The Angkor Temples, Cambodia - 3 days in 3 ways

Travelled By

Anna Jura

The Angkor Temples, Cambodia - 3 days in 3 ways

Day 1 - Bicycle

Looking at the main approach of Angkor Wat

I don’t recommend seeing the movie Outbreak too many times before visiting Cambodia, Asia particularly in very touristy places such as the Angkor temples. The ‘end of the world via monkey disease’ theme does little to quell the panic that arises when a veritable army of them advances upon you in search of whatever food, drink or shiny thing you may have in your possession. Despite the little protection they afford from these little grey harbingers of disease and untimely death, the humble bicycle is a great way to see the highlights of the Angkor temples. The crisp morning air is invigorating and refreshing to think back on when the energy sapping midday heat sets in, plus the temples are only a 30 minute leisurely ride from Siem Reap.

You can easily fit Angkor Wat as well as Ta Prohm, Phineakis and Bayon into one day with plenty of time for climbing, reading your guidebook and photographs. Although the wide tree-lined thoroughfares between the temples would be pleasant to walk it is faster and more feet-friendly to cycle. It’s also cool to be able to circumnavigate the Bayon and be creeped out by the all-seeing eyes of the giant faces following you. I’d recommend going to the Bayon last as the glow of the setting sun hitting the faces is quite majestic. Additionally the hordes generally head to the Bakheng temple which has a great view over the complex. Personally I found the much-hyped sunset monumentally anti-climactic. Far more amusing was watching the swarms of Japanese tour groups trying to descend afterwards down the steep, rather awkward steps and 4WD track!

The sunset at Angkor Bayon, which in my opinion was rather an anticlimax

On this note, the great thing about the three day ticket is that you get a free sunset on the evening prior to your first day if you get your ticket after 5pm. This is why my friend and I had already seen the sunset. It’s one of those ‘most recommended’ and hence often most likely to disappoint events. Normally I like to save the best till last but have come to learn that it can be very liberating to get these out of the way initially, particularly when they are a bit of a let down. Having seen the ‘main event’ I find I am far more open to experiencing the smaller places or features on their own and creating your own ‘must-sees’.

Day 2 – Tuk-Tuk

At 5.30am on the second morning I found myself asking ‘What would Lara Croft do?’ and decided that, no, she wouldn’t hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. She would put on her tiny tiny short shorts, strap her guns around her muscly thighs, braid her hair and go in search of ancient treasurers in the Ta Prohm temple. So I did, well….I left my guns at the guesthouse. It was well worth the effort of organising a tuk tuk driver to pick us up before dawn to take us to Ta Prohm, the jungle temple, to watch the sun rise. I’ve been travelling too long to think that I would be the only one with that idea so you could have knocked me down with a feather when we arrived and there was no-one, I repeat, no-one there. One of the most famous temples, ancient roots exerting their primal strength over the man-made stone blocks, and we were the only ones there until after the sun had risen. It was eerie. You may not be as lucky as we were but I would definitely recommend arranging to go early for a sunrise.

Getting around by Tuk-Tuk was a great idea and well recommended

The tuk-tuk idea was great and definitely necessary as the temples we visited on the second day were more spread out. Plus you are out of reach of the monkeys (unless…God forbid…they pounce). Our friendly driver waited as we clambered over the ruins until we had had enough of one adventure playground and were ready for the next. Then he kicked his bike into life, we hopped on the carriage, stuck our heads out the side tongues lolling like over-excited puppies and we moved on.

So that was how we navigated more of the familiar tree-lined avenues, past Srah Srang to Preah Kup, East Mebon, Neak Pean, Preah Kahn, the Victory Gate, Thommanon and Ta Keo. Not only were we surprised by the differing styles of the temples but also by how unregulated they were, nothing was off limits and you could run around at will, completely uninhibited. The conservationist side of me baulked slightly but the selfish side appreciated the experiential element too much to take a stand and refrain from my many embarrassing Tomb Raider moments.

Day 3 - Motorcycle

Our extra (non-paying) passengers included a doz or so monkeys!

In retrospect it was incredibly ambitious to think we could make it out to the far flung ‘river of 1000 lingas’ Kbal spean as well as Beng Melea and Banteay Srei in one day. Still, the itinerary may have been achievable had we not got lost… or broken down….twice … or had we been able to ignore our incredibly numb backsides and explore the temples faster.

The trek to the site and mountain setting of Kbal Spean made it worthwhile. The stunning pink and orange stones of the Banteay Srei were its main drawcard and were also witness to my first experience of bribery – our drivers having to hand over $5 to let each of us look around after hours. Given the chance to do it again I would bypass Beng Melea. Still, had we not tried we wouldn’t have spent 8 hours on the bikes, i wouldn’t have spent 30 minutes holding my torch up to provide light at a little village motorcycle ‘garage’ and we wouldn’t have arrived back at the guesthouse at 9pm to look in the mirror and find our faces covered with 4 inches of dust. So that was why all the kids looked at us and bolted in the other direction! We looked like some sort of haggard, blue-eyed, devils from the depths of the earth. At least we were rabies free…

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