Tourists go to Siem Reap to particularly check out the Angkor Archaeological Park. One has two recommended routes to choose from: the small circuit, and the grand circuit. Small circuit (17km) comprises of the famous tourist spots such as Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, and Ta Prohm. So you can guess that this route has busloads of tourists. Meanwhile, the grand circuit (26km) is the longer route and offers a wider variety of architecture to a fewer crowd.
The recommended way of getting to and around the temples is to rent your own transportation from town. Options vary from bicycle, tuktuk, car or van. In our case, we tried two options.
Green E-bike. 
Upon browsing over the web, I chanced upon a post that introduced me to an electronic bike hire business called Green E-bike. Getting on an e-bike to roam around the temples gave me instant excitement because the idea was very new to me. I liked the idea that I had the freedom to DIY my temple hopping experience. It is faster and non-strenuous as compared to the ordinary bicycle. And, it’s eco-friendly, too!
We had a seamless experience in renting the green e-bikes. One e-bike is strictly for one rider only. I made a free reservation of two e-bikes via their website a few days before the trip. They quickly confirmed after a day. To get the e-bikes, we had to deposit both of our passports. For safety precautions, we underwent a crash course. Kyle and I had no prior experience riding a motorbike, but Kyle learned quickly, while I, well, I struggled a lot.
When I passed the driving test of Green E-Bike after how many turns, they finally let us go. We then head on our way to buy one-day pass tickets to temples. However, I still had a very stressful time maneuvering the e-bike. I was running on 20 km per hour, and was not at ease going high speed. I was over-imagining of crashing into the abyss. The passing vehicles, busy intersections and the eerie sound of the crickets were emotionally straining.
The e-bike was not physically tiring, but it was emotionally and mentally tiring as hell. Do not get me wrong. The e-bike was easy to use, and Kyle enjoyed it. It was just not for me. I was drained and exhausted after the ride that we decide to resort in renting a tuktuk for or next day’s actual Angkor Archaeological Park tour.
Tuktuk. 
I read in the internet that a lot of travelers were arranging their modified circuit tours with the tuktuk drivers. I was interested to try it out since I had in mind places that I wanted to visit in both small and grand circuit tours. However, Chana, our tuktuk driver, did not want to modify the tour and was charging us a lot for a personalized one. I guess it depends on the tuktuk driver then.
Since renting a tuktuk to Angkor was not part of our initial plan, we felt really broke spending for it. And so, we just opted for the small circuit tour than the modified tour we were hoping for because it was way cheaper. Plus, it had Siem Reap’s staple attractions anyway.
The tuktuk was so much better than my experience in riding the e-bike. Our ride was very pleasant. Even though the weather was hot, the tuktuk covered us from the sun and it was windy once it kept moving. Chana was also easy to find and contact. Having someone drive for us gave us an ample time to rest in between temple visits.
Angkor passes can only be bought at their main ticket booth located at the main road to Angkor. Everyone purchasing a ticket needs to go to the ticket booth because they will be capturing a photo of the visitor right there. The validity of a ticket starts on the day it was bought.
It is an open secret that purchasing a ticket from 5pm to 6pm will enable you to visit the temples for its remaining opening hour, and it is still eligible for use for the following entire day. When we went at the ticket booth around 4:45pm, the crowd already started to pile, but the transaction per person was very swift. Don’t be like us though and line up at the correct lane.
We only allocated one day for the Angkor Archaeological Park tour. So we took advantage of the open secret to save time, especially that we are going to chase the sunrise at Angkor Wat the next day. Also, it was a good opportunity to start exploring Angkor Wat, which is the nearest temple from the entrance. I think it was also a good decision that we started the Angkor Wat tour the next day early because we were ahead from the rest of the crowd.
Angkor Archaeological Park
Ticket Booth Address: Charles de Gaulle Rd.
Entrance Fees:
1-day pass: $20 (one day validity)
3-day pass: $40 (one week validity)
7-day pass: $60 (one month validity)
Opening Hours: 5:00AM – 6:00PM
Since our E-bike plan did not turn out well, the next logical option for cheapskates like us would be to rent a tuktuk for the small circuit tour. I found our tuktuk ride to be pleasant. It gave us enough rest between scenic spots. I figured the e-bike or bicycle would be too exhausting.
For our food, we tried asking Hak if he could pack the free breakfast on our tab for our Small Circuit Tour, but he declined because it was too early. We had no choice but to order food from the stalls in the Angkor Archaeological Park. Nothing special with the food there, just inflated prices and big servings.
Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat means “City of Temples.” It is a classic Khmer architecture, and the largest monument among Angkor Temples. The temple stands atop a terrace, and it has five towers that are shaped like a lotus.
