How to go around Angkor ruins
In my case, I asked a taxi to pick me up at the airport, and I also asked the same driver to take me to the sightseeing Angkor ruins. I paid the following :
- Day 1: $10 for Airport to the guest house and guest house to Angkor Wat. (I took a bike taxi back to the town, $3)
- Day 2: $30 for going around Banteay Srei, Pre Rup, Ta Prohm, and Banteay Kdei. $30 was a good price because usually, it took more if you wanted to go to Banteay Srei which was far from Siem Reap.
- Day 3: $20 for going around Preah Khan, Neak Pean, and Angkor Tom. If you like to go to Roluos ruins rather than Preah Khan and Neak Pean, you have to pay $25.
I found many European and American tourists rent a bicycle. Some tourists went to Banteay Srei by bicycle (30km away from Siem Reap). TukTuk was also popular. Sometimes group tours of Japanese, Korean, or Chinese had been come by big sightseeing bus.
The bike taxi was not so bad, but I was scared of it. It’s dangerous to use for long-distance. I took it once, and the speed was so high, I was scared. Of course, nobody uses a helmet.
The driver’s primary job was as a soldier. He was on holiday and rented a car to earn money by taxi. If he rents a car until sunset, tourists pay $30 and he has to pay $20, so he gets $10. If he returns a little bit early, he has to pay $16, so tourists pay $20 and he gets $4.
The guidebook said there was an electric car around Angkor Tom, but I didn’t see it.
Ticket of Angkor Ruins
On the first day, I bought 3 days ticket at a ticket center on the way to Angkor Wat. At a window for a 3-day ticket, they took a picture of my face, and print it on a thin paper ticket.
Each ticket window had a very small digital camera, which you can see at passport control at an airport, and ticketing was very smooth. I was surprised that I found sometimes very high-tech work in Cambodia. I found “APSARA AUTHORITY” and “SOKHA HOTEL Co., LTD.” on the ticket. SOKHA HOTEL was consigned tickets by the government.
Revenues from Entrance Fees to Angkor Wat […went Missing in Corruption?]
The article above describes a doubt that SOKHA HOTEL doesn’t say the right revenues from entrance fees. The tourists will pay a lot of money if the revenues are spent to repair the ruins. It should be clear.
Summary of Angkor Era
- The third king of the Angkor Kingdom, Indravarman I came to the throne in 877. He built his capital at Roluos. (I didn’t go to Roluos this time)
- Yasovarman I came to the throne in 889. He built his capital around Phnom Bakeng Hill. The capital was an area of 4km square, but now only the temple of Phnom Bakeng remains. He also built a reservoir called East Baray, which is dried now.
On the first day in the evening, I climbed up Phnom Bakeng Hill. It was cloudy, I couldn’t see a setting sun. The time of sunset in March is around 18:30, but the temple closed at 18:00.
->A page of Phnom Bakeng on this site. - Jayavarman IV. He built his capital at Koh Ker, which is 95km northeast of the Angkor ruins.
Koh Ker ruin is far from Siem Reap. “Arukikata” guidebook describes this ruin, and it says it’s not safe and you have to go with a guide from a trusted travel agent. - Rajendravarman II came to the throne in 944. He built East Mebon and Pre Rup.
Pre Rup is a pyramid-style temple. You can see a good view from the top of the temple. I was also scared of the stairways of this temple. I didn’t go to East Mebon temple, which structure is similar to Pre Rup.
-> Pre Rup page of this site - Yajnavaraha, who served Rajendravarman, built Banteay Srei around 990.
-> Banteay Srei page on this site - Jayaviravarman. He became a king around 1003. He started to build the Ta Kev temple, but he lost his power of Suryavarman I’s challenge and stopped to build the temple.
- Udayadityavarman II came to the throne in 1050. He built Baphuon and West Baray. East Baray had been dried by that time.
- Suryavarman II came to the throne in 1113. He built Angkor Wat.
->Angkor Wat page on this site
Temples of the same age: Thomanon, Chau Say Tevoda - Jayavarman VII. After the Angkor Wat era, Angkor once was ruled by Champa in 1177, but fought against Champa and finally conquered the Champa. He built Angkor Thom. At the beginning of the 13th century, he built Bayon Temple. He also built Ta Phrom in 1186, Preah Khan in 1191, Banteay Kdei, Neak Pean, and Sras Srang.
->Angkor Thom page of this site
->Ta Phrom page of this site
->Preah Khan page of this site
->Banteay Kdei page of this site
->Neak Pean page of this site - Jayavarman VIII came to the throne in 1243. He was a strong believer in Hinduism. He destroyed the Buddha statues and deleted the reliefs of Buddhist temples.
- Around 1431, it was the end of the Angkor era.
Phnom Bakeng
Phnom Bakeng is a small temple located at a top of a hill. The height of the hill is about...
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Which devata is "an oriental mona lisa"?DvarapalaBanteay Srei is an espec...
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Angkor Wat view from the west gateIn the afternoon on the first day, I visited there fir...
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Read moreTa Phrom
1. A scripture house with a big tree2. A fence almost corrupted by a big tree...
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A wide terrace of Banteay Kdei
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Garuda at Preah KhanAn approach to Preah Khan
Read moreNeak Pean
Panorama view at a central tower of Neak Pean
Read moreAngkor Thom
The parapet of the South Gate bridge. Asura who pulls NagaImportant items of Angkor T...
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