Backpacking south asia - Cambodia: Siem Reap and Angkor Temples
Siem Reap is the city where to stay in order to visit the famous complex of Angkor temples.
Time spent there: 4 days
Accommodation can be easily found. I was there in February with no booking and it was really easy to find a room in the center. Price was reasonable, i paid 8USD a night for a clean room with private bathroom and hot water.
The first thing i did was to go to the Angkor visiting center located a bit outside of the city to buy my 3-days pass to the temple. Although the price is quite expensive (62USD for 3 days), I do not regret it. It takes some time to visit the temples and the 3-days gives you the freedom to go around in a more peaceful way. It also allow you to spend some time in the more remote temples. Options for 1 day or 7 days are also available.
Second thing, and maybe the best idea of the stay there, was to rent a mountain bike for the all duration of my stay. The bike gives you freedom to explore at your own pace and to easily reach some remote area. You can rent more standards bikes but they would not allow you to go on some trails linking the temples, from where you can enjoy some village scenery.
Surprisingly enough, Angkor Wat was not as crowded as expected. I also have to admit that i visited it at time that are supposed to be a but more quiet. I reached Angkor Wat from the East gate around 9am, when tourist are supposed to left from sunset. I spent a good 2 hours in the temple. It is huge and really impressive. I wanted to see it since may years and was not disappointed at all. The temple is stunning and it is incredible to think about the all architecture and carvings. The all 4 walls of the complex represent history and mythology of the Khmer civilization and is perfectly preserved.
The other temples are also really impressive. I was really impressed with the All complex of the temple and the nice landscape around Angkor.
This blog is part of the series about my Backpacking trip in South East Asia.
Have a look at the other articles: