Hot Spots › Cambodia
Siem Reap
Siem Reap exists to serve Angkor, and does so efficiently. The temples themselves are extraordinary — Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm with its tree roots consuming the stonework, Bayon with its 216 stone faces. The problem is principally one of timing and route-planning: Angkor Wat at sunrise with a thousand other tourists is a different experience from Preah Khan at mid-morning with relative quiet. The lesser-visited sites in the outer reaches of the complex are often as impressive as the main attractions and receive a fraction of the visitors.
Crowd pressure
Angkor Wat sunrise is extremely crowded. Smaller temples like Beng Mealea and Koh Ker see a fraction of the traffic.
Why visit
Angkor is the largest religious monument complex in the world and one of the greatest architectural achievements in human history.
Best window
November to February — cool dry season
Getting there
International airport with connections across Asia. Overland from Bangkok or Phnom Penh is possible but takes a full day.
The honest version
Pub Street in Siem Reap is generic backpacker economy with little connection to Cambodia. The Angkor pass is now USD 37/day.
Instead of Siem Reap
Instead of
Siem Reap
Cambodia
Try
Battambang
Cambodia
Battambang has Cambodia's best colonial architecture, a world-class circus school, and the travellers who stayed longer than planned — without the Angkor mass tourism economy.
Instead of
Siem Reap
Cambodia
Try
Kampot
Cambodia
Kampot is the other Cambodia — river, pepper farms, colonial architecture, excellent seafood, and a self-selecting crowd of longer-stay travellers.
Layers
Region
At a glance
- Country
- Cambodia
- Region
- Siem Reap Province
- Heat Score
- 84/100
- Cost level
- $
- Alternatives
- 2