Angkor Watt

[Scran]

Hey

I want to go for a short trip to Angkor Watt at the end of March (I'm thinking 2 days/2 nights).

Anyone a) want to go? b) have any tips on how/where to organise this? i.e. should i book a package?

Thanks

[therat]

1. March very hot
2. No need to book package. you can arrange a tour when you are here. Hotel can help to arrange.

Angkor Watt has 1 day and 3 days pass.
If you want to visit lots of places, 3 days pass will be good.

If you just want to see Angkok Watt then get a 1 day pass.

[BigSis]

We went last year. We booked the flights and hotel separately and sorted out a driver (with the help of our hotel) when we arrived.

We went for the 1 day pass to see how it was but looking back we should probably have gone for the 3 day one and forced ourselves to go on each day because there are loads of temples there. The jungle one was the one we liked the best (I can't remember what it's called but it's the one with the trees growing all over the stones - very pictureque). Angkor isn't actually the nicest temple IMHO - just the most famous. Try and take some time to look around the others too.

Siem Reap is quite interesting - you get hassled everywhere you go for a tuk tuk or a fish spa, but it's a good town, loads of nice restaurants and cafes and cheap too compared to here. The markets are worth looking around too.

It was in March/April - a hot time of year so try and get a place with a decent pool as you will welcome it when you return each day from sightseeing.

Avoid the Golden Banana - it's not as wonderful as the websites make out (I'm sure the guy who owns it gets his friends to write good reviews of the place!).

[therat]

For the hotel, get the one in their old town.

[the lynx]

1. That depends on what you want to see and how much time you have there. If you want to see the main ones, take one day pass and hire a tuktuk to ferry you around. Start with Angkor Wat > Angkor Thom (target Bayon temple) > Ta Phrom > Bantey Sri and then back to Angkor Wat for sunset view.

2. If you wanna take your own sweet time and explore the smaller nice ones like Elephant Terrace, Leper King temple etc, take bicycle and use 3 day pass.

3. If you have an extra time, try cycling to Tonle Sap lake, the largest natural lake on South East Asia (of course you can hire a tuktuk if you don't fancy cycle about 40km in total distance to and fro.

I wouldn't recommend hiring a tour from hotel. It is very easy to navigate yourself and it has much more fun. Just grab a decent map of the temple park and also a guide book with detailed explanation on history and architecture of the wats and you are good to go. Otherwise, hire temple guide on the spot and it comes with tuktuk.

Oh by the way, I was there last September and Angkor Wat was under massive reconstruction and restoration so you will see the canvas etc which won't help with your quintessential photos but other temples are fine.

Enjoy.

[JR8]

We went in 2009, what a momentous place it is. 2D/2N can't possibly do it justice... you might consider not doing it until you can give it some more time. I think we went for 5 days which worked out about right.

We got a flight on a budget airline, arranged our own hotel (Pavillon d'Orient) that gives you a dedicated tuk-tuk driver during your stay. You can arrange visas in advance to collect at the airport, but you can also have them issued at the embassy in Orchard Towers and avoid that airport queue altogether.

[sonu_nikon]

i am interested, when you are planning to go
email me at [email protected]

[kookaburrah]

My experience:
Went for 4 days, got the three day pass. Picked the Sofitel, which has a good pool, and is quite comfortable. This turned out to be ideal: the schedule that works best is to wake up at 6am, out by 7. After 5 or six hours of heavy templing, you will find yourself completely templed-out. We retired to the pool for the afternoon, and did nothing until dinner.
Last day we did ton le sap (sp?) lake. A great experience.
I especially recommend Beng Mealea. It's a fair drive from Siem Reap, but it is totally worth it - it is run over with trees and has been left to be, unlike Ta Phrom, which got a lot of work. Wake up at five and get there early. We had an entire hour early in the morning when we were the only ones there. The effect was magnificent!