wnv/repellent.htm

19

We were just in Siem Reap in April of this year. We did Vietnam for 10 days and then Angkor Wat for 4 days. Very easy to get flights from either Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi direct to Siem Reap.

First - do NOT skimp on time. There is SO much to see in Angkor Wat that you could easily spend a week.

Second - do NOT go during a national holiday - the crowds that came to Siem Reap at that time were huge. It was fun and interesting to see…but the temples would have been better with less people around snapping selfies.

Third - The book you absolutely MUST have is Dawn Rooney’s book Cambodia’s Wondrous Khmer Temples (available on Amazon.) It is a STEP BY STEP guidebook. We used her book and avoided hiring a guide all together. It was BRILLIANT.

Do not miss the museum in Siem Reap - really great.

I would go back in a heartbeat to spend more time exploring Angkor Wat and to see some of the temples that were a little farther out.

20

Thanks again, can I leave now??? I love Singapore, first visit completed in May 2015 with a definite must return. Trip planned to Hong Kong in August. So, I am looking to maximize those Asia Miles! I think either location for a jumping off spot to Cambodia would be fine. I appreciate the book recommedations. My one regret on my Singapore touring was that I hadn’t done more research on the various temples I visited. I’m the kind of traveler that likes to be a bit familiar with the cultures and histories of a location. Singapore excursion came up out of no where and was booked and executed before I could do much more than read Tripadvisor. I want to learn about Angor Wat so I can really appreciate. Also, thanks for the mosquito reminders. My next door neighbor was the first West Nile vicitm hospitalized in our state a number of years back when the virus arrived in the US. I take those diseases seriously - wouldn’t have thought about a hunting shop for better bug repellents.