Expert: Dick Walker Date: 1/6/2002 Subject: Angkor Wat
Question 1) I will be traveling to Vietnam and wondered if there is an "easy" way to get to Angkor Wat from Vietnam.
2) What other sites do you recommend in Cambodia?
Answer Hi Nancy, The "easy" way is to fly to Phnom Penh and take the boat up the Tonle Sap. Flying is expensive though, and the distances are quite small, so unless you're in HCM City or Hanoi, it's as much trouble to fly as to take a bus, which isn't as bad as it sounds. From HCM City to PP is only an easy day's travel; the boat to Siem Reap is 4-5 hours. Th Angkor park, as you no doubt know, consists of numerous individual sites, and nearby is Banteay Srei, not to be missed because of the fine preservation of its carvings. A bit further afield is the Roluos group, maybe 20-30 km SE of Sim Reap, notable for being the oldest, (therefore Hindu) group in the area. Preah Ko was profoundly Javanese in style, but heavily modified by the Khmers a couple hundred years after it was built. As to other sites, there are three that I like; you won't be bothered by any other western tourists, although at Preah Viharn in the far north, many local Buddhists keep the place hopping. It's virtually on the Thai border, south of Kantharalak, Thailand, and tough to get to from the south. Five monumental gopura, it's truly colossal in size, nearly 1000 yards long. Sambor Prei Kuk is on the Stungsen River, north of the Tonle Sap, consists of three groupings of ruins, are very old (7th century)and (I think) Brahministic in origin. Enormous walls, moats, very interesting place, but no place to stay, except to camp at the site. Takeo is right on the road from PP to Sihanoukville, mostly laterite, much damage from last year's floods. It's an interesting stop if you're going to the beach for a few days (and you should).
Hope I haven't bored you too much. Dick Walker
