Angkor Wat, an iconic building in Cambodia, that has become a national symbol to its people. Built in the 12th Century and once considered one of the seven wonders of the world, experiencing Angkor Wat is one of those moments that you will remember for the rest of your life. It is important to understand that your visit will be much more than seeing Angkor Wat, you are visiting an ancient city that used to be the capital of the Khmer Empire. The entire Angkor Wat complex is considered the largest religious complex in the world and takes time to explore.
Tickets and Expenses
Visiting the Angkor Archaeological Park is not cheap. We purchased a 3-day pass for $62 per person. This was just the right amount of time to fully experience the wonders that this area has to offer. The area is vast and we hired a tuk tuk each day to drive us to the temples. We arranged our tuk tuks through our hotel and the prices ranged from $13-18 depending on our destination and whether we were staying for sunrise or sunset. We chose to hire a guide during one of our temple exploring days. This cost us a whopping $40, however we felt it was well worth it to have someone explain the history of what we were seeing. Our guide, Samnang, was able to point out things that we would have certainly overlooked on our own. Don’t forget to factor in tips for your tuk tuk driver and guide into your budget!
If you plan on spending all day exploring the temples you are likely to eat breakfast or lunch at one of the restaurants in the complex. These restaurants are designed for tourists and they increase their prices to accommodate for the demand. We didn’t enjoy spending $15-20 on lunch, when you know you could have the same meal somewhere else for under $10. If you want to save money pack snacks or plan to visit the temples after you have eaten!
Our Itinerary
If you are like us, then the amount of temples and their locations made planning 3-days in Angkor overwhelming! Make your life easier and follow our detailed itinerary below:
Day 1: 8-9 hours
Our first day we spent visiting some of the less popular locations in the Angkor Archaeological Park. It was the perfect itinerary to introduce us to the area and we were able to get some pretty amazing photos.
Kbal Spean – Located over an hour away from Siem Reap, we started our first day here. To be honest we didn’t do much research on this area, but knew there was a waterfall here. We were surprised with the 30-minute hike to the waterfall and then underwhelmed with the waterfall itself. Once we realized that this area was full of carvings from the 11th Century, then we were impressed. It can be easy to miss the detail in this area, but there are guides standing around that will happily point out the impressive carvings… for a fee. 
Banteay Srei – This temple is also located outside of the main temple area and is one-hour from Siem Reap. We stopped here after Kbal Spean and on our way back to the main area. Banteay Srei has a different coloring than the other temples. This is because it was made from red limestone. It is believed that this temple was constructed by women because of the great detail that is found all over the temple. It is beautiful and we recommend making the trip out here!
Srah Srang – A large reservoir created in the mid-10th century. This is a great place to stop for sunset photos in the Angkor Archaeological Park.
Pre Rup – An impressive large temple with stairs that you can climb to the top. We found this relatively free from tourists in the afternoon.
East Mebon – This temple has striking similarities to Pre Rup, but has large elephant statues that were carved out of a single block of stone. 
Ta Som – Ta Som has face tower gopuras (entrances) to the temple. The most famous part of this temple is the east gopura that has a ficus tree growing from the roof. 
Neak Pean – Located on a man-made island, this Buddhist shrine has a striking boardwalk leading out to the island. We may have enjoyed the views on the way to the shrine, more than the shrine itself!
Preah Khan – A large and relatively flat temple. We made it to the center of the temple and one of the guides there took our phone and set us up with a quick photoshoot. He was of course looking for a tip, but we were pleased with the photos. Maybe you can recreate them if you visit!
Day 2: 9 hours with sunrise
Day 2 started at 5am! We headed to Angkor Wat for sunrise with hundreds of other people. This was also the day that we hired a personal tour guide to spend the entire day with us. We visited several temples along the main tourist route and they were VERY crowded, but it’s still possible to get a few photos without anyone in the background.
Angkor Wat – Sunrise was amazing, yes it was crowded, but you just have to deal with the crowds and enjoy the experience. Once the sun started to rise Chris ran over to the east side of the building and got a few good photos with no one around. We explored the inside of the temple with our guide and learned a lot about the history.
Bayon – Located in the central area of Angkor Thom, Bayon temple may have been the busiest place we visited. This temple is famous for the many faces in the stone. There were people all over the place and we were happy when it was time to head to the next location. If you could visit this temple with no one around, it would probably have been my favorite!
Baphuon – Located right next door to Bayon and considerably less crowded is the Baphuon temple. This temple has several levels and staircases that can lead you to the very top. The stairs are a bit steep, but take your time and you can explore the whole area. The best part of this temple is the large reclining Buddha laid out in the stone on the back of the temple.
Terrace of the Elephants – A long wall with elephant carvings that was used by the king to watch his victorious army return to the city.
Ta Prohm – After an expensive, but necessary lunch stop, we felt refueled and refreshed to continue exploring. We went to Ta Prohm or more famously known as the Tomb Raider temple. It is a popular place to visit, but seeing in person what nature can do is astounding.
Banteay Kdei – Our last temple for the day. This one wasn’t as popular and it also had a tree growing around the temple. A great temple to end your busy day!
Day 3: 2-3 hours
After two full days of temples,we took a day off to visit Tonle Sap. We completed our third day of temples the following day. The good thing about your expensive Angkor Wat ticket is that you do not need to use it three days in a row. You have a seven day window to use the ticket. We enjoyed a trip to the floating village on the largest lake in South East Asia.
Back to Day 3 at the temples. After exploring a ton of the temples in the main Angkor area, we decided to go further off the grid to see the Roluos Group. These temples are located about 30-minutes east of Siem Reap. There are not a lot of temples here, but you can have them mostly to yourself which makes the trip totally worth it!
Preah Ko – One of the oldest temples in Angkor and known as “the scared bull”. This temple is special because we were able to experience it completely on our own.
Bakong – The largest temple in this area. Take your time exploring as this is the most impressive of the Roluos Group. The third temple in this area is Lolei, but it was completely under construction during our visit.
That wraps up our trip to the Temples of Angkor Wat. It is an expensive few days, but it was worth it to learn about one of the most fascinating places in the world. I mean where else do you get to see something so detailed and impressive that was built in the 9th century? We hope you get to visit and that this post will help you have an awesome experience!
P.S. Yes if you were paying attention, Chris did wear the same shirt all three days in Angkor Wat!
