Angkor Wat

We will be on the Saphire Princess this October, and are debating the best way to see Angkor Wat....should we take the ships excursion or do it from Bangkok? Has anyone experienced one or the other, and can give us some pointers? Thanx :)

Having been to Angkor Wat twice in the last 8 months, I hope I can give you my insights.

What does the shore excursion entail? And how much is it?

Bangkok Airways http://www.bangkokair.com/ flies about four flights per day out of BKK. Just an absolutely great little airline. If you can imagine, you get a meal on an hour flight.

I have stayed here twice. I absolutely LOVE the place. Don't even want to try anything else. http://www.fcccambodia.com/angkor/ The pool is to die for and the spa is pretty darn good. I always book a poolside room. Slightly more expensive, but worth it, IMHO.

Tours to Angkor are easily arranged and cheap. The hotel can do it for you or there are MANY travel agents in Siem Reap. There are also guys hanging out in the street by the hotel, which will take you to the temples. IIRC, I paid $40.00 for car and driver for the day. The entry fee to the temple complex was $10.00. Don't forget extra passport pictures. You will DEFINITELY need them if you buy the three day temple pass and MAY need them with the one day pass.

Be prepared for a LOT of climbing and walking. The walking isn't so bad, but the climbing can get to you after a while. Maybe I should get in better shape. LOL!!!

I only spent one day at the temples and only saw the main one. I was getting "templed" out. But I spent the rest of the my first trip at an elephant farm, not too far out of town. That was a great experience.

Enjoy!!

We visited Angkor Wat independently from Bangkok after our Princess cruise in 2005. It is a beautiful place! (To be honest, I had only heard of the place from the Today show on NBC as it was one of the places that Matt Lauer visited (on his where in the world is Matt Lauer segments). I had been intrigued about the place ever since seeing his brief segment; and the area is even more fascinating than the brief TV segment had led me to believe!

To give you a glimpse of our trip: we bought Bangkok Air passes. You must pay for 3 segments for the passes; each one-way flight constitutes a segment. Internal Bangkok flights are $50 and international flights are $80 (plus taxes--oh, and there is one to Xi'an for I think for $150). Even though we only used the roundtrip Bangkok to Siam Reap tickets--and threw away the other ticket (I forget which, but we didnt have time to use it anyway) the pass was still cheaper than a roundtrip Bangkok-Siam Reap trip (Bangkok Airways has a monopoly on the route from Bangkok and extorts lots of $$$ for that short trip!) I don't remember exactly, but it was somewhere around $450 roundtrip total for us both. You can get the number to call for the pass from the Bangkok Airways site. The one thing I thought was "weird" is that you must send a money order (no checks or credit cards accepted) for the tickets and you must purchase your tickets before leaving for the country. Despite my misgivings, it all worked out smoothly and quickly (BTW, I didn't pay the $15 extra for fed express...used regular mail and it worked just as well). Please note that the most popular times sell out very quickly for the air passes. Also note that you will need a visa for Cambodia. You receieve your visa upon arrival in Cambodia. You will need a passport photo (or pay $2 extra). The visa was $20/pp. My hubby remembers something about paying $25.00 to leave the country, but I think that was the fee to leave Bangkok--but since I don't have my journals, I posted both our memories.

We had a driver for the 3 days we were there. We toured the first day from 3 till 8 pm. The second and third day from 7am-noon and then again 3-8 pm. We took a long lunch and nap at the hotel from noon till three each day as it was deathly humid (hot)--even in November while we were there. The driver also picked us up at the airport and dropped us off again. With tips, the total cost for the driver was about $90. I will look for the driver's name and email addy, he was VERY good, his english sufficient and he was studying to be a guide. (I put all the stuff together to write up after I got home, but somehow I have misplaced my journals :( )

We also bought the 3 day pass for the temples. It cost $40 US each and it included a photo--which they will take for free if you do not have one on you. The passes are checked frequently at different points along the ways. They are good for all the temples.

We went to the temples both close and VERY far away. The one very far away (which I don't remember the name of) was almost more interesting because of the ride to get there. It is very rural--with dirt roads, some flooded, and many animals--cows, chickens and pigs--in the street watching the visitors. As you near the far away temples, the locals sell their wares, lots of baskets and straw things, beautifully done. Although our driver was not a guide, he "practiced" on us telling us things about the temples and accompanying us on many of our trips.

