We would like to take a short side trip to Angkor Wat from Bangkok. Any suggestions on the easiest and safest way to do this?

My wife and I flew from Bangkok to Siem Reap, the town where you stay a few miles from Angkor. It's about a one-hour flight, directly east to Siem Reap. Several good places to stay, ranging from guest houses to ultra luxury hotels. While you are there, it's worthwhile to take the tour to Tonle Sap, the huge lake where people live on houseboats. We found taking a tour cuts out a lot of hassle and interprets the Angkor ruins so you get the full picture. We went in November and it was plenty hot.

The fastest, easiest way to go is to fly. Bamgkok Air has the only non-stop between Bangkok and Siem Reap. There is no need to take a tour, you can do it much less expensively on your own. You can hire a car and driver once you get there (get a recommendation from your hotel). If you'd also like a guide, you can hire one once you get to Siem Reap.

Do a search in this site. As you can imagine, this is a question that gets asked often.

both of the people above have given you the details...bkk air is great, although they overcharge for this route---monopoly practically....maybe $275. r.t.
the hotels also overcharge given the community and the economy of cambodai...

BIT IT IS WORTH EVERY CENT ONCE YOU ARE THERE..

a guide/driver is a necessity to effectively use your time...they are about $20 each per day...

i suggest that you get your visa before you go but others disagree..

i further suggest that you plan to spend a minimum of 2.5 days there..

Disagree about the visa, guv. People with visas maybe had a 5-minute jump on people without visas, as both were made to queue. You must pay for your visa with US dollars.

Agree about flying Bangkok Airways. Expensive, but convenient, and a very pleasant flight. Flight attendants couldn't have been more polite.

I couldn't imagine seeing Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm, etc., without a guide. There are just too many things you can miss without one. For example, it would have taken me an hour to find THE CHURNING OF THE SEA OF MILK bas-relief at Angkor Wat if I had done it on my own. If you have the time to make discoveries on your own, fine, but I did not have the time, only being in Siem Riep for 3 days.

Go to the Central Market. It is very interesting, especially the "meat market" in the rear. Watch them "gut" a monkey right in front of you.

We did two nights in Siem Reap and if had more time an additional day would have been perfect. That said, we flew Bangkok Air (1-hrs flight), got our Visas upon arrival and were picked up by our guide and driver in an air conditioned Mercedes. It is very hot and humid in Cambodia and Bangkok, so be prepared.

We stayed at the 5* Sofitel Angkor and the entire 2-days with air, hotel, meals, guide & drive, all transfer, fees to the temples ran about $500/person.

The baht price for the Bkk air ticket is about 10-15% cheaper than the US$ price so if u have contacts with a local travel agent in Bkk get him to book your tickets and pick them up while in Bkk. Book well in advance as the convenient timings are always full.

www.olavi.com are a very reliable travel agent in BKK. You could email them from their website and get a quote for the airfare. We've used them several times. We fax them our visa card number then they mail us the tickets free or arrange for them to be dropped off at your BKK hotel. Never a hitch!! Good luck.

I guess it depends when you go to Siem Reap. We got our visa directly from the consulate in DC and were very happy we did. The airport visa area was a zoo and we just walked off our plane and through the entry. Better to be safe and get it ahead of time, when time is not an issue at all, than to wait and do it when you might be stressed or disoriented. What is really the harm in doing it early?

gnr

There is a cheaper air option. BangkokAir offers a Discover Asia Airpass but not on the web. you must contact them at their reservations email address: <[email protected]>. The deal is that you must fly 3 legs with them. If so, international legs like BKK to Siam Reap costs $80@ and domestic (within Thailand) legs cost $50@.

Not always "safe" to mail away your passport, which you may unexpectly need anyway.

Are there package tours avail from BKK, like I used to take to Burma years ago? I don't see them on the web. Not looking for saving every penny or a custom trip.

Looking for convenience, such as not having to reserve far ahead (agents pre-reserve blocks before tix sold). Looking for local visa handling (maybe group visa), and site travel included (maybe a group bus - is this offered by the hotels?). I'm plenty experienced with independant travel but sometimes just want a no-effort group tour - isn't this done anymore there?

