In my last post, I gave you a taste of everyday life in Siem Reap. But let’s be honest, if you’re headed to Siem Reap, it’s most likely because of one reason only: to see the ancient Angkor temples! So today, let’s get on to what you really care about and talk about temple hopping.
First, before I say anything, I have somewhat of an embarrassing confession: I honestly didn’t know anything about the temples. I mean, of course I’ve heard of Angkor Wat. And of course I knew that Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was filmed there. And I was well familiar with the famous pictures of gnarled tree roots growing out of stones. But because that was all I knew, I honestly thought that it was the only temple to see. And I didn’t research further because I didn’t want to ruin the “wow” factor.
So when our tuk tuk driver, Sah-buah, spread out a map and asked where we’d like to go, I was like, “Uhhhh… isn’t there only one?!” Turns out: nope, there is actually about a couple dozen of temples scattered about Siem Reap.
Over the course of three days, we managed to hit up quite a few of them (cue temple fatigue). Some are forgettable as soon as we’d left, while some are truly spectacular and unique. I am probably the last person who should be writing a guide, and I never claim to be an expert on something I’ve only briefly experienced. But for those who are just as clueless as me about the Siem Reap temple scene, I thought this little guide of the most memorable temples may be helpful.
So here is my Angkor temple-hopping guide for dummies:
Angkor Wat: the big one
Chances are, this is the one you have heard of. Angkor Wat is the largest and most well preserved of the temples. Actually, Angkor Wat is the largest religious momument in the world. That’s crazy! It is also Cambodia’s pride and joy and its national symbol (it’s on the flag!).
Angkor Wat means “Temple City” and that is exactly what it was when it was built in the early 12th century. It was originally built as a Hindu temple (who knew?) for the god Vishnu and as the capital city of the old Khmer Empire. And it is HUGE… about a square kilometer, in fact. It seemed endless as we walked from one building to another.
The size of Angkor Wat is no doubt impressive. But what I found the most impressive is the level of detail in the wall carvings. It just amazes me that these intricate carvings are done almost a thousand years ago. I could have stayed for hours tracing every single detail to memory.
Bayon Temple: the other big one
Did you know that aside from Angkor Wat, there is another entirely different temple complex called Angkor Thom? What, you’ve never heard of Angkor Thom? Don’t worry, neither had I.
Back then, these temple complexes were literally tiny cities. Angkor Thom (literally “Great City”) was built in the late 12th century as King Jayavarman VII’s empire. This complex is far bigger than Angkor Wat, surrounded on four sides by 3-km long walls and only accessible through large entrance gates. There are a number of small ruins within this complex, and at the center of them all looms Bayon.
What’s really unique about Bayon are the gigantic stone faces adorning each face of each tower (you can just see a person at the bottom corner for scale). I just learned that there are 216 of these stone faces, and nobody can agree on who they are!
Ta Phrom: the Lara Croft one
This is the one made famous by Angelina Jolie. This temple is located deep into the woods. As soon as we stepped into the woods, the modern world fell away as we completely became immersed with nature. We became fully aware of everything – the scent of the trees, the chirping of birds and the songs of the cicadas.
This temple is every bit as beautiful and amazing as the pictures look (go ahead, scroll through them all!). It’s incredible to witness the man-made temple and the wild jungle now coexisting so naturally together… crumbling stones and tree roots entwining, merging into one being. This is nature taking back what was once hers.
But because of the fame, this temple, as peaceful as the setting is, is also one that is heavily visited by tourists. At the most popular locations, we had to wait for a long time in line to get our pictures. And some, we skipped over altogether because there were just too many people. Nevertheless, this temple is worth all the hype.
Ta Keo: the one with the really steep steps (also, my personal favorite)
Of course, in my typical “no planning, wing it” fashion, I didn’t know this temple existed until I read my friend Karyn’s post. She says she chickened out of entering it because of the extremely steep steps. As soon as I read that, I immediately thought, “Yes! Challenge and adventure? I’m so in!” So the next day, we made Ta Keo our first stop.
