How to avoid the crowds at Angkor Wat?
There are many Siem Reap travel notes/free travel routes to share on the Internet, but most of them follow the classic route of the small circle, large circle and outer circle. Basically, you choose this tradition The route means that you will compete with all the tour groups, people and cars, and you will be crowded together.
If you like taking pictures, you must be mentally prepared for heads to pop up everywhere. It is very difficult to take a photo without anyone!
Angkor Wat - Bayon Temple
Empty Angkor Wat - Rolos Ruins
Although independent travelers are relatively flexible in terms of itinerary and time, in the face of an endless stream of tour groups, the only thing lacking is integrity. How to avoid the crowds at Angkor Wat. Fortunately, I met very enthusiastic friends and tour guides locally. Here I will share my three-day free travel strategy for avoiding crowds at Angkor Wat.
1. Generally, the classic Angkor Wat route (strongly not recommended)
The traditional route to visit Angkor Wat is nothing more than two or three routes:
Sunrise Royal Bath, Cardamom Temple, Pantika Dai, Royal Bath, Transformation Tower , Dongmei Phong Temple, General Temple, Nirvana Temple, Sword Pagoda, Bakken Mountain
Sunrise Little Angkor "Bayang Temple" Bafang Temple " 12 Zodiac Tower " Dou Elephant Platform " Sky Palace
Queen's Palace , Bengmilie , Rolos Ruins
but this article is not about the traditional itinerary! ! ! Make no mistake! ! Unless you want to be crowded with tour groups and other tourists, try not to follow the crowd!
2. Visiting time can be divided into three periods: early morning (7-9am),
morning (9-12pm) and afternoon (2-5pm)
Angkor Wat is the least crowded in the early morning, so please make the most of the most precious early morning! But the early morning of Little Angkor is an exception. Don’t think that getting up early can avoid the crowds at Little Angkor. In fact, most travelers will go to Angkor Angkor Moat early in the morning to watch the world-famous sunrise, and then go directly to Angkor Angkor. Therefore, you must avoid Little Angkor in the early morning, and leave it to the popular Big Angkor or Ta Prohm in the early morning!
Great Angkor in the early morning - Bayon Temple
3. The best time to visit Little Angkor at dusk is!
In the evening, most tourists will also go to Bakken Mountain to watch the sunset, so visiting Little Angkor at dusk (3-5pm) will actually reduce the crowds.
Little Angkor at Dusk
4. Doing the opposite is the right way! Early morning is the best time to go to Ta Prohm Temple!
Since most people follow the small circle route, they first go to Little Angkor to watch the sunrise in the early morning before visiting, then go to Great Angkor in the morning, and then explore Ta Prohm Temple after a break at noon. So just do the opposite. After watching the sunrise outside the moat gate of Little Angkor, take yourself to Ta Prohm Temple early in the morning. Basically, there are only three or four kittens in the entire temple!
Ta Prohm Temple in the early morning
5. It is best to split it up and queue in the morning or afternoon!
Since most short-distance tour groups are also concentrated on the small circle route, the temples on the large circle route (Banti Kadai, Royal Bath, Transfiguration Tower, General Temple, Nirvana Temple, Sword Pagoda, and Bakken Mountain) are more crowded. There are much fewer people in the small circle, so don’t waste your precious time visiting the temples in the big circle. Anyway, there aren’t many people going to the big circle in the morning and afternoon.
Sword Pagoda
6. Go to Angkor temples in the rainy season to take beautiful photos!
Although it does not rain during the dry season, it is the peak tourist season in Angkor temples and the crowds are huge.During the rainy season, Siem Reap is not only green and colorful, but also relatively few people visit
digression, many people will choose to visit Siem Reap during the dry season, but if you want to see Tonle Sap (Khong Banglu The water stilt house ) is a selling point only in the rainy season! The Tonle Sap Lake in the dry season is just an ordinary lake, and the only things you see are houses on stilts with wooden rafters exposed; but if you go in the rainy season, the Tonle Sap Lake is like the Venice of the East, but residents not only ride in boats, but also watch It’s so fun to see the children floating one by one in the big pots, floating next to you!
Angkor Temple in the rainy season
Based on the above experience, I have arranged the following time itinerary, just follow it!
Recommended itinerary to avoid crowds
This is my strategy for avoiding crowds on this trip!
The first day
Sunrise: Little Angkor Sunrise
Early morning: Ta Prohm (Ta Prohm)
Morning: Prasat Kravan - Royal Bath (Srah Srang) - Transfiguration Tower (Pre Rup) - East Mebon Temple(East Mebon)
pm: Little Angkor(Angkor Wat)
The next day
Sunrise: Royal Bath Sunrise
Early morning: Angkor Thom – Bayon Temple
Morning: Angkor Thom – Bayon Temple – Bafang Temple (Baphuon) - Terrace of the Elephants - Phimeanakas - Zodiac Tower (Prasat Suor Prat)
Afternoon: Ta Som-Neak Pean-Preah Khan
The third day (outer circle)
Banteay Srei Temple-Beng Mealea - Rolous ruins Group)
The yellow is the original small circle route and the blue is the large circle route. I split them up to avoid the crowds.
In addition, the red is the outer circle route, just follow the route. Don’t stay at the Queen’s Palace for too long! The crowds of people follow this direction, so you should finish watching the Queen's Palace early and save time for Bengmelie and Rolos ruins later. It is very worth going!
If you feel that visiting temples every day is too boring, you can visit Tonle Sap Lake one day during the trip. The children there are very cute! (But remember that the water level is very low during the dry season, you may come back disappointed)
