In the entire world, one of the most known ancient artifacts is the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat located in Cambodia in Siem Reap. This temple complex build over 4 centuries spans more than 40 sq kilometers. The Angkor Wat complex is a very green & lush visually stunning area, surrounded by small rice fields and mostly undisturbed natural scrub forests.

Angkor Wat itself is the main attraction. It is as you would expect one of the first World Heritage Sites. The physical size has the ability to take your breath away the first time that you get up close to it, with its 5 lotus like towers, and the large moat which is one kilometer on each side, and 100 meters across, is hard to get your head around. Getting to the top is quite a feat, but getting down is even trickier, they have one stairway that has a handhold and towards the late afternoon you get large crowds of people queuing up to get down from the top. But don’t let that stop, as you get magnificent views in all directions. Remember to bring real shoes here, flip flops and sandals tend to break, and can cause you to have a nasty fall in a place that doesn’t have any emergency medical services.

The temple itself is under a constant state of repair and restoration, funded mostly from contributions from outside of Cambodia. The entrance fees are around $26 a day and double that for 2-3 days. The best bet for most people is the 2-3 day pass which will give you enough time to see all of the main sites, and get back to your favorite site for a 2nd visit. A lot of the entrance fee goes to a private company for selling the tickets and security which has been not totally effective as there is still defacement occurring at the out lying temples. Angkor Wat has been spared a lot of the defacement for statues and statuary fragments that have ruined some of smaller temples. If you want to see more of the original statuary, you need to go to the National Art Museum in Phnom Penh, close to the Royal Palace. I recommend that you do the art museum, and take a pass on doing both the Killing Fields and S21, the Khmer Rouge ad hoc prison in Phnom Penh, as doing both of the genocide sites back to back will really mess up your head for a few days. Your Cambodia holiday vacation will be more pleasant if you focus more on the beauty, rather than the tragedy of Cambodia’s past.

Fred Tittle has lived and worked in holiday vacation resorts his entire life, from Lake Geneva’s Playboy Club, as a rock jock for KSPN FM in Aspen Colorado, he became a PADI Pro Scuba Diver in Hawaii, diving on Maui, Kauai, Kona on the big island, and Waikiki on Oahu. He now owns EcoSea Dive in Sihanoukville Cambodia where he teaches SSI and PADI scuba diving courses and runs liveaboards in the gulf of Thailand and Asia adventure tours, http://www.ecosea.com

Fred’s new project http://www.CheapCharliesHotels.com where he reviews cheap hotels , budget guesthouses, discount accommodations and cheap international flights, but is really an excuse to vacation more, China is up next.