Jaunted

Here's the single most important technique to minimize the headache of touring Angkor: Avoid the tourists.

As a tourist, this sounds tricky--and a little hypocritical. But the area clears out during wet season (May through September), when, shhh, it's not much wetter or hotter than it is during the dusty, crowded dry season. And shuffling behind a group of geriatric Japanese can detract from the humbling experience of encountering the craftsmanship of one of the world's greatest empires.

After the fall of the Khmer empire in about the 13th century, the jungle swallowed the temples, rendering them urban lore. Villagers in Northwestern Cambodia who knew they actually existed considered them the work of giant gods.

Visitors who avoid the crowds by traveling during wet season, and most importantly, during off hours, can glimpse how French botanist Henri Mahout must've felt, in 1860, when he stumbled onto the decaying stone structures surrounded by river-size moats.

Dragging ourselves out of bed to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat then visiting the temples in the wee morning hours brought us face-to-face with the giant, empty structures, and gave us some pretty sweet photos, like the one above. After a few hours at Angkor Wat, the largest and (arguably) most impressive of the many temples, we stumbled out, just as the Cambodian sun began to scorch and visitors poured in.

Spend the afternoon like Cambodians--napping and eating--in the adjacent, but disappointing town of Siem Reap, then head back to the temple park at dusk to look around some more and watch the sunset over the Terrace of the Elephants, intricately carved steps that once served as a viewing platform from which King Jayavarman VII would greet his returning army.

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· Cambodia Travel Guide: Angkor What? [Jaunted]