Visit Angkor temples in mountain biking

Another way to discover the temples of Angkor

If you go to Cambodia , temples of Angkor are immanquable. They are considered the 8th wonder of the world, rightly. But what is the best way to visit them? When I went there, I did not hesitate: I took one ATV ! It is of course not the best option to visit the temples, I do not hide it from you, but if you are a small adventurer, you will appreciate it. I will present my experience and my opinion on this.

Flickr – victoriapeckham

Full freedom

My priority was to visit the temples of Angkor fully free . So I decided to rent a mountain bike This cost me $12 for 5 days in Siem Reap, a little over $2 a day. You can find a bike for $1 a day, but I advise you to invest a little more to be comfortable with good equipment. It doesn't cost much anyway. There are many shops specializing in renting bicycles and mountain bikes all over the city, I have no specific address to give, I went to the first I saw. The visit of Angkor temples in mountain biking allows several benefits :

• you are free to go When you want (take a tuk-tuk returns to the same would tell me, but you have to give an appointment to the person, you have to find someone you can trust)
• you are free to go where you want, and stop where you want
• you can go to places where no tourist is going
• you go to your rhythm

However, it is also a few disadvantages :

• each day, it is several kilometers to go, from 15 km (15 km A/R simply for Angkor Wat) to 30 km or more for further explorations
• it is too hot, a lot of sweat because heavy and wet climate

Note that if you take a mountain bike, it is that you are usually . Although roads are flat, it can be tiring to make the return trip once a day for 3 days. If you go to your rhythm, it can be very Pleasant .

What time(s) to visit Angkor Temples?

Everything depends if you want to avoid the crowd or prefer the best moments... Indeed, at sunrise and sunset, it is the moments Day the most beautiful because the brightness on the temples makes the place magical, even if it is at those hours there is the most world ! For this you will have to get up early in the morning (it is necessary to be there for 5:30-6h), and stay there until evening (check at 5:30pm, remember that you have to go back after). To avoid the crowd, just go there from 7am (but the crowd arrives around 9am-10am), and visit between noon and 2pm when people eat. But be careful, in the afternoon, from 14h-15h, this is the time when there is the most world. So don't. It is very hot in the day, especially between 10am and 5pm, so it will be difficult to escape the heat, expect water.

Flickr – Paul Mannix

How to visit the Temples of Angkor?

I am not an expert, but the way I visited the temples I liked. First, here are them tariff rates for entry on the domain of the temples of Angkor:

• 1 day $20 (required photo)
• 3 days $40 (required photo, valid for one week)
• 7 days $60 (required photo, valid for one month)

Here’s how I proceeded : I took the 3 days . I decided I had time, and I wanted to do this quietly. I visited the site every day, planning to visit a number of temples defined. I kept the best for the end (for me it was Ta Prohm ) in order to motivate me to return there every day (doing the same path every day can demortiver, but the temples are so worth the blow that we don’t think about it). I was only going 3 or 4 hours a day , which is entirely sufficient. Because imagine if you get up at 6am with a day of visit with the crowd, warmth, and sleep, you go home every night exhausted. Only 3-4h allowed me to take my time, to enjoy, and when I came back, I took a shower and went for a ride in town.

Tips and tricks

• Take one hotel or guesthouse which gives direct access to the main road (for the anecdote, the avenue to go to the temples is called “Charles de Gaulle”)
• vary your journeys by arriving at the water point just before Angkor Wat to avoid taking the same paths
• take water
• Let yourself be guided by your instincts you will fall randomly on small desert temples, elephants, monkeys, and other surprises...
• take a padlock because you can't go into the bike temple enclosures (not all)
• request a rescue air room in case

Personal feedback from my experience

Of course, I sweated like a calf (but that’s because I was doing very hard), and it was very hot (it’s because I was getting up at 11 am). But honestly, I really enjoyed myself. I went in paths that no one took, I walked on small paths and arrived in tiny villages before turning around. I’m sure with a tuk-tuk (or worse, with a bus) I wouldn’t have as much taken advantage of my stay in Siem Reap . In short, if you had a doubt, I confirm it, it’s not easy because it’s hot, but we’re much more free to do what we want on a bike.

My mountain bike in Angkor while I was eating in a French restaurant – 3 months in Asia it’s long sometimes 😉