Seeing Angkor Wat Without Breaking the Bank

One of the biggest draws in the Cambodian tourism industry is Angkor Wat, the ancient ruins just north of Siem Reap that bring in millions of people each year. However, much like other major tourist hotspots such as Machu Picchu, every year the prices get higher and higher because of course people will pay hundreds of dollars to see this beautifully preserved piece of history. Earlier this year my girlfriend and I went to visit the iconic ruins on my birthday and we tried to do it as economically as possible while not missing out on anything important, I will outline the way we saw it below.

One of my favorite shots of the day, the only time the blue sky broke through.

Angkor Wat - The Options

You have a few options when visiting these ruins and some are better than others but it really depends on your timeframe and more importantly, how you feel about visiting ruins in general. There are 3 options for the type of ticket you can buy:

• One day pass - $37USD
• Three day pass - $62USD
• Seven day pass - $72USD

These are the increased prices as of February 1st, 2017 and as you can see they are not that expensive from a Western standard but by Cambodian standards, it is very expensive. Now, the ruin complex is actually quite huge so walking around between ruins is not really possible so you have a few options for getting around as well:

• Bicycle (rental in town) - $10USD/day
• Tuk-tuk (motorcycle with sidecar) - $25USD for entire day with driver
• Private Taxi (with air con) - $45USD for entire day with driver

Renting a bicycle is definitely the most economical option but it limits the number of ruins you can see in one day so most people who choose this option are doing so on a 3 or 7 day pass, which is honestly a great idea. However, we were not exceptionally interested in the ruins so we opted for a one day pass and the tuk-tuk because it wasn't that hot and the price was fair. The day before we were set to go, we went into downtown Siem Reap and just walked around and asked a few drivers how much for the whole day and settled on one who wasn't pushy and seemed like a nice guy.

The Big Day

Now, all the drivers tend to stick to the same itinerary unless you ask for something different, it generally consists of:

• 4AM pick up
• Drive to gate for opening to buy tickets
• Angkor Wat for sunrise
• Angkor Thom and surrounding ruins
• Lunch
• More surrounding ruins
• Phnom Bakheng for sunset
• Back to Siem Reap by 7:30PM

We chose to stick to this itinerary and we were quite pleased with it even though it was a long and exhausting day. We rose at 3:30AM and got ready for the day and our driver was prompt and smiling when we came to meet him, he then took us to the gate to buy tickets. We go there a little before most people so when the ticket booths opened at 5:00AM we were near the front of the line and got out really quickly. The downside to when we visited though was it was rainy season and it was quite cold and overcast when we were dropped off at Angkor Wat for sunrise so we didn't really get to see the sunrise proper.

Huge crowds

Walking through the complex

A little bit of sunrise

After watching sunrise (or lack thereof) outside the complex we spent an hour or so walking around the ruins, I was quite surprised to find them almost completely open, I had expected a specific route with the rest closed off to tourists. After this, we decided to have a coffee and something to eat just outside the When we returned to the tuk-tuk our driver was having breakfast so we waited a few minutes for him to finish before heading off to Angkor Thom and the surrounding ruins where we spent a few hours wandering around amazed by the complexity of the ruins. We walked through here for hours following the paths through the forest leading to other small sets of ruins, I was amazed at how well so many of them had been preserved over the hundreds of years they have been there. We met with our driver and he drove us to a few more sets of ruins before taking us to a restaurant for lunch, it was actually quite expensive but when you are in the heart of the tourist zone it is hard to find cheap options.

After lunch, we were off again to see more ruins but unfortunately, it started to rain by about 4PM so instead of continuing on to see sunset we opted to head back to Siem Reap and call it a day. I was really glad we made this decision because about 10 minutes after we left it started pouring rain and didn't stop all night, so we would have missed sunset anyway and more than likely gotten soaked as we didn't bring any rain gear. So all in all, we spent about 11 hours exploring the ruins and that was enough for me, as much as I enjoy museums and art galleries, I tend to get bored at ruins and forts and such. Everyone has their interests, and while this isn't necessarily one of mine it was a great way to spend my birthday and I don't regret it one bit.

Angkor Wat is a very religious place and at one of the sets of ruins the guard said my girlfriends t shirt was too revealing so we had to use a spare pair of pants to cover her, the guard laughed and said ok and in we went!

The Cost

At the end of the day we tried to do this as cheap as possible and I think we succeeded, we spent:

• Tickets = $74USD
• Tuk-tuk = $25USD
• Food = $15USD
• Total = $114USD or $57USD/person

To be able to see something of this calibre for this price is pretty fair in my opinion, given the cost of some of the other major tourist spots in the world. I highly recommend anyone visiting Cambodia to check out these ruins as they are a once in a lifetime thing to experience and are definitely worth the time and money.

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