I'm in Cambodia! Trip report and question about elephants...
 

So I've been in South East Asia now for a few days and have started to do my updates here where I did my updates for my last 101 day Europe trip:

http://www.tylernofziger.com/messageboard/index.php

And I have a question about where we should go to ride elephants?

I know there is an elephant here in Phnom Penh that we can ride for like 20 dollars, but we are kind of pressed for time here in this city. We are going to have a few days in Siem Reap toward the end of our trip and if anyone knows if you can ride elephants there I would love any info you could give me about it. How much would it cost and where would we go to ride an elephant in Siem Reap? Would you do that instead of trying to find one in Phnom Penh? It's just kind of a goal of ours. hehe

Thanks a ton Fodorites!

There are elephants in Siem Reap that you can ride, in the morning through the Angkor Thom gate to Bayon, in the late afternoon up the hill (and down) to see the sunset from Phnom Bakeng. As I remember, the cost was about US$20 per person.

Kathie is correct

During the morning you can ride an elephant at the south gate of Angkor Thom or near Bayon. Cost around $10

In late afternoon you can ride up the hill at Phnom Bakheng to watch the sunset, a 1/2hr ride for about $15

FWIW, we were in Siem Reap/Angkor two weeks ago and the cost for an elephant ride up Phnom Bakeng is now $25.

Haha typical...

Are there any good deals left in this world?

Actually 25 bucks for an elehant ride to see a sunset at Angkor Wat still sounds like a better deal than a prime rib dinner at a local Oregonian restaurant lol...

I love traveling...

Thanks for the heads up! We'll probably save the elephant ride for Siem Ream when we have a bit more time for fun stuff like that. We are really busy at orphanages here in Phnom Penh atm.

When we were there, the ride up was $20 and the ride down was $5. Believe me, once it is dark, you'll want to ride down - the steps are steep and uneven and badly worn. Enjoy!

Steps, what steps? Ha. When I was there two years ago it took me 20 minutes to walk back down the hill in the dark, mostly because of the footing. Definately go with the ride both ways.

This sounds really cool! And I know that dh with his bad knees will find it appealing. I assume that Ponheary can arrange for us to do this while we are with her?

I really love to ride the Elephant, if you would get another experience, you can also ride the elephant at Ayutthaya Historic Park in Thailand.

Yes, I'm sure Ponheary can arrange it for you. Just let her know that what you want to do.

Well we just rode the elephants about 3 hours ago haha. It was 15 dollars up and 10 dollars down. It gets dark FAST so it might be worth it do get the 2 way trip but we opted for only the ride up. In retrospect it was kind of fun fumbling around with only the moonlight to guide us haha... I'm updating my trip report now by the way :)

Throw a flashlight in your walk around bag. (Of course you already have the toilet paper and hand-wipes in the bag - right?) This will make your walk in the dark a little safer. The TP may come in handy too if you ate something that works a "little too fast!"

Hahaha that's a VERY good tip! And I started out with TP in my bag but took it out after a few days to make room for other thing. I did carry around a little bottle of stomach pills though which came in handy from time to time =)

Also, if I had to do the trip over again, I would DEFINITELY take a little flashlight. Power isn't something to take for granted, and those temples and paths get dark FAST at night.

In this country, as in most, it's better to be safe than sorry.