Unless you’re taking a guided tour on a tour bus, its likely you’ll be exploring Angkor from the back of a motorcycle or TukTuk (rickshaw). This is preferable because it lets you go where you want, at your own pace, without following the crowds around.

Going rates are $8-10 per day for a motorcycle with driver, and about $14 and up for a tuktuk. Tuktuks can seat up to four passengers. Mountain bike rentals are about $2 per day. The entrance to the Angkor area is about eight kilometers from Siem Reap, the closest city. Car rentals (with driver) can be had for $25 / day and up. These prices go up if you go to some of the more distant temples, about 28 kilometers from the main cluster at Angkor.

There are two circuits that take in most of the major sites at Angkor. They are called, imaginatively enough, the Small Circuit and the Big Circuit. They don’t necessarily overlap, and most people with more than a day to visit Angkor do them separately. The Big circuit takes less time to do than the small circuit.

The Lonely Planet says:

Entry tickets to the Angkor area are controlled by local hotel chain Sokha Hotels, part of a local petroleum conglomerate called Sokimex, which in return for administering the site takes 17% of the revenue. A mere 10% goes to the Apsara Authority, the body responsible for protecting and conserving the temples, and the lion’s share is returned to the black hole that is the finance ministry.

There are children outside almost every temple, selling postcards, water and trinkets. They’re little hustlers, they know a lot of tricks to get westerners to buy their stuff. I usually just ignore them, it helps that I look like the last person who will ever buy jewellery. Most of them are cute and harmless, though I have heard some horror stories.

A common tactic is to ask your name, and then chat with you for a bit before asking you if you’ll buy something when you come out. Don’t agree to this, they will remember your name and they will try and hold you to it. A guy I met told the story of how a little seven year old girl started yelling at him when he came out and called him “a fucking liar” when he refused to buy anything. Other tactics include guilt trips and tears.

The price of a large bottle of water should be about 2000 riels or 50 US cents. Negotiations open at about two dollars. It helps to have exact change. Cambodia’s primary currency is the US dollar, though you will get change in riel for amounts less than a dollar. Exchange rate is 4000 riel to the dollar.

The Angkor area is very very large, and most people do not visit the more remote temples. If you do, stick to the paths and obey the posted signs, stay within the marked areas. They haven’t cleared all the landmines from the area yet, there is a very real risk of you stepping on one if you go tramping off the path. You should be fine at the more common, centrally located temples.

Some of the temples are large sprawling complexes, multiple kilometers long. When you visit one of these, its a good idea to have your driver pick you up on the other side, i.e. if you get dropped off at the West Gate, get picked up at East Gate, so you don’t have to double back when you’re done. Your driver usually won’t suggest this so its up to you to tell him to do so. This has the added advantage of you being able to escape the sellers of stuff, in case you said you’d buy something when you came out, just to get away from them.

In case you’re exploring Angkor by bicycle or your own (rental) motorbike its usually a good idea to have one of the shopkeepers outside each temple keep an eye on it when you’re inside. Theft is common. They may expect you to buy something when you come out. It helps to have a few small denomination riel notes (500 or 1000 should be adequate) to offer them as gratuity when you get your bike back, since you can’t really buy something at every temple you go to. Most of them will watch it for free, just for a chance to give your their spiel to buy stuff.

It can get really hot really early. Hats, sunscreen and an umbrella are recommended. I like to have electrolytes around as well. Also shoes or boots instead of flipflops or sandals. Even with transport between the temples you will be doing a lot of walking and climbing. Temple steps are really shallow, in some cases just a couple of inches deep, so you might be climbing up using hands as well. You don’t have to take footwear off in the temples.

I recommend getting to the Angkor area by five in the morning and getting back to town by eleven or noon, to avoid the heat and the crowds. This way you get to see the sunrise. It is spectacular.

There are two common locations to see the sun rise. One is outside the walls of the main Angkor temple, Angkor Wat. This is where most people go and where the tour buses go. Another good place is at Sra Srang (Pool of Ablutions). It overlooks a large lake, and is very peaceful.

Sunrise at Sra Srang, Angkor

A third, not very well known place to watch the sun rise is at the temple of Bayon. This is a very popular temple, but most people aren’t aware of its sunrise potential. From a distance it looks like a pile of rubble, but once you get closer you see that the towers of the temple have faces engraved on them. The temple is designed such that as the sun rises, each of the faces is lit up and revealed, one by one. The effect is said to be amazing. I am returning to watch the sun rise here tomorrow, and will report back.

Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom

After sunrise, most tour buses go around the area in a clockwise direction. You want to go counterclockwise to avoid the crowds.

There are three types of passes available: one day, three day and one week. If you purchase your pass after 5pm, that day doesn’t count, so you can potentially go in on your first day there in the evening to watch the sunset over some of the monuments, and then return the next day to explore. Its worth it.

Try not to pronounce it Angka or Angkar. I’ve heard Australians do this, inadvertantly. Its Angkor (Ang-core). Angkar means “Organization” in Khmer and was the name of the Big Brother entity set up in the Khmer Rouge years. Everything done in those years was done in the name of Angkar. It might be a sore spot with some Cambodians.

Most of the temples used to be Hindu temples, converted to Buddhist ones later. Many temples have Buddha statues in them, with offering boxes. Some Buddha statues are interesting and old, installed centuries ago. Some are plastic and cheap, probably put in a couple of years ago. Most of the buddha statues have offering boxes, but you shouldn’t feel like you have to make an offering. In most cases the money doesn’t go towards maintaining the facilities or to a charitable cause, but towards cigarette and beer money for the security guards.

The bathrooms scattered around the Angkor area are pretty good, the ones I visited have at least one full time staff member on hand whose job it is to clean the floor and toilets several times a day, so they’re quite sanitary. There is no toilet paper. They provide buckets of water or a spray-hose. Most bathrooms are some distance from the temples, often not within walking distance.  I think this is so that the septic tanks don’t affect the integrity of the structures.

A common piece of advice is to visit Angkor Wat, the main, largest temple last, because all other temples pale in comparison to it. I preferred some of the other temples, but maybe thats just me. Its a good idea, and logistically, makes things easier if you visit it last, because of the layout of the area.

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Addendum: I did visit the Bayon temple for sunrise, however I got there too late, it was already quite light. Best would be to get there when its pitch dark. It was still nice though. I recommend Sra Srang for sunrise if you’re only there one day.