Angkor Wat is one of the most recognisable ancient sites in the world and the surrounding area is said to be the greatest concentration of architectural riches anywhere – as one would expect, its a fantastic place to visit.
The problem is though is as with all such world-famous sites the huge commercialised tourist machine attached to it can spoil the experience. You’re looking for that feeling of wonder and adventure as you explore from one ancient temple being torn apart by the roots of giant jungle trees to the next . . . not trying to jump in between mega-phone wielding Chinese tour groups and trying to be original in your latest reason for why you don’t want a local Cambodian man to sell you a plastic statue. When they’re factored in, this is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️ or maybe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ wow factor experience.
But if you cycle it . . . it is a knock-out ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ wow factor and one of the word’s great travel experiences.
Whilst for the main temples, such as Angkor Wat itself, the crowds are largely unavoidable, the outside cycling routes have very few tourists. The roads are good, almost entirely flat and you have a range of options that are 17km – 26km. You can also largely make up your own route for large parts of it depending on how you’re feeling. In fact, our favourite part of the trip was heading in the “wrong” direction and finding many of the less well-known temples largely to ourselves.
Angkor Wat is awesome, it’s even better cycling it.