And don’t take it lightly… these steps are steeeeeep. At times, a single rise was almost as high as my knee! And there are no handrails. You do have to be somewhat sure-footed, or you can always make the climb on your hands and knees, like I did. :)
This temple will for sure satisfy the thrill seekers. After climbing the first set of steps to the second level, there are even more towers and more steps to climb. And best of all, this one doesn’t seem to be heavily visited. Besides us, there were maybe ten other people there. It felt like our own private little discovery. We spent a long time just sitting at the very top, enjoying the breeze and gazing out over the tree canopies. And of course, this made for some good photo ops:
It turned out to be my favorite temple of all. Thank god for travel bloggers. :)
Phnom Bakeng: The one where every single tourist goes to see the sunset
Sah-buah asked if we would like to see the sunset. Of course we did! So on our second day of temple hopping, he helped us plan a route that would take us to Phnom Bakeng at 5:00 pm, just in time for sunset.
What I thought we’d get: a romantic way to end the day by watching the sun set over the countryside from a hilltop temple. The reality: jam packed into a crowd of what seems like the entire Siem Reap tourist population. We ended up standing behind some girls who spent the entire time shooting selfies and “pinching the sun” pictures (*shoot me please*), while I stood on my tippy toes to try to see around them.
nobody ever warned us that the crowd would be like this
but was the sunset pretty? yes!
Banteay Srei: the little pink one (also, the one worth going far for)
This little temple is so cute! We commented to each other how it’s like someone took one of the large temples and shrunk it down. Banteay Srei (or Citadel of the Women) was built in the 10th century by women for women. This one is special because it’s made of a red sandstone which can be carved like wood (and also gives it a pretty pink color!). Indeed, this temple has some of the most beautiful and intricate carvings.
It was too bad that this was the last temple we saw. By then, temple fatigue had long set in and we weren’t too keen to explore this one in detail. But this is definitely worth checking out. It’s located a little further away, about 25 km away from the main cluster. I loved the drive through the Cambodian countryside and the glimpse of country life.
Also, it’s important to note that along the way, you’ll drive by the Cambodian Landmine Museum. This museum, started by a single man who is determined to rid his country of landmines, is a story of both heartbreak and inspiration. I highly recommend Karyn’s beautiful post for more information.
Last tips and practical info:
- Price: Tickets are US$20 for 1 day, US$40 for 3 day, or US$60 for 7 day. We did a 3 day pass.
- Hours: 5:00 am to 6:00 pm, although some temples close a little earlier.
- Transportation: Any tuk-tuk driver (your hotel can help you arrange) can help you plan your visit. Price for a driver for the entire day should be US$15.
- Dress: For the ladies, long pants and a T-shirt that covers the shoulders is recommended. Once inside a temple, there are some areas that can only be allowed into if wearing the proper dress code.
- And lastly, don’t worry about planning too much! Chances are, as you drive, you’ll see so many beautiful ruins that you’ll be spontaneously asking your driver to pull over. It’s how we found this randomly on the side of the road (and became one of our favorite pictures!):
Do you usually do a lot of research being going to a destination? If you’ve been to Siem Reap, which one was your favorite temple?
This post is linked up to Sunday Traveler with Pack Me To and others, and to Travel Tuesday with Courtney.
Thank you for the tips. Your photos are great!
It’s hard to take a bad pic when the temples are so nice! Thanks for stopping by Ruth! :)
Haha when I visited Angkor Wat back in 2006 with a Japanese girl I was travelling with, we more or less did the same thing – winged it. We didn’t have a clue the place was built on such a massive scale. We got up at 4pm 3 days in a row to see the sunrise over the main temple but missed it on every occasion due to cloud. I was a little bit gutted about that! I remember the one with the really steep steps too, and I’m only small (5’1) so it was really tricky to climb! What I can’t believe though, in light of tourism ‘n’ all, is that the ticket prices (at least the 3 day one) are the same still as they were nearly 9 years ago. I paid $40 for 3 days too :-)
Oh gosh, we didn’t even try to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat (though our driver kept on suggesting it haha), because there was NO WAY we were gonna get up at 4 am! I’d be mad too if I had gotten up that early and didn’t even see a beautiful sunrise! I’m super short too (5′ nothing) so those steps were really a challenge, hehe.
