Cambodia: Angkor Wat 2010

Angkor Wat is the most visited tourist attraction in Cambodia. It is a huge site with many ancient temples. It is that spread out that We had to hire a tuk tuk driver to drive as from one temple to the other as We were told that it is impossible to walk it in one day and this was true 🙂 There are many articles discussing the history of Angkor Wat so I wouldn’t really go into this in detail. Just follow this link to get more information. The entire site is going through extensive restoration at the time of writing so you can expect builders, heavy machinery and scaffolding here and there.

The entry fee for one day is $20 and the best time to start your visit is before sunrise as the site of Angkor Wat is amazingly beautiful as the sun rises. The ticket is valid from sunrise until sunset. The tuk tuk driver charged $12 for driving as around the whole day. He was waiting for us at the exit of every site and he provided us with free cold water all day.

The bad thing about Angkor Wat and the other sites is that the locals are trying to sell you books, clothes, food and all sorts of useless stuff. They kinda raid you with products, children keep on chasing after you with books as you walk
towards the temple and if you want to have something to eat you won’t be able to make up your mind which little restaurant to choose as there will be at least 5 local shouting at you trying to make you go to their place. At some point we decided not to eat when a flock of locals started to come at us with all products, menus, etc… I do not understand why they do this though. They must have had enough time to figure out that with this behaviour they chase away the westerners rather than getting business from them.