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Loads of Tourists
If you are travelling to Angkor then you will encounter quite a few tourists, Siem Reap and the Angkor temples are the destination of the majority of tourist trips to Cambodia. The ever increasing amount of people somewhat spoils the experience, what was once a quiet temple ruin lost in the jungle is now just another stop for the tour busses.
It is a great test of patience trying to photograph the temples when there is a constant flow of people along the approach causeways, and forget about trying to get the Angkor Wat causeway (above right) with no people, though you can try when it's raining.
Tips for Avoiding the Crowds:
- Get there for Sunrise - Visiting the popular temples like Angkor Wat & Bayon is much more pleasant in the early morning.
- Have a long break for lunch - If you get an early start, you can head back to Siem Reap for a few hours in the middle of the day to avoid the highest temperatures and crowds.
- Go to Banteay Srei - Banteay Srei is a wonderful little temple located a few kilometres drive north of the main temples, it is very often quiet and tranquil and offers amazing carvings.
- Enter Preah Khan from the West - Most people go to the East gate, the West meanwhile is pretty quiet.
- Visit Smaller/Outlying temples - They will be a lot less crowded, if not deserted.
- Go to the Rolous Group - The Rolous Group of temples is usually quiet, the main temple being Bakong.
Overly Enthusiastic Vendors
The local vendors selling things around the temples can be very pushy and can get irritating at times, there are rope lines on the floor that they have to stay behind, but this just encourages them to shout at you from a distance. Whilst some items for sale are useful, like drinks, photographic films & guidebooks, there is an awful lot of t-shirts and carved nik-naks & souvenirs, and they get their young children to pester you to buy postcards and little musical instruments that you either do not want, or have already bought from a different kid. When going to Banteay Srei, there is a large 'market' area infront that you can avoid if you walk along the road instead of the path.
Kbal Spean is not worth the walk
After a 30-45 minute long walk up the side of Phnom Kulen to find the carvings in the riverbed at Kbal Spean, they were unimpressive and disappointing. Thousands of short stubby lingas are carved into the rock under the water, the water is supposedly blessed on its journey down to the rice paddies around Angkor. It is a pretty tiring walk in the heat, make sure you have a good map of the area if you go because you may end up missing what Kbal Spean has to offer. Apparently though it is more spectacular in the wet season when the river is full and faster flowing.
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