Anna, We felt the exact same way about our trip to Angkor Wat. I love your crowd photo…so true!
The crowd to see the sunset was craaaazy. It wasn’t romantic at all, haha! I guess that’s just one of those things you do when you go temple hopping!
Oh my! I LOVE ‘ruins’! I want to see these now! The women’s temple is great! I would be going crazy trying to get a sunset shot with all those people. That is so good to know. Now I can plan to be there at NOON to be in the front row! haha Awesome photos!
Seriously! I was thinking that you would have to get there at least an hour earlier to get a front row spot! Honestly, I don’t know if it’s really that worth it, unless you loooove sunsets. These ruins are really some of the most intricate and impressive that I’ve ever seen! You would really love them. :)
lol I’m so glad you went to Ta Keo based on my post! So awesome to get a look back down those stairs from the top! And look at you go, you little yogi. :D
PS Gonna link to this post in my Ta Keo post! Seems like the only reasonable option. lol
I’m so glad I read your post and went! It was the most fun one, in my opinion! And the most peaceful, hehe. The picture looking down is actually from one of the towers on the top. They were steep, if not steeper!
I do a ton of research before I travel because when traveling with a family, it just makes things go more smoothly. That said, there is something nice about spontaneity. When I read your post about the steep stairs at first I was thinking of the Mayan temple in Uxmal Mexico that I climbed up and then went down on my bottom but looking at your picture from the top, the temple in Siem Reap was much steeper. Yikes! I like how this post highlights a few temples for those that want to get taste but not spend days and days visiting. How did you learn about the temples when you were there? Are their guides or did your tuk tuk driver help out?
I’m so bad at planning that I can imagine it being 100x more stressful with a family! When going to see the temples in Siem Reap, you don’t have to worry too much about planning, except for maybe determining how many days you want to spend seeing the temples. This list here covers the basic ones that most tourists will want to see. The tuk tuk drivers (and your hotel can help arrange) will have a map. That’s how we learned about them lol… as well as some very last minute research (like reading Karyn’s post. She also recommended to me to go to Banteay Srei!). The drivers can help you plan a route!
I didn’t know about Ta Keo, so we never visited it when we were in Cambodia last year. Now, I am bummed because you liked it the best. I purposefully skipped sunset at Phnom Bakeng because the crowds put me off. I liked Beng Melea the best because it’s not as restored and not very crowded. There’s tons of rubble that you can climb on. Our one family photo was at Ta Phrom, and it looks like it was in the exact same place as your photo. However with the 5 of us, the person who took the photo filled the whole photo with people, and you can’t see the trees or the temple. I wished I had looked at it the preview before we left because I would have totally done a retake.
Don’t be bummed! I’m sure the one you found is pretty awesome too. :D I didn’t know about Beng Melea. Yeah I had NO idea the crowd would be like that at Phnom Bakeng… I wouldn’t really recommend doing it unless you’re a real sunset enthusiast, lol. I remember needing to wait for foreveeeer for that photo op at Ta Phrom. You feel in such a rush to take your picture and then leave, so the next person can do the same. It’s no wonder your picture didn’t come out perfect!
Love this. Thanks for all the little details. Definitely pinning this for future reference. Also, you hear horror stories about the huge crowds at sunset, but nobody ever seems to post pics of the chaos, so I loved getting to see that!
Oh man, I guess I just didn’t do any research because I didn’t hear anything about the crowd at sunset. It was crazy! While I like a good sunset, I don’t go crazy chasing one, so I wouldn’t ever do it again. I hope you get to the temples someday!
Reading this I realised I don’t know much about the temples in Siem Reap either! Great guide for when I go there one day :)
I knew I couldn’t be the only one who didn’t know much about the temples! I’m sure you will go there when you hit up SEA later this year. :D
I don’t even know Tomb Raider was shot here! Maybe I missed the earlier episodes of the films! I’m not very keen on temples, that’s why I never really felt the urge to visit Cambodia. It is either the temples or visiting the war crime museums, isn’t it? (At least the touristy version of things)..
