Expert: Dick Walker Date: 5/10/2001 Subject: Angkor Wat
Question We will be visiting Angkor Wat for 2 1/2 days in August. What is your advice of shots that we should make sure to have. What is the bug situation at that time. What should we plan to do in the evening after spending the day at the ruins. Do you have any recommendations that the guide books usually leave out. Thanks
Answer Bugs will be bad, but the rain will be worse. I've never taken shots, but I'm fatalistic anyway. Most malaria drugs aren't very effective, anyway and mask symptoms. Anything else is a waste of time, unless you're spending a sizeable amount of time in Asia, in which case, I'd consider a half dozen ccs of gamma-globulin. As to recommendations, I do have a few concerning the ruins and a few concerning Siem Reap. 1) Get up early and be at the sites as soon as possible...I had no problem with access at 0700, at which time they're empty. At about noon, return to SR, have lunch & a nap. At 1500, return to the sites...it'll still be hot and muggy, but you won't be tapped out like every other farang. 2) Do go to Banteay Srei; ignore the advice of drivers who warn you off for a variety of bogus reasons. While there, take pictures with a good flash source if the subject is in the shadows...the carving is outstanding. 3)Go to Ta Prohm early with no guide. the mood of the place in the mist, when you're the only ones there is way past primeval. seven am is good...six is better if you can get into the reserve. 4) A car & driver is $US20/day, all day. Some charge an extra five for Banteay Srei, although the once horrific road is now much improved. They know less than you about the ruins and should stay in the car (90% do anyway). There are almost no knowledgeable guides, which doesn't keep guide wannabes from trying to charge exhorbitant guide fees for no service whatsoever. 5) Cambodia has the highest percentage of population HIV rate in Asia. Enough said. 6) Are your accommodations set? If not, get back with me. 7) I assume you're flying in from Bkk. If not, ditto. 8) Change NO money into rials; noone will accept them, a fact that few believe...instead, take a big bunch of US one dollar bills. If something should only cost forty cents, get three for a buck...if it doesn't work out right, bargain harder, and never, never pay the asking price, if only for my sake. 9) Another "hard to believe": the local beer is good; you should only drink from a bottle that you have opened. 10) You have lots of eating choices in SR. I'd stick with the cambodian and the soi-disant european places, and be careful of raw food and what it may have been washed in. Bon Chance
