This week, we're all about Angkor.
There are plenty of options for traveling to and from Siem Reap. Most visitors arrive from either Bangkok or Phnom Penh. Each city provides hourly buses, daily boats and endless share taxis. Several airlines fly into Angkor's entry point daily, too. But every mode of transportation has its pros and cons.]]>
This week, we're all about Angkor.
Be prepared. Visitors to Angkor are confronted with great beauty and terrible ugliness. Indifference toward poverty occurs everywhere, but the contrast is even more stark in a city surrounded by a great world wonder and filled with foreign-owned, five-star resorts.
The ultimate irony of Angkor is that a thousand years ago, poor Khmers built the great temples they were never allowed to enter, and today they are essentially left out of Angkor's lucrative tourism industry.]]>
This week, we're all about Angkor.
The strategy for visiting the temples of Angkor comes down to this: Divide and conquer. Paying a thorough visit to each and every temple can take weeks, with dozens of structures within the main complex and dozens of other outliers dotted up to a two-hour drive from Angkor Wat.
Tackle the temples by breaking the area into regions, and hire a tuk tuk to take you to the temples in that area. For those with only one day to visit, after a morning at Angkor Wat, here's a breakdown of the highlights.]]>
This week, we're all about Angkor.
We're the kind of travelers who are loathe to admit we're tourists, but in the end, it's all semantics. When visiting Angkor Wat, Southeast Asia's tourism capital, it's better to embrace the moniker.
After purchasing the obligatory fanny pack, we suggest hiring a guide. No, really: It's impossible to fully understand the history and significance of the area's many ruins without one.]]>
On the list of people we're glad we're not--after Bristol Palin and Guy Ritchie, natch--comes Thai premier Somchai Wongsawat. The masochist voluntarily agreed to lead Thailand amid unprecedented government protests.
If the burning streets of Bangkok aren't enough to worry about, now the guy has to deal with a potential war with neighboring Cambodia. Last week, fighting erupted along the countries' border over this UNESCO World Heritage temple that both claim to own.
Now, Somchai will again sit down with Hun Sen, Cambodia's 20-plus-year strongman prime minister, for another attempt at a truce. Both men headed to Beijing today for the talks. Looks like hosting bilateral talks is China's way of reminding the world its post-Olympics city still exists.
Related Stories:
· Somchai and Hun Sen Meet in China [Bangkok Post]
· What Are Thailand and Cambodia Fighting About? [Jaunted]
[Photo: daylife.com]]]>
This summer, Cambodia enthusiast Tim Patterson shared his favorite spots in the country--but skipped Angkor Wat. The ancient temples overshadow Cambodia's many other assets, he argued.
True enough, but Angkor is world-renowned because it's pretty freaking incredible. Khmers have good reason to be proud of this heritage, and this week, we're laying out a guide to help you navigate the impressive and overwhelming network of temple ruins.]]>
It was back in July that we first mentioned the temple trouble between Thailand and Cambodia as they fought over the newly UNESCO Heritage-listed Preah Vihear temple on their disputed border. And we thought it'd all be over soon and we could put this place back on our want-to-visit list.
Not so. Since then, there have been more protests and even a short skirmish between Thai and Cambodian soldiers that left three people injured. Landmines have also caused a few injuries.
This week, the two sides finally sat down for a chat again. But the only result seems to be that Cambodia has told Thailand it has to get its troops out, and the Thais have said they're staying there to do more mine clearance work. Which means that planning a visit to the gorgeous Preah Vihear will have to stay on our "postponed" list.
Related Stories:
· Cambodia, Thailand Resume Talks on Border Spat [AFP, via Google]
· What Are Thailand and Cambodia Fighting About? [Jaunted]
· Cambodia Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Mofaitsontdm]]]>
