Siem Reap Locations And The See Temples Of Angkor
Here's your information to Siem Reap - Know the points to do in Siem Reap. How to Get to Siem Reap A long trip from Phnom Penh
Siem Reap has an domestic and international airport with daily arrivals from Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, China and Korea. Multiple direct flights from Phnom Penh are available daily. Visas are also available at the airport. Just have your passport with 6 months validity, a 4x6 photo of yourself.
Bus travel is very favorite as the roads and the buses have really been improved. Several companies offer smaller air conditioned vans. If you want space, book two seats for yourself. Some of these vans targeted to tourists are very relaxed. There also many public buses from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. This trip will take around 5-6 hours. Of course, you can hire your own car or van and have the freedom to stop wherever you want and enjoy some of the sites on the way.
River ferries also operate this route but it is best taken during the rainy season when water level on the river is higher. During the dry season when water level is low, sometimes the ferry service is suspended. It gives you a glimpse of life on the river and the Tonle Sap, the biggest body of fresh water in Southeast Asia. Your hotels and guest houses can make the arrangement for you.
You can also visit Siem Reap by tour bus from Bangkok. Take a bus to the border crossing, Aranyaprathet. This will take you about 3-4 hours. You cross through to Poipet, the Cambodian area. From there, take a shared taxi or cap, hire one or have your hotel in Siem Reap pick you up. This trip from the border to Siem Reap will take you about an hour and a half or 2 hours.
Prepare for your holiday to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor
There are now many locally published guide books you can pick up travel tips in Siem Reap and in most restaurants in Phnom Penh. But if you want to arrange your itinerary, take one of these. There are copies of these for sale in the stalls in Phnom Penh markets and shops but, sometimes, the pages are all over the place as they are just photocopies. Get yourself a legal copy to support writers.
Siem Reap Today
Siem Reap, though a center of the ancient Khmer civilization, is a young city as it only developed recently after Cambodia suffered from the ravages of the Khmer Rouge. Cambodians like going to Siem Reap not only to worship at the Angkor Temples but also to enjoy the park with its large trees which one can hardly find in many of the other provinces. There is still a distant feel to the city given that this province is still the poorest in Cambodia.
The Temples of Angkor
The temples are several kilometers from town so you take your transport of preference: car, bicycle, tuktuk or moto romauk as the locals call it, or hop at the back of a motorcycle taxi. Forget doing it on foot. It can be really hot or rainy and the distances are far. Angkor Wat, for example, is a city built like a temple. It is large and just walking inside this temple takes much of your power. It can be really hot as well so take your hat and get one of those local cotton scarves called "kroma". Kroma is really good to wipe off sweat or cover your head.
There are many temple damage in Siem Reap but the most vital are in the Angkor Archaeological Park. The one that must not be missed is Angkor Wat. Add to this, Bayon and Angkor Thom. These are close to each other and can be scheduled together. Bayon provides the giant faces of Buddha and Angkor Thom those big tree roots overpowering the temple ruins and of course, scenes of Angelina Jolie in the movie, Tomb Raider.
To see the temples and sites at the Angkor Archaeological Park, you will need an admission pass that you can get at the entrance. This varies depending on age and number of days you want to invest in the park. For those who only have a short holiday and plan to be at the temples for just 1 day, get your pass in the afternoon (around 4: 30 PM) and watch the sunset for the first day. Then, wake up early (around 4: 30 AM) to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat Temple and go on to visit the other temples.
If you have much more time and want a bit of adventure outside the park, drive to Banteay Srei, the most exquisite of the temples. It is about 45 minutes drive from town. For those who love more adventure, arrange a day trip to the less visited temples of Beng Mealea, Phnom Kulen, Kbal Spean and Koh Ker. Add to this staying with a Cambodian family in the community. Beng Mealea is the temple you saw in the family adventure film, Two Brothers, a story of two tiger cubs separated from each other and the journey that ensued after the separation.