Cambodia from Thailand
 

Any advice on visiting Angkor Wat from Thailand? Budget places to stay? How long will I need? What else should I see?

what's budget to you, and how long have you got?

Do a search on this site for Angkor Wat. There are dozens and dozens of posts about this. Once you have some info, ask the questions you have that were not answered by the previous posts.

Thanks for advice, budget for me is £10 a day - found wonderful friendly guesthouses in Thailand last year well within this budget and could afford to eat as well!

Then I can recommend "Shadow of Angkor" guesthouse. There are other places in that price bracket but I was happy with this one. It's just round the corner from the old market so excellently placed for eating out. No garden (usually a must have for me) but it does have an enclosed verandah where you can take breakfast.

If you are going to make the effort to go then I would say buy the 3 day pass for the Angkor site - you don't have to spend all day everyday out there, but much better than trying to cram everything into one day.

Just my opinion.

Whoops, just realised you said 10 quid not 10 dollars. The above is 10USD so may not be up to your required standard.

Happy travels.

I would say that three full days is what you need for Angkor Wat. Then you need to decide if you want to see any other part of Cambodia. For me, the Killing Fields left a more lasting impression than the temples. To me going to Cambodia and not going to them is a big mistake.

I agree with glorialf, you should not miss the Killing Fields. It does leave a lasting impression, as do the temples at Angkor, but in a much different way. The drive out the Killing Fields was also very interesting. If you've ever seen the movie, it's just like that--dirt roads with goats and other animals walking on the road ahead of the car. Needless to say, the drive can take a bit longer because of that. A visit to the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh is also very worthwhile. Beware however, it will leave you very uneasy, but so will the Killing Fields.

Can the Killing Fields be done in a day trip from Siem Reap? I have no idea where the two are in relation to each other.

The Killing Fields are just outside Phnom Penh which is around 314kms from Siem Reap. It cannot be done as a day trip so should plan on a night there. There are several ways to get to PP from SR, the fastest is flying. Other ways are by boat, by bus or by share taxi. I agree with the above post that both the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng prison are very worthwhile.

can one fly from PP to bkk? Are there convenient flights, reliable airlines?

Yes, you can fly between PP and BKK. Thai Air has regular flights.

Hawaiiantraveler, you can fly with Bangkok Airways-Siem Reap airways: it's cheap and reliable! We flew Phnom Penh-Bangkok-Koh Samui-Bagkok for 190USD.

Hi, Alice13--
I've been on the Africa boards lately in preparation for our trip to Kenya and Tanzania which is coming up very soon now--June 27. For some reason, your name just crossed my mind. I've greatly enjoyed and benefited from your input on the Asia boards. So, I thought I'd cross over and see if you're still active there. Glad to see that you're still around. Once again, thanks for answering some of my questions in the past. In particular, I enjoyed your comments concerning the doctor in Siem Reap.

Hi princesschristina! I travelled from Bangkok-Siem Reap-Bangkok in 3 days by road last year.

DAY 1: start out from Bangkok early morning; take a 5-hour bus to Aranya Prathet; cross the border on foot to Poipet in Cambodia; take a 3-hour car rental service to Siem Reap. Arrive around 6 PM. i don't remember the name of the guest house i stayed at, it was spartan but not a problem since i was hardly in the hotel except to sleep.

DAY 2: start out for angkor at 5:30 AM, with the same car rental i took from poipet to siem reap, and a guide contacted through the driver; explored the temple site until 6 PM (sundown). after the temples, the driver took us around for dinner too.

DAY 3: left siem reap 5:30 AM, same driver took us on the 3 hour drive back to poipet; crossed the border on foot again; 5-hour bus from aranya prathet to bangkok. we arrived around 3 PM.

angkor was fantastic. i would have wanted to stay longer but i found the one day sufficient; really helped to have a tour guide, since he paced the tour well and we were able to cover lots of ground.

total cost of this itinerary was only around US$275 for 2 people. worth every cent. :)

lsk, the website you recommend is a commercial website for tours.

For excellent (non-commercial) information on Cambodia, I recommend www.talesofasia.com This is THE best resource for people wanting to overland from Thailand to Cambodia.