We stayed at Le Meridien Angkor Wat hotel, which we purchased via asiarooms.com. The hotel, while rated deluxe, was only okay in my book--I would not recommend it; but my hubby liked it (compared to Bangkok, the hotel is overpriced and no where near as nice, but it is sufficient and in a good location). We had lunch one day at the FCC which Greatam reference's in her post and it was delicious! Definitely a place to visit for a meal!!! (or to stay, I just haven't been there to stay).

We met up with another couple from our cruise overlooking the main temple while there one night. We had dinner and shared laughter and experiences about the trip. It was a fun time.

In all, I think we spent @$900 total--including some souvenirs--for the 3 day/2 night trip--to give you an approximation for comparison with the Princess excursion. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and are very happy with the memories and pictures--riding an elephant up the steep incline was a bit scary. I would definitely recommend the trip, especially if your already in that part of the world.

Enjoy your trip!

We went to Angkor Wat as part of a Vietnam/Cambodia river cruise. I can vouch for the amazing wonder of the temples. We spent two days there exploring not only Angkor Wat but other sites.

Bangkok Airways is a very good airline and yes, they do serve a meal on a 1 hour flight. Our tickets were part of the tour so I don't know the price. There is a departure fee leaving Cambodia. I don't remember the amount but you do pay in US dollars. By the way, there is also a departure tax from Bangkok.. When we were there in 2005, it was 500 baht (Thai currency). They do not accept US dollars or credit cards for the departure tax.

It is incredibly hot at Angkor. We went in April and sweat just poured off of us. Some people had difficulty with the heat and humidity so pace yourselves and drink plenty of water. Wear a good pair of walking shoes as the ground is rough and dusty.:)

Thank you for all the info....now the planning begins.

Definitely do pre or post cruise we did it post cruise last year stayed 5 days and cost of flying to Siem Reap and back to Singapore and accomodation Food excursions for 2 less than one on a princess tour

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You want as many days as you can get in Siem Reap. We had four and were able to see many of the temples, tour Tonle Sap and see a couple museums, etc. I highly recommend to Rose Apple boutique hotel which has a lovely pool, great breakfasts (and dinners if you wish) and very friendly owners and staff.

It sounds like this can only be seen by quite physically fit folks. My husband has had 2 knee replacements and I'm wondering if anyone can advise if it is even possible to view this site if somewhat limited mobility. I would hate to make the trip and then not be able to get to the temples. Thanks for the feedback.

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You can definitely see the temples, getting into them may be a different matter.

Some temples will be more difficult to view from the inside due to stairs/steps but still quite breathtaking from the outside.

It sounds like this can only be seen by quite physically fit folks. My husband has had 2 knee replacements and I'm wondering if anyone can advise if it is even possible to view this site if somewhat limited mobility. I would hate to make the trip and then not be able to get to the temples. Thanks for the feedback.

 

 

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There are several steps up and down to get around, but nobody is forced to climb up on top. The topography in the area is flat. We had a few 'gentle walkers' in our group. We didn't find the steps strenuous, but the heat and humidity got to us.

We did it on a land trip. Very easy to do. There are very good budget airlines from Bangkok. We used Air Asia. Booked our own hotel, arranged for a great tour tour guide for a few days.

There is no real need to pay the premium for a tour unless you want to pay for the convenience of having someone else make the arrangement.

We will be on the Saphire Princess this October, and are debating the best way to see Angkor Wat....should we take the ships excursion or do it from Bangkok? Has anyone experienced one or the other, and can give us some pointers? Thanx :)

We visited Siem Reap in January of 2017. Amazing place. We flew in from Singapore, so our flying experience isn't relevant to your question. We flew with JetStar ( a subsidiary of Quantas) and had no complaints.

I would like to give you a head's up about temple entrance rates though - they have increased.

"A one-day pass has almost doubled from US $20 to $37, the three-day ticket goes up from $40 to $62 while a seven-day pass is now $72, formerly $60. These rates were effective February 1, 2017. " This info. comes from Lonely Planet.

We booked a tour guide through our hotel for $40. daily. A driver and car were an additional $40. daily. We stayed at a smaller boutique hotel - The Rose Apple - and were very happy with our choice. The Belgian owner was very helpful and hospitable.

The Cambodia visa was available at the airport. The visa photos we had taken at home prior to the trip, were not used for our visa. They took their own photos when processing the visa.

We tacked on an additional 3 days for the Cambodia segment, after disembarking our HAL cruise in Singapore. This allowed us more time and at considerable savings to the tour offered by the cruise line. Angkor Wat is absolutely worth seeing!

Hope this helps!