In fact, the fastest & easiest way to get to Angkor Wat is to fly between Bangkok and Siem Reap with Bangkok Airways. The downside is that there is no competition on this line, and as a result the tickets are very expensive: about 120 € for a flight of 50 minutes (and I speak of one way).
Then, of course, there’s the cheap & backpackers – which is even a little adventurous:
1) You go from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet (city on the border between Thailand and Cambodia) by bus or train (5 or 6 hours, the train is slower but more scenic);
2) Once in Aranyaprathet you must somehow reach the market Rongklua, but should not be a problem since you’ll find yourself surrounded by taxi drivers with their tuk-tuk. At the bottom it is just 7 km away …
3) In the market there is immigration Cambodian, whose offices, eye, are only open from 07:30 to 20:00. When you go in these offices will get the visa, the modest sum of U.S. $ 20. You must have a passport with and possibly American dollars, because if you pay in their currency they will ask you twice the amount;
4) After obtaining the visa, you will board a free shuttle cambodian government, with destination to the city of Poipet, after the borders;
5) Once there you can choose how to get to Poipet to Siem Reap, 150km away: taxi, ride on a pick-up, or other little healthful means of transport.
Finally, we mark, which reads a bit everywhere in forums, to carefully avoid “tourist bus” they say to be able to move directly from Bangkok to Siem Reap: these are tricks for tourists who will take you around for hours (and I speak of 10 – 12 hours) for shops, restaurants, market stalls “affiliates” in order to rip you off as much money as possible before you get to Siem Reap, of course at night, in enclosed temples, they will try to force you to spend the night in an inn.
By Nikos K
Photos: Muhamad Adib, Trey Ratcliff, Mike Behnken, Thaths.
