The Angkor region was the seat of the Khmer Hindu-Buddhist empire, which began around 800 AD and fell during the 15th century. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is just a tuk-tuk ride away from Siem Reap, Cambodia. There are many temples around the area and my friend and I visited what are the most popular three. A bouncy tuk-tuk ride around to give an idea of what the area looks like:
First we visited Angkor Wat. The real wide lens shots are from a GoPro 3 Black constantly taking snapshots.
Next we visited Ta Prohm, often known as the Tomb Raider or Angelina Jolie temple.
Lastly we visited Angkor Thom.
More pics in my picasa and my buddy’s flickr.
Hi Mike,
Read ur interview with MMS today and checked out your site. Found AngKor Wat which I am hoping to visit tis Summer with my sister. I have a few qtns for u if u dont mind.
1. Hotel recommendation. Getting to and from the Airport.
2. Did you book any guide to the temples? or did u just book a tuk tuk from the hotel to take you to the Temples and back? really appreciate some recommendation on that.
3. Did you take any typhoid, hepatitis & tetanus shot before the trip?
4. Is it safe for 2 women?
Appreciate all ur recommendation and advice!
Thanks a bundle!
Ket
Great Pictures!
@ket, some of this depends on perhaps your age and your appetite for adventure…
1. my buddy and i stayed in a guesthouse downtown, we could easily walk to pub street. some of the guests were pretty normal, but some of them were pretty “interesting” if you hung out in the lounge/porch area at night. would i tell my sister to consider staying here? sure. would i tell my mom? absolutely not. there are nicer boutiquey hotels available there, but they are not walking distance to the core siem reap by pub street and all. a nice hotel that was right down there in the city that my buddy and i walked by plenty was the park hyatt. in fact gary from view from the wing stayed there – http://boardingarea.com/viewfromthewing/2014/03/20/vietnam-cambodia-macau-hong-kong-trip-report-park-hyatt-siem-reap/ that KFC pictured was also a saving grace for me and bathroom availability one of the times walking by…
2. our tuk-tuk driver brought us and gave us a little history – we saw the three i noted in a day, if i went back i’d explore some of the less trafficked ones as well. our driver was a great guy but i think if you want to go really deep on the history you’ll have to find someone who has done so for a while and can walk with you and go in depth – i don’t have any recos but think there are some on flyertalk. these are quite big so i imagine this will add a lot to your overall temple time, at some point you may get some temple overload too.
3. i can’t remember which and i’m not home now to check but i did have the recommended base ones… i think it was those three.
4. i’d say typical travel rules apply about being smart, i can’t recall any situations or areas where i would describe it as unsafe for say my mom and sis. although back to the guesthouse we were at, and probably typical of the downtown ones, at least my mom would not find the quality of the accommodations the most comfortable and would probably be weirded out by some of the midnight discussions by some of the guests, although she wouldn’t be down chilling with them there anyway.
Hi Mike,
Appreciate your reply and infor. Will continue to find out more before making the trip. The current temp there is over 100 Degrees F right now. Thanks again and happy travel! Looking forward to reading more of your adventure.
Hi,
I am local guy. what Mike explain was very good guide. I just add some information.
1. There are many good hotel and guesthouse around pub street area 2 of the most favourite hotels with clean room and very close to Pubstreet like Royal Crown Hotel & Spa or Park Hyatt.
2. For transportation, u just took Tuk Tuk cause it is very reasonable prize and you can find good guide from Hotel or guesthouse.
I love your Angkor Wat pics, some really great shots:-) I was there a couple of weeks a go and it completely blew me away. In fact, I’ve just blogged about it, so if ya bored… http://indierockkid.com/2014/06/28/holiday-in-cambodia-angkor-wat-in-siem-reap/
@Ket: Mike’s advice is spot-on. We had all three of the shots you mentioned. We also brought lots of bug spray (with deet to fight those pesky mosquitoes – it is wet season and Siem Reap is a malaria area ^_^) and some tablets for upset stomachs, which turned out useful. We stayed at Diamond D’Angkor Boutique hotel is was amazing and about a 10 minute walk to the main drag/Pub Street. Think we ended up paying around 30 EUR/40 USD per night on Agoda which is obviously pricy for Cambodia, but it was a beautiful hotel with excellent service too. But if you’re after a party-place, it isn’t the hotel for you:-)
@Mike the midnight discussions at your guesthouse sound like they might have been interesting:-) That is the one thing I kinda missed was the lack of social aspect at our hotel. If you stay at a hostel or guesthouse, there is more chance to socialise and meet people. Can’t have it all I guess.
great post; I was impressed by Angkor Wat too. It was the highlight of my SE Asia trip.
Ket – it’s safe for 2 girls, yes
We hired a guide – everything’s pretty affordable. The second time I visited we just hired a tuk tuk and it was great.
Both times we did Angkor in 2-days and thought that was perfect.
I just posted about my experiences too – http://visit50.com/amazing-angkor-wat/