Angkor Wat Travel Forum

We are a group of six, travelling by land
from siem reap to bangkok, planning to cross
the border at poipet - arayan prathet.

I read its best to take camry taxi to the
poipet border. Is it safe to do so or is it
more reliable to take the bus?

many thanks. would really appreciate some
advise from fellow travellers.

the trip is safe and i don't reaylly see any need to take a taxi.
the bus ride is fine and very cheap.

I agree with Cachaseiro. Last February I traveled from Battambang (Cambodia) over the Poipet border to Bangkok with a bus. The distance from Battambang or Siem Reap to Bangkok will almost the same. The bus was fine and very cheap, but be aware that the Cambodian bus drops you at the border and you have to pass the border on foot with your luggage. At the Thai side, another bus will be waiting for you. I think this will be the same procedure if you're coming from Siem Reap, but maybe who has done this ride, can answer you that.

we got only 2 days in bkk, and getting to bkk safely and earlier
in the day may be better. other vt ians advised a charter for
a van may be better because a friend took all day, he got to khao
san rd already in the evening. will it not be safer, cheaper and
more convenient if we negotiate a van driver to help us as tour guide
to explore the angkor temples in one day, rather than a tuktuk?

many thanks!!! specially to cacheiro, i followed your advise re sn diego hostel before and really enjoyed it. i checked out the gas lamp district it was
more expensive and out of the way.

Like you we were on a limited time when we went to Siem Reab last year. We rented an a/c SUV to drive us around Angkor Wat for the day because we needed some respite from the heat which was just too much for us. We informed the driver which temples we want to visit and asked him if it is manageable in the time we have. We also asked his suggestion as to the most efficient route we can follow to give us miximum time in each site. We had to rely on our guidebooks and any person we can find to answer our questions. Admittedly, we read a lot of materials on Angkor Wat before we visited.

If you want a detailed account of what you are seeing in the complex you better hire a professional guide (your hotel can help you organize this). But if you are pressed for time you will not get to spend long time in each temple anyway so a guide might not be necessary. BTW, it cost us US$40 to hire the SUV for a whole day.

We took a taxi from Siem Reab to Poipet and then a bus from Aranya Prathet to Bangkok. We got to BKK at around 4pm. I don't know if that is better proposition for you.

tks monina c!!! really appreciate ur advise :-)

tks travel_kat, was able to connect to a guest house owner who helped arrange for cheap room, reliable travel-guide driver who brought us safely to the border after spending the whole day showing us the attractions worth seeing in angkor complex. was able to discover the pyramid of bhakeng to see the temples over ran by jungles from top of hill, rather than the usd15 per person ballon trip which as casacheiro said is perhaps a helium? baloon tied to ropes. lonely planet 2008 edition listed the price at usd11 per person, with the grp of 6, plus 1, our guide-driver, the money was better spent somewhere else, and bhakeng was it!!!