I am visiting Angkor Wat this Summer and wonder what people think about booking a tour in advance versus hiring a guide and driver once there. Any leads/resources to good guides or where to get one would also be greatly appreciated.

justin-- <BR> <BR>i went to angkor w/o a guide, and a key part of my experience was the freedom to climb around the structures w/o regard for someone else's schedule, in silence much of time time, poring over the scenes in the carvings and discovering different levels of passageways and chambers w/in each complex. i went w/ my family abt a year ago. we stayed originally at a dive booked on the internet where it seemed the people weren't totally honest w/ us, cked out early and went to angkor village and a beautiful, 2-story cabana for 4 at $300/nite, where it was easy to arrange for a car and (non-english-speaking) driver at a reasonable cost. we had books w/ detailed descriptions of the sites, so we chose where to go and spent as long as we liked. as long as we could reasonably pronounce the name of the site, we got there. even made the long drive out to tonle sap lake one afternoon and spent a couple hours on a private boat there. but the most magical time was when we asked the driver to just drive us ard angkor at dusk, and the sight of one after another fantastical structure adorned w/ giant faces, dragons, elephants looming out of the jungle twilight was one of the memories i'll carry forever.

I went to Angkor 2 years ago and pre-booked a tour through the internet which included the transfers from the airport, hotel and private tour for 2 nights/3 days for approx. US$200 pp/dbl occ. Cambodia wasn't a cheap place to go, everything was in US dollars. Our tourguide spoke English pretty well and was unobtrusive. We pretty much went at our own pace and it was nice to have him point out points of interest and go through the history of the area. We toured Angkor for 2 days, which was enough for time for us. It was truly an amazing place and our favourite stop (we also visited Thailand, Vietnam and HK on that trip). We had friends who also travelled there and booked a guide/driver when they got there. I'm not sure how they found them though, I imagine the hotel has a list.

We were in Angkor in January of this year, and we also basically went without a "real" tour guide. <BR> <BR>We stayed in an average hotel (Motel 6 quality - nothing fancy, but clean, of adequate size, air conditioned, cable TV) for US $35 - great location, too. <BR> <BR>We also found it to be one of the CHEAPEST places we've ever travelled (and we live in China). My advice is to make a currency "cheat sheet," and start your bargaining for ANYTHING at no more than 1/3 of what they quote you - do the bargaining in their currency, and when you get close to the price you want, give another offer in USD, which they prefer, so you can come down a little in price. <BR> <BR>When we arrived in the airport, there was a little counter at which we paid for motorbike taxis to our hotel (I think air conditioned cars are also available, but this was our first "backpacking" trip, so we thought it would be more fun on a motorbike - and it WAS!). <BR> <BR>Those drivers are available for taking you to and from the site every day, which is what we did. We paid them about US $6 per day, and they did everything according to our timeline. They had recommendations about which ones to see at what times of day, but we were absolutely in charge of the schedule. <BR> <BR>We did see a lot of people in cars, but we thoroughly enjoyed being on the motorcycles. For us, it made the experience much more fun, and we really felt like we got to see and experience the countryside and the people much more from that vantage point. <BR> <BR>I am SURE that all hotels (and even most restaurants - and street corners) can point you to a guide if you want one, but I personally would just recommend that for maybe one day. The amazing thing about Angkor is that it is still relatively undiscovered (shhh!), and so my husband and I frequently found ourselves alone in one area of a temple or courtyard - it was a wonderful experience, and made that much richer by NOT having a guard tagging along explaining everything. We also had the guide books - I recommend reading them in advance.

Sawatdee Mari, <BR>My Dad and I are going to Hanoi and Angkor Wat Feb. 2002. Have you done this? Should we fly? Train? Bus? Where to stay and for how long is sufficient to experience this city? Pleae pass on any info you have. Much thanks. <BR>Thanh