Angkor Wat is the nearest temple from the main gate. Entry and exit is only on the west gate. We spent the sunset just exploring the libraries located in the courtyard. We decided to go back before it got too dark because we were riding the e-bike that time.
The next morning, we went back to Angkor Wat for the sunrise. Finding the sunrise spot was easy. We just followed the crowd walking towards the West side, which eventually led us to the iconic postcard shot of the monument. When we arrived, I was a bit dismayed that there were already a lot of people who secured a spot at the perimeter of the pond. They must have waken up very early!
It was not surprising to see a huge crowd because the internet had already given me a heads up. I don’t like being amidst a big crowd, but I was glad that I did not miss this beautiful sunrise. (Plot twist: the sun did not show up.) By 6:15am, we had given up our hopes for the sun to peek out the clouds. With this, we started our tour in the vicinity.
I could say that the Angkor Wat was very interesting and grand. It had a lot of bas reliefs, majestic corridors, khmer lion guardians, and what used to be two big swimming pools. It was not hard to notice the highest temple in Angkor Wat. It is a famous attraction because of its steep stairs. But they had built new wooden stairs now. We were not able to see what was up there because the temple is only open from 8 am to 5pm.
Beware of scammers! Inside Angkor Wat, we were greeted by two locals who gave us incense sticks and led us to the altar to pray for “good luck”. I instantly got the intuition that they were scammers, but Kyle seemed very happy and accepting of their kindness, so I just let it pass. I expected the worse of having to spare some change afterwards. But, wow, I was shocked that they were asking for 20 USD. I got afraid that they would harm us because there was nobody around, good thing Kyle was very assertive, and we just ended up giving those pranksters 1000 riel.
Angkor Thom South Gate. A long line of mythical figures made of stone led us to the entrance of Angkor Thom. On the right of the entrance stands the demons wearing a grimaced face and a military headdress. And on the left are the Gods wearing a calm expression and a conical headdress. It was evident that some heads had been replaced with new copies. I hope they made the stone color close to the original shade though.
Angkor Thom means “The Great City,” and it was the last capital of the Khmer Empire. It was built 100 years later to Angkor Wat. This place is fortified with stone walls to protect the priests, palace officials and the military who used to reside here. It also houses buildings of the kingdom’s adminstration. In here, we visited the Bayon, Baphuon, Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King.
Bayon. Bayon is situated at the exact center of Angkor Thom. It has 54 towers, and over 2000 large carved faces of the king. More than the faces, the intricately carved bas-reliefs in the interior were also something we found beautiful.
Again, beware of scammers in this area. We saw a local that offered locals to take photos for them. Make sure to agree on a price before taking the photograph.
Baphuon. From Bayon, we walked northwest to reach Baphuon. It took some time for us to locate this place and had to ask a street sweeper. The temple seemed to be in poor condition, but the causeway was still standing very strong.
Terrace of the Elephants. This 300m-long terrace served where the King stood to witness public ceremonies such as festivals, games, processions and parades. It is also said that the King would appear on this terrace to hear out the complaints and problems of the citizens of his Kingdom.
Terrace of the Leper King. The terrace of Leper King is right after the Terrace of Elephants. Legend has it that Angkorian king Yasovarman I suffered from leprosy. Thus, the place was called “The Terrace of Leper King” because the moss growing out of the statue is quite reminiscent of the Leper King.
In this place, we also located the so-called secret passage. It was not hard to miss, just look for the hole in the wall from the ground level.
Thommanon. 500 metres away from the Victory Gate of Angkor Thom lies Thommanon. By this time, the temples started to look all the same, so we just took a photo of the structure then left.
Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is a UNESCO World Heritage Site particularly because it is pretty much the same as it was found before. It is famous because of the huge roots that had grown out of the ruins. And also, there was Angelina Jolie’s movie.
After Ta Prohm, we decided to skip the Banteay Kdie and Sras Srang, which I deeply regret right now. Sras Srang was one of the places that I really wanted to go because of it’s man-made water. I must have forgotten all about it because of the heat that we decided to call it a day.
There are a lot of stalls lined up near the sunrise spot in Angkor Wat. While watching the sunrise, we ordered breakfast from one of the restaurant staffs that was roaming around the area. Eating was a bit hard because we were sitting side by side with the other tourists. There were nice picnic spots at the side the lotus pond, but we wanted to be one with the tourists in capturing that famous sunrise shot. We ordered banana pancake, vegetable rice and drinks. The servings were too big for our size, and we did not finish it.
Across Terrace of Leper King are street food vendors. We ordered drinks here and finished our leftover food from Angkor Wat.
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