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I have several questions re: the itenerary suggested to me. We're hiring a tour guide and below is his suggestions: Day 1: arrival in Siam Reap 730am. Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom (South gate,> Bayon, Elephants terrace, Palalay Dead gate), Phnom Bakheng stay till sunset. Day 2: Sunrise at Angkor Wat, back to hotel for breakfast. Prah Khan, Banteay Samre, Banteay Srei, Pre Rup. At night dinner with watching Cambodian traditional performance (Apsara show) Day 3: Ta Promh, Art School (Artisan D'Angkor), local market, floating village stay till sunset Questions: 1) Is watching Apsara show worth it? 2) What about Artisan D’ Angkor? I’m into art, so I’m thinking of skipping it and maybe go somewhere else 3) What’s in the Floating Village? 4) Anybody tried other place for sunset aside from Phnom Bakheng? I read from reviews that a lot of people go there for sunset, so I think it’s going to be crowded. 5) Any other temples worth going to? Thanks! Feedbacks and opinions are very much welcome!
You are hitting all of the main package tour places. We just showed up in Siem Reap, grabbed a tuk-tuk and headed to the complexes and skipped all of the other tourist trap stuff. We used a car to get to the more out of the way places. A quick view of many of the temple ruins that you are looking at visiting are on a short video I shot when we visited in 2009: "The Temples at Angkor" - Angkor Wat Video by GrumpyDiver One of the nicest places (it's a day trip to visit) is Beng Mealea. It's far away from the main temples around Siem Reap, is not overrun by tourists and is still overgrown by the jungle. "Beng Mealea - The Lost Temple of Angkor" - Angkor Wat Travelogue by GrumpyDiver
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For me personally an apsara show would not be worth it. There are also apsara dancers at some of the Angkor temples. So that is an option if you are interested. You don't need a tour to go to Artisan D’ Angkor. It is about one block from Ei8ht Rooms. There are beautiful things there but high prices also. As an artist, you may want to watch some of the classes though. The floating village in Tonle Sap Lake is worth visiting. Phnom Bakheng was really crowded at sunset. Sunset turned out to be a great time to go to Ta Prohm since there were only about 10 other people there. In general to avoid the crowds, we did not go at the "normal" time. Another example was Angkor Wat. We went in the morning right after sunrise when many of the people were leaving. For the time that you have, your temple list is good. I'll email you my itinerary so you can compare. It's too bad that you don't have enough time to do Beng Mealea and Koh Ker, but that takes a long day all by itself.
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thanks for the replies! We might cancel the other tourist places and go to Beng Mealea and Koh Ker. These places really looks worth it to go from what we've seen in the internet. Thanks again!
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Since you are considering Beng Mealea and Koh Ker, I'll send you my Feb-Mar 2010 itinerary also. Much of it does not apply for you but some of it may help. I assume that you found my Beng Mealea and Koh Ker tips on VT. As I recall, I put a link to a tour that I found on the internet after I got back home.
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Beng Melea was our favorite temple, since it is still partially covered by trees and in a state of disrepair. There is now a paved road that goes there, so it is an easy day trip from Siem Reap. We hired our taxi driver from the airport to take us there. The floating villages are only interesting to see in the rainy season. In the dry season, they are no longer floating, but sit on dry land. The Apsara show we saw was at a restaurant in Siem Reap. It was OK, but not as good as seeing the temples. We figured that we had to eat dinner anyways, so we maight as well see the dancers while we ate. We skipped Artisans d'Angkor and just shopped for an hour or two for souvenirs at the local market near Pub Street.
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