Angkor Wat - What the Guide Books Don’t Tell You
by Jo Curran
I had three full days of touring with a driver and a guide although I would not do it like that again. I am glad that I have seen it ALL, even the boring things, just because I want to be assured that I have not left anything out! Yes, I know that’s anal!!
At the Angkor Wat site, apart from looking at the architectural integrity of the whole complex, the only explanations given by my guide were to identify SOME of the scenes depicted on the bas reliefs. With a guide book I would have learnt just as much, if not more, than I did with a guide, because I would have moved at my own pace.
They sell a guidebook there specifically on Angkor Wat. It is a bit like an Insight Guide, but a bit smaller in size (similar in size to Lonely Planet) and a little more intellectually demanding. But even the description in the Lonely Planet would suffice. I would strongly suggest that reading up on both Hindu and Buddhist epic legends, the Ramayana especially. That would be very useful.
The Angkor Wat site is a half day visit. Angkor Thom has several sites, the Bayon being the major one, and here again, the guide just points out some of the bas reliefs and relates the story. You can do just as well on your own. Angkor Thom is also a half day visit. Neither of these two complexes are “in the jungle and being slowly destroyed by vegetation”. Two sites do fit this description, at one you MIGHT need a guide, to help you find all the nooks and crannies, but a good map would probably do the trick, and there are usually kids or a caretaker who, for a small token, will take you around. This is Ta Prohm. It was THE BEST!
Preah Khan was also jungly. The most evocative part of the Angkor Thom site was Preah Palilay, and Ta Som was another place I would put on MY not to miss list. Away from the main site, and not to be missed is a little jewel called Banteay Srei. I visited it together with Kobal Spien (The River of a Thousand Lingas). This latter was fantastic, but very hard work. It is a 90 minute drive from town, and although we set off at 7:00 am, it was still a hot hard climb that takes about 30 - 45 minutes. However, there are places where you really need the handrail to help you scramble up. I was bushed by the time we got to the site. This is the only place which I visited which really still is a sacred site.
There is one other sacred site, Phnom Kulen, but this is a mountain, and it is at least a two hour slog uphill to get there, so I gave it a miss. The only other sites which I marked as “good” were the Eastern Mebon and Pre Rup, which has a fantastic view from the top.
You need shoes which give support and traction and clothes which allow good freedom of movement, shorts are best. Skirts get in the way when climbing STEEP steps, these are often a good stretch up and have a narrow tread. You have to be able to see just where you are putting your feet. I discovered that my pants, whilst giving freedom of movement in theory, in practice stuck to sweaty legs and were a hindrance.
Guides and drivers seem to all call a working day two, three-hour sessions, with a three hour break for lunch back at the hotel. This arrangement means that you are also paying for double the traveling time and are out in the hot afternoon sun, around stone which has been absorbing solar heat for many hours. Personally, a siesta does not suit me at all well because the adrenaline of the morning quits, and refuses to kick in twice in one day. If I were doing this again, I would go to the site at 7:00 am (it opens at 5 or 5.30) utilizing the COOL of the morning and the lack of other tourists, go straight through till 1:00 pm and then call it a day.
Two days are enough for just about everyone. Entrance is $20 (US) for 1 day and $40 for a three day pass. Entrance requires a passport photo, though they supposedly have Polaroids available - at an extra cost I would presume. I do not know for sure as I had sufficient photos with me. Guides get $20 per day (plus tips) regardless of the number of people to be guided.