Suggestions on what temples to visit on a 3 day templepass

Our current travel plan would allow us to have 4 days

to see the sights in Siem Reap. Plus part of an afternoon when we arrive after taking a Mekong bus from P. Penh which leaves at 8:00am (or is it at 8:30am?)

We plan to buy a 3 day temple pass and need suggestions on how to organize what temples to visit on the first , second and third day as we do not know what temples are near each other. Please also indicate if there are places of interest that may be visited along the way.

Finally, any suggestions on how to spend our fourth day would be appreciated.

Our thanks to all you good people for your help.

Cheers

Suggestions on what temples to visit on a 3 day templepass

hi i have just been back from my siem reap trip and i%26#39;d like to share with you how i did my itinerary. you can choose to break it up or combine a few stuff.

before going to siem reap, i did some readings and got some tips when will be the best time to go to temples to avoid the crowds. well, first of all i was there last week and it was obviously a peak season so in no way did i not have hordes of people with me in angkor wat. in the smaller temples however, we managed to do an itinerary which avoided much of the busloads of tourists.

day 1, arrived rep at 4pm, after checking in at hotel, went to get my temple pass for 3 days. there was no queue in the ticket office in the afternoon compared to the queues i saw in the morning the next day. and since ticket is valid the next day, we were allowed to go in for free for that afternoon. we only had time for sunset at phnom bakheng which really is crazy. sooooo many people and for me it takes out the experience. but nevertheless, since i didn%26#39;t have much choice, we just went for it but stayed a little later after the tourists have left just to enjoy the breeze and the quiet of the temple grounds. for sunset, i would suggest pre rup instead, lesser crowds.

day 2 (main temples tour)

angkor wat in the morning, we entered west gate and asked our driver to meet us at east gate. exiting at the east gate allowed us to view the angkor wat from the back WITHOUT practically any tourist in sight. the picture was equally beuatiuful. it was so quiet and at first we thought we got lost while walking the very quiet trail without no one in sight.

around lunchtime when sun was already hot, we went to ta prohm where it is much cooler to do a temple visit because it is full of trees. we entered the west gate and exited at the east gate (most tourists come in thru east gate). at this exit, we took our lunch break, there are many food stalls in this exit.

we then went to angkor thom, passing by ta keo and stopping for a quick look at this small temple. we entered the gate by the victory gate which had lesser people, my picture of the gopura in that gate looked quieter and no people at all, compared to the more popular one in the east where busloads come in and stop for photo ops (of course your photo will most probably include the buses in the backgroudn as well as other tourists :)) in angkor thom, we did terrace of leper king (which is really amazing), elephant terrace, phimeanakas, baphoun and finally the bayon. bayon was also very quiet, just about 10-15 tourists cmpared to the hordes that come in the morning. i saw it the next day and boy! it was really crazy! we were done by 5pm.

day 3 (grand circuit tour)

woke up for the sunrise at angkor wat. but i thought it was crazy idea anyhow. if you intend to take pictures of angkor at sunrise, i suggest you wake up early and beat the crowd. the best area for a temple shot with its reflection on the pond will to go down the steps after the library on your left. take the best spot and don%26#39;t move! see the crowds start to come in by 5am. and it%26#39;s just so crazy.

went back to hotel for breakfst, started out again at 9am at preah khan....very quiet and like in angkor thom, we had the temple almost all to ourselves.

from there we went to neak pean, then to ta som, then to east mebon. took lunch at the food stall in east mebon. after lunch, we then went for the long trip to banteay srey, which was good since we didn%26#39;t have to be in the heat of the sun for the ride. it was a leisurely ride in our tuktuk stopping sometiems at the small street shops offering crafts and sugar palm delicacies or simply talking to some locals. we reached banteay srey at about 230 and again, not many tourists. i should highly recommend this temple, it is so much different from the others. while it may be small, you will be amazed at the details done on the structures.

we left banteay srey for banteay samre. again not so many tourists in the area and we spent some time just sitting inside and enjoying the quiet time around the temples.

we then went to pre-rup for sunset but we didn%26#39;t wait for sunset. i thought that the best way to see temples at sunset would be from below and not try to climb the temples and be there during sunset. unlike phnom bakheng, there were lesser crowds. tourists also seemed to plan to stay a while longer than the usual ';quick visit'; done by others at bakheng. some brought some drinks and positioned themselves at the best sunset spot.

since you have 3 days, you can break my day 2 itinerary into smaller trips. or try doing a tonle sap tour. we didnt do that as we felt its just similar to the halong bay trip we did before.

my favorites among the temples would be:

1) angkor wat

2) bayon

3) banteay srey

4) terrace of leper king

5) ta prohm

so i suggest that you don%26#39;t miss it.

Suggestions on what temples to visit on a 3 day templepass

oops, erratum. i meant the south gate of angkor thom as the most busy one. east gate was fewer people and quieter (where we entered).

Hello MounttOlympus,

We had a tuk-tuk prebooked (can supply email if you wish) and arranged an 8.30am start both days - we%26#39;re not sunrise people, and is was quite overcast and hazey which would not have made for good photography.

We saw Angkor Wat on our first morning then through south gate (stopping for some photos) into

Angkor Thom, had lunch near the Bayon and visited Bayon, Baphuon, Phimeanakas, %26amp; The terrace of the Leper King and Terrace of the Elephants after lunch. We headed back to our hotel about 4pm for a swim and a nap before heading out to explore the town and get dinner. We stopped on the way for a foot massage -recommend this too!

On our second day we visited Preah Khan (stunning and very scerene early in the morning before too many people got there -I%26#39;d recommend this)Neak Pean, Ta Som, Pre Rup then stopped for lunch. We spent the afternoon at Ta Prohm and by then were ready for a beer and a swim.

We only had 2 days - how we both wish we had booked more(next time!). If we had been there a 3rd day we would have gone out to Banteay Srei %26amp; Kbal Spean or possibly the Roulos group.

I could also have spend some time just wandering round town some more - we didn%26#39;t even get to the eastern side of the river which runs through Seam Reap.

I can%26#39;t give you any info about trips to Tonle Sap but I%26#39;m sure other TAs will be able to help there.

We spent our last morning wandering round town and just enjoying the atmosphere and doing some shopping.

I would highly recommend taking your tuk-tuk driver to lunch - it costs very little (about $3 for a meal - they get their drinks on the house from the restaurant) and just chatting - you will learn so much more about Cambodia and her people chatting to someone than you could ever get from a guidebook.

Speaking of guidebooks - we had Lonely Planet, and had done stacks of reading before we went. We did not hire a guide - didn%26#39;t think it was necessary and would not hire one next time - I realise lots of people on TA do recommend guides - and you will see heaps of posts doing this, but we felt comfortable going it alone.

I can also recommend

www.canbypublications.com/siemreap/srhome.htm

as a really useful site - good information about how long to spend at each of the temples etc

Hope this helps %26amp; have a fantastic trip

Helen

most drivers/tuktuks, will be able to direct you, although alot do follow the 3 day itinery in the carnaby guide, which means everyone hits the places at the same time!

i would tend to read a book, write a list of where you want to go, and play it by ear. Some people can fit in all the major sites in a day, whereas others, like me, can spend an entire morning in Angkor Wat and still want to go back for more!

That way, you can be a little more fluid, if the heat gets to you, you can rest, or if you find more to explore, you arent rushing against a tight schedule.

4th day - plenty of things to do, if you love temples, then you could travel out to beng melea, or go to phnom kulen, take a trip on tonle sap down to the flooded forests, go to the silk farm, or the artisans d%26#39;angkor centre, a local school, around the market...