Angkor Wat or Bagan?...

I realize that this is a pretty subjective question but starting to plan for a cruise out of Singapore in 2017 and want to do a pre-cruise trip (independently) to either Angkor Wat or Bagan (Myanmar. Unfortunately can only do one or the other!)

I have actually been to Bagan over 30 years ago and was pretty blown away but I have also heard great things about Angkor Wat (which I have never been to. My wife has never been to either so I would have no problems going back to Bagan and perhaps a day in Yangon if this might tip the scales.)

Your opinion is welcome! TIA!

RK

Haven't been to Bagan but I can thoroughly recommend a trip to Angkor Wat! We went there in July last year and spent five days exploring four of the temples. There is so much to see that five days was a good amount of time, the temples are quite widely spread as well so you can only really do one each day. In fact you could spend longer, each temple is different and fascinating. Siem Reap (the town near Angkor Wat) has a number of different hotels including the major chains and is quite easy to get to with regular flights from Singapore.

We went to our travel agent the other day and said tell us a nice holiday to do. His suggestion to us was 4 nights each Singapore, Siem Reap and

Hoi an. Since then I have being doing some research and it sounds like a great idea.

I realize that this is a pretty subjective question but starting to plan for a cruise out of Singapore in 2017 and want to do a pre-cruise trip (independently) to either Angkor Wat or Bagan (Myanmar. Unfortunately can only do one or the other!)

 

I have actually been to Bagan over 30 years ago and was pretty blown away but I have also heard great things about Angkor Wat (which I have never been to. My wife has never been to either so I would have no problems going back to Bagan and perhaps a day in Yangon if this might tip the scales.)

 

Your opinion is welcome! TIA!

 

RK

Hi,

I have been to both Ankor Wat and Bagan, Both are magnificent and memorable. But in MHO I think Ankor Wat would be my choice. It was really an almost spiritual experience being there and seeing and understanding the history of the place. Also, it is rapidly deteriorating due to the thousands of visitors daily, and the government may consider imposing some restrictions on visitations in the future to preserve the site. Nothing in the works on that now. Siem Reap is a great area to spend time in, as well. Bagan is also worth the trip, but if you can sometime, make it part of an overall trip to Myanmar in the future.

I agree with travelinjudy. We were in both places on an independent land tour (the way to go imho) and while Bagan was interesting and we loved Myanmar, Angkor Wat is way more significant and interesting.

You need at least three days to explore the temples and more days if you want to do anything else such as go to one of the stilted villages on Tonle Sap. Siem Reap is a well developed base community with some wonderful restaurants. I highly recommend staying at the Rose Apple, a lovely little boutique hotel.