Sure, there are zillions of places that will sell you an excursion to Siem Reap. Frankly, it's so easy to set up on your own, most people do it independently. You need to book your air (only one option from Bangkok which is Bangkok Air; or Malaysian Air is now flying in from KL or Silk Air flies from Singapore) and your hotel. The hotel can set you up with a car and driver plus a guide if you want. Remember that there are dozens of temples, so it's not as if a bus can take you to the site and that's it. Some people do take bus tours, but I wouldn't recommend them. You can get any of the travel agencies in Bangkok ot book you an excursion to Siem Reap, including Air, hotel and even driver and guide if you prefer.

Re: Mailing the passport. Didn't think about that since all I needed to do was drive it there then, drive back to pick it up. I can see the concern now.

gnr

Even if you proceed quickly through Passport Control with the visa you received ahead of time, you still have to wait for your luggage to be taken off of the plane. We did not have visas ahead of time at Siem Riep, went through visa line in 20 minutes, and still had to wait for our luggage.

Yeah, another thing we didn't have to worry about since we were the only people on our flight.

gnr

The only people on your flight? What flight did you take? Usually the Bangkok AIr flights to/from Bangkok are totally full.

Just remember..you need two empty facing pages in your passport if you get your visa at the airport. Plus $20 US. When we went, our plane was full and another plane landed a few minutes later...but not problem. I had the problem with a too-full passport. I was the last to get a visa after much discussion among the visa committee.

Elainee, that's a good reminder. I know of people who have had problems (not just entering Cambodia) because of not enough space in their passports. If you travel a lot to countries that require full-page visas, you may want to get a passport with more pages. My last passport I had to send off to get more pages added. So when I renewed, I had them send me a passport with more pages, which they were glad to do, no extra charge.

here are the details of bangkokair's discover asia pass:
DISCOVERY AIRPASS
>
> Discovery airpass program is applicable for one passenger per minimum 3 flight coupons of Bangkok
> Airways and Siem Reap Airways, maximum 6 coupons, each routing will be counted as 1 coupon. The
> passenger is allowed to stop over 1 time per city. For all domestic route of Thailand and domestic
> route in Cambodia , the airfare per coupon is USD50 and for international route the airfare is USD80
> (per 1 coupon) exception Bangkok to Xian and Chiang Mai to Xian is USD150.
>
> Please be advised the conditions of Discovery airpass as below ;
>
> 1. First flight must be confirmed before departure, other flight can be left open.
> 2. The journey must be complete within 2months from the first travelling date.
> 3. Rerouting charge of USD20 per transaction plus the charge for fare difference .
> 4. No refund after first departure.
> 5. Not allow to stopover more than 1 time per city
> 6. No minimum stay required
> EXCEPTION : One night in Siem Reap ( passengers travelling to siemreap are required to stay
> at least one night )
>
> **Fare is exclusive of airport tax and insurance surcharges and ticket fare will be converted to
> Thai baht based on exchanging rate**
>
> We can make a reservation for you directly, kindly send us informations below,
>
> 1. The passenger full name/surname/Title/ nationality
> 2. Contact number of homephone/businessphone/fax number with Area Code
> 3. The needed departure and destination city.
> 4. The flight time you need ( approximately ).
> 5. Inbound/Outbound connecting flight information including the departure and arrival time.
> 6. Age and date of birth for child 2- 11 years or infant under 2 years
>
>
> For further inquires, please do not hesitate to contact us.
> We are looking forward to serving you soon.
>
> Sincerely Yours,
> Ms Piyanan Cherdchom
> Reservation Officer
> Bangkok Airways, Bangkok, Thailand
> July 26, 2004
>
> www.bangkokair.com
> (The reservation's call center in Bangkok :66 02 265 5555 )

Kathie -

We were flying from Chiang Mai to Bangkok on Thai Air, then connecting to our Bangkok Airways flight to Siem Reap. Our Thai Air flight was delayed such that we were going to miss our connection (1-1/2 hours). We told this to the Thai Air rep in Chiang Mai. She talked to the Bangkok Airways rep and told us not to worry. When we got to Bangkok, they put us on this plane.

My records show (and still show) that our missed flight was the final flight of the day, so we aren't really sure what happened. Maybe it was the crew flight returning the plane to Siem Reap to start everything over the next morning. We probably should have been more concerned - two Americans flying into Cambodia on a flight that didn't exist with no other passengers, but while we found it a little weird, we were just happy to be getting to Cambodia since we only had two days alloted.

gnr