Unfortunately, I think the temples are the major draw of tourism in Cambodia. But they are pretty impressive and the country should be proud of them! We decided not to go to Phnom Penh this time because I don’t think I can stand visiting the war crime museums. :( There was literally like one other “touristy” thing to do in Siem Reap, and that’s to visit the floating villages. But we didn’t do it because I don’t feel right treating the poor villages as a tourist attraction.
great photos! did you see the elephant terrace? it’s apart of the angkor thom complex. it’s been several years since i was last there but i just remember admiring the architecture of the elephants .=)
Ahhhh yes, we did see the elephant terrace. I should have included it! It was pretty cool! I really admire all the intricate details in the temples. I’ve never seen details like that on anything else so ancient!
Great guide – I also only really knew about Angkor Wat! I had no idea there were so many others! Love the cute little pink one but that crowded area by sunset doesn’t sound ideal!
I’m glad I’m not the only “dummie”! I had no idea there were other temples there either. And I thought that Angkor Wat was the one with all the trees, heh. I was SO confused when we got there (it was the first temple we visited) and I didn’t see any of the famous tree roots!
I feel bad that it’s my main association of the area, but I still think of the Tomb Raider movie every time I see pictures like these!
I never was a big pre-travel researcher, but it’s growing on me – I learned my lessons after not doing the homework and missing out on things I would have loved.
Yeah I know that feeling. :( We’ve missed stuff before too due to lack of research. I don’t know why, but research/planning is just such a hassle to me!
I really wanted to watch Tomb Raider again after visiting the temples. Maybe I’ll download it on itunes or something!
I had no idea there were so many temples there! I usually do a good amount of travel pre-planning but I don’t know that I’d even think to research the temples if I hadn’t read your post. All of them look pretty awesome, though, so it’s probably hard to go wrong!
I didn’t know there was even anything to research, because I really thought Angkor Wat was the only one to see! Thank god the drivers are so knowledgeable and helped us plan. And I also need to thank Karyn for giving me some great suggestions!
I usually like to pre-plan and look up some cool destinations that i would’ve never known about, but sometimes winging a destination it is just as fun.
And those steep steps temple looks so awesome! That is something my boyfriend and I would definitely want to do. It looks like such a trip, but I’d feel so accomplished I conquered it!
I love to just wing it, but it seriously stresses the bf out! He wants to know exactly want to expect!
You guys would love climbing those steps! And it’s good exercise too since we’re not usually so active!
Holy flexibility lady! That’s one impressive pose!
I’ve only been to the first 3 you listed on here but the super steep one sounds right up my alley if a little scary. My favourite that I visited was probably the Lara Croft one. I just loved how the trees overtook everything. I didn’t know there was more than one temple either till I went so you’re not the only one. Also, I had an epic fail and forgot my SD card at my hotel so I virtually have NO photos of actual Ankor Wat. This was pre-smartphone age too.
Oh no!! I would be SO upset if I lost all my pictures! :(
The tree temple was seriously amazing to see in person. I can’t even figure out how the trees just grew on stone. It’s so incredible! Haha it’s so dumb how all we hear about is Angkor Wat, and everyone just thinks that that’s the one with all the trees since that’s what got popularized by Tomb Raider.
Wow! We haven’t been to Cambodia or Angor Temple yet and we’ve never seen a guide about it as well detailed as this one Anna. When we finally manage to go, we’ll definitely know what to read first ;)
Thanks! I was hoping that it’d help some people who are just as clueless about the temples. The stuff out there really makes it seem like that there’s only one temple to see!
This is a fantastic guide for those (most people) who think Angkor Wat is the only Angkorian temple. Love this guide!
Thanks so much for reading Ashlee! I really thought Angkor Wat was the only one too, and I thought it was the Tomb Raider one with all the trees, haha. I’m glad to know that I’m not the only misinformed/ignorant one!
Perfect timing!! Am heading to Siem Reap next weekend!!
Yay!! I’m so glad it can be of help! Have a TON of fun!! :D