Shoes and snakes

Hi, Can anybody help. Visiting the temples first few days of September and am having difficulty in deciding what shoes I need to wear. I had planned on a pair of walking sandals, or summer walking shoes. But I have read somewhere that it is better to wear boots because there are small poisonous snakes in the temples that have a likeing for ankles. I hope somebody can help as I do not want to carry more than I need to. I have a thing about snakes, not a good thing, but assumed that, like most places, they would rather keep away from humans than go after them. Thanks in advance.

Shoes and snakes

Hi,

I wore trainers and my husband wore Teva sandalas. Didn%26#39;t see any snakes at all.

Only thing I felt was that it%26#39;s quite dusty, especially if you go around on Tuk-Tuk....so if you%26#39;re wearing Tevas, your feet%26#39;ll get pretty dirty....

Shoes and snakes

.......wear sneakers for better footing on the stones/steps and mud..........no snakes.

We have just returned today from Siem Reap and we wore Teva sandals. They proved to be the right footwear since we were caught in heavy rain one afternoon while exploring the temples and we were comfortable! Didn%26#39;t see any snakes...maybe n the dry season they are a problem.

Maybe the locals ate them.

I just spent three days touring the temples around Siem Reap last week. I wore Keen Venice H2 sandals and my husband wore Tevas. I preferred the added toe protection of the Keens and found them perfect for clibming around on the stairs and rocks. The Tevas worked fine for my husband. I had heard the same thing about the small snakes, but only saw one small dead snake in the grass outside one of the lesser visited temples (can%26#39;t really remember the name right now). One of my guidebooks warns that they tend to come out more after rain, but I asked my guide and he said he almost never sees snakes and he has toured the temples 25 days or more per month for the last ten years. He also indicated that the snake population had gone way down in that area because people were forced to eat them during the war years. Not to mention, there were so many people at most of the temples that I would imagine snakes would stay way away!

See! The locals did ate them. Yummy.

Ditto above advice regarding toe protection. If you will be planing on climbing to the tops of the temples, and negotiating stones and skinny, wobbly rock/steps on the way up %26amp; down, it is advisable ot have sturdy footwear. I was in Siem Reap for 4 days in a very cool December 2005, and I was glad to have my hikin gboots. (low-cut and lightweight). Bring sandals for walking around town.

Snakes? What snakes?

I would say that if you are intending to go anywhere like Beng Melea or Kbal Spean, then you definitely need walking shoes. Beng Melea, in particular, involves a lot of clambering over slippery fallen rocks. I had read somewhere about snakes too, but even in the less visited and more overgrown temples, it seems to be fine.

I went to Beng Mealea, Phnom Kulen and did not see any snakes. Rocks galore, though!

Hi!

Just came back from Asia and can tell you we saw two snakes on the same day in Angkor Watt.We saw the first one when a guy almost step on her. The other one was dead in the middle road near the temple- had been overrun by a car or tuk-tuk. Both were small and green colour, same type.

I have a thing for snakes also so I asked our local guide who said they weren%26#39;t poisonous. I was so terrified I doubt he would have said any different.

The guy who almost step on the snake was left shaken, so I guess I am not the only one scared of them.

I wore Birkenstones, by the way, and was fine. Too hot for me to wear trainees, but watch your feet just in case.

Regards