Journey to Angkor & Siem Reap

Starting at Bangkok Airport or from the Mo Chit bus terminal.

The coach carry the people to the border at Aranyaprathet, moving through customs and immigration without major problems and at the other side trying to find a bus or taxi. 
There is also a direct bus from Mo Chit terminal in BKK around 2 pm you only need to go through immigration and at the other side they wait for you and deliver you in downtown Siem Reap. Actually that's the best available tour and cost around Baht 700,-. 

Bus ticket to Cambodia at Mo Chit Terminal in Bangkok there is also a bus from Suvarnabhumi Airport every day at 7 am and at Saturday at 2 pm too. The coach leaves at the same counter as the Pattaya bound in the basement read more.

We leave Bangkok behind and the mess starts at the first intersection behind the border where the road branches off to Battambang and Phnom Penh it becomes real bad. Cambodians cant build roads and on top of it they cheat when they build by making a flimsy structure underneath the surface to get more profit because of this it breaks again after a year. In general this country is one of the worst in terms of corruption read more.

But they have Angkor and that is hard to beat, actually it's unique it's even more rare than the Pyramids of Egypt because there are many all the way to the south into the Sudan.

Here the Visit to Angkor Wat begins take to passport photos and some small dollar bills with you since the border people on the Cambodian side will try to blackmail you if you don't have it ready there is no problem on Thai side read more.


Also the Angkor Thom Temples are real impressive it probably it was not easy to build them because no heavy equipment at that time read more.

Siem Reap Hotels & Shopping

Taking a taxi behind the boundary the best is to get some people together and share it to keep costs down. More comfortable could be to take the airplane from Bangkok, they have several airlines operating now (2015) among them is Air Asia with the best rates and they are even on time now. 

"Angkor Air" also joined the crowd some month ago, check it out but they don't have the best prices.

Road Travel in Asia

Here is the Thailand and Cambodia border.

Thailand Cambodian Border

Immigration Counter

The counter pictured left is the second to be passed on the Khmer side, first is (about 50 m before) to buy the visa. Be careful they try to cheat you, they will charge you $ 25,- or $ 30,- instead the usual 20,- and invent all kind of excuses. 
To be absolute on the safe side take some passport pictures with you because if you don't they will use this as an excuse, among other. Note this is one of the absolute worst corrupt country in the world, against them the Thai are real novices.

At the Cambodian Thai border.

it is already visible that this is a micro cosmos different to other countries, it somehow reminds to Myanmar. But this will chance slowly, until a few years ago the road to Siem Reap was real bad, it’s better now (2014) but got even worst in (2015). To drive is very dangerous since nobody cares about traffic rules, actually there are none.

Paddy-fields everywhere.

we pass a village from time to time and some buffaloes take water at a pond by the roadside. It's a very peaceful and tranquil scenery this was probably different during the terror of the lunatic Khmer Rouge. Comparing this to Thailand where we just came from is amazing and show what a group of ideologically misguided people can do, they were educated in France and got support from China.

Sightseeing in Angkor.

What about a elephant ride

Or maybe a tuk-tuk drive

Buddhist Monks on Holiday

There are many Buddhist Monks around who travel to the temple city and elsewhere in the country, most are Thai who find a very similar environment.

Although they have a similar alphabet they wont understand each other, read more. 

Temples of the god-kings

Cambodian temples are more Hindu style although there are plenty of Buddhist monument and pagodas. 

This has to do with history which tells that the early Khmer ruler came from India and blended with the local people which again came long time ago from China, read more.

Bayon Temple Structure

The Bayon Temple Structure has a significant part, this are the face towers. The king wanted the people to know he is watching them since he already had the status of a God-King.

There are several of this impressive towers in Angkor Thom and at the gates to the city, read more.

Siem Reap and Angkor Hotels

Actually there are no hotels in Angkor they all in Siem Reap which is more or less an appendage, it is highly recommended to do a reservation before leaving since there are always plenty of tourists around. Especially since this place became also a popular destination with Chinese,

Food Street

they come in by several airplane loads every day. 

The car is probably the best from the border since it is fast and brings a quick view into the countryside, its marginally but interesting. Or take the bus from the Mo Chit 

The drive opens great countryside panoramas and the past is still very present and lively here, since nothing has really changed in the countryside the last couple of hundred years except some technology were imported.

The journey to Angkor Wat with the coach.

Transportation is quite organized, a modern bus leaves every day from Suvarnabhumi at 7am to Aranyaprathet, at the weekend (Saturday-Sunday) there is one more in the afternoon around 2 pm. The airport is a good start since this way it is possible to avoid Bangkok traffic by using the rail link from downtown, at the ticket counter they try to sell you a sim card for Cambodia and say this works which is a lie. 

Plenty of water

If you want to buy a card for your mobile only buy it after you arrive in Cambodia. 

In old Khmer language Angkor means Capital.

On this flat 200 square kilometers area in the north-east, beside the Tonle Sap river 12 Kings built seven cities between the 9th and 12th century of with Angkor Wat is the best preserved.

Angkor Wat was the capital

A baray or lake for water storage 

Beside the well-known grandiose monuments plenty of BuddhaStatues are still visible although the style of the monuments is Hindu. Some ruins and monuments are hidden in the jungle. The temples today are the remains of Khmer Art and their ancient capitals, for only the gods had the right to stone or brick buildings, but even the remains we see today tell what a great civilization they built.

Palaces and dwellings were mainly built from wood and all vanished, only some sacred structures were built in durable brick construction. Actually this is the same in all south east Asia countries were only this structures in the past were built with bricks all other with wood, which disappeared after fire which happen continuously over the centuries.

Khmer art souvenir

Khmer art is somehow very good workmanship especially considering the technology available at the time it was created. It is always impressive to see the very detailed work done; this is not only with Apsaras but also with paintings and statues. 

A few hundred years ago almost all present day south east Asia was under Khmer rule, even near Kanchanaburi in west Thailand at the Myanmar Thailand border is a very old Khmer temple beside the road to the three pagoda pass.

Travel in Cambodia is great but at Angkor there is always the crowd around, other places in the country in general don't have as many tourist and air pollution from the cars, tuk-tuk, motor-bikes and trucks. The region badly needs revenue from tourists, but there is also a risk that it may suffer from it. 

There is some trash piling beside of some roads but in general the environment in the cities is quite clean, currently the biggest problem concerning infrastructure are still the bad roads which very often are just dirt tracks. Only the few main roads such as from the border to Angkor, to Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville plus the main roads to the east of the country have better conditions. The  Archeological Park, includes five of the ancient temple towns Angkor Wat, Thom, Ta Prohm and Prah Khan.

One of Asia's top tourist destination, at the high season somewhere between 4000 and 5000 visitors come every day since the temples and ruins are easily accessible by flights of various airlines, actually the airport is located between the monuments and the city. 

Also easily accessible by bus from Bangkok to the border and further via Poipet, probably the best is a helicopter tour.

Tropical flowers

All accommodations are around Siem Reap and they are building more especially since the last two years when Chinese discovered the place as a short holiday destination but they don't travel to the beaches, now the tourist flood is coming which is good for the local Khmer people. After arrival in the city enjoy some great Khmer dancing.

Khmer people in the south

A traditional dance