Angkor Wat Sunset, Sunrise and Everything In Between

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Here is an essential guide to Angkor Wat sunset, sunrise and everything in between.

 
 

A Guide to Angkor Wat

Visiting Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia, might just be the best trip you’ll ever take. The Angkor Wat sunset is spectacular, and the sunrise is breathtaking. 

Knowing how to make the most of your visit can also be confusing. So, here is a list of easy travel tips for seeing the Angkor Wat sunrise, sunset and everything in between. In this Angkor Wat blog post, I explore the best of what this magical place has to offer. I’ll also fill you in on things to avoid.

The Angkor Wat Sunrise

“Should we get up to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat?” I asked my husband, Mark, as we (meaning me) were trying to organize our itinerary now that we’d arrived in Siem Reap.

“No,” he said, looking as if he couldn’t think of a worse way to ruin a morning.

I understood. I avoid sunrise tours as much as humanly possible.

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Should You Get Up for the Sunrise?

It seems as if every iconic bucket list trip like Angkor Wat has a must-see sunrise spot waiting to grab you when you least expect it, leaving you – if you don’t do it – to face condescending looks of pity when other travellers eagerly ask if you crawled out of bed to see the sun raise its glowing head over (insert famous sunrise spot here).

So, here is the first question you need to ask yourself when you arrive in Siem Reap: Should you get up to see the Siem Reap sunrise at Angkor Wat?

The answer is yes.

 Sunrise Angkor Wat. Is it just another sunrise?

 

Why You Need to See the Sunrise

Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world, and its air of mystery and spirituality is magnified in the morning light.

Situated in northwest Cambodia, the temples at Angkor were built during the Golden Age of the mighty Khmer Empire, constructed between the 9th and 13th centuries. It’s an iconic sightseeing moment that’s hard to pass up.

While we avoided it right up until the day we were flying out, at the last minute, Mark insisted on a sunrise Angkor Wat excursion knowing that if we didn’t, I would blame him forever. (He was right, even though I didn’t want to get up either.)

So yes, by all means, get up at 4:30 a.m. to get there in the dark. You will be joining every other tourist on the planet (and probably a few aliens, too), but good things will happen:

• You will see the sunrise at Angkor Wat.
• You will not suffer from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) for the rest of your life.
• You will not ruin your marriage by blaming your husband for your YIMO AIAYF (words I just invented that mean Yes I Missed Out and It’s All Your Fault).

When to Get Your Tickets for the Sunrise

At sunrise, Siem Reap, specifically Angkor Wat, is blissful. But before you see the sunrise at Angkor Wat you need a ticket, and let’s face it, 5:00 a.m. is not the time to be queuing up in a ticket line. So if possible, get it the afternoon before.

Bonus money-saving Angkor Wat travel tip: If you wait until 4:45 pm to buy your ticket for the next day, you can then go straight to visit Angkor Wat and watch the Siem Reap sunset at the temples for free. Whoot!

 

 
 

The Best Place to See an Angkor Wat Sunrise

The best sunrise spot is in front of Angkor Wat Temple. Expect crowds. From where the tuk-tuk drops you, walk across the boardwalk over the moat and turn left. Photos are prettiest in front of the pond, but you’ll have to jostle for space. People recommend taking a flashlight but we didn’t bother.

The crazy thing is that once it was light, tons of people left, but we wandered around the temple, went back to the pond, and the sun was rising spectacularly over the temple. This is when I got the best shots of all. My advice? Linger.

Travel tip: If your hotel comes with breakfast you can get it to go and picnic there.

 
 

The Top Places to see the Sunset at Angkor Wat

Just as at sunrise, at sunset Siem Reap is beautiful with a mystical atmosphere. There are two places where everyone goes to watch the sunset: Phnom Bakheng, a temple mountain, and Pre Rup, a temple probably used for cremations.

However, as Mark said, “What’s the point?” because from these top Siam Reap sunset spots you’re watching the light fall over the jungle with a gazillion other sunset seekers.

What we wanted to do was to see the light fall over the temples themselves, and have them appear all mysterious and glowing.

 
Even Better Places to See a Sunset in Siam Reap

Our favourite accidental sunset at Angkor Wat moments were:

• While walking along the causeway that crosses the moat to Angkor Thom, a sunset spot we stumbled on by accident. Why you should love the causeway: Because the statues along it are devas (gods) and asuras (demons) who are, according to Hindu mythology, Churning the Ocean of Milk.
• We also loved sunset at the boardwalk at Neak Prean as the surrounding lake turned peach gold. (Actually, I loved it. Mark was either suffering from temple fatigue or doesn’t appreciate a good sunset.)

 

Pre Rup, a Sundown Downer

Our least favourite sunset moment was at Pre Rup, where we went specifically to see the sunset. Lesson learned: Embrace the accidental at Angkor. It trumps the traditional way to tour Angkor Wat (almost) every time. (Okay, only some of the time. Whatever.)

Sunset Angkor Wat travel tips: Most temples close at 5:30 but to feed those sunset hungry tourists, Phnom Bakheng and Pre Rup are open until 7.

 
 

Angkor Wat Tickets, Tips, and Travel

Here’s the drill. You need to buy a pass before you visit Angkor Archaeological Park because the ticket office is not at the park and it’s not in central Siem Reap. It’s somewhere in between and down a road to the right.

You can buy an Angkor Pass for 1 day, 3 days or 1 week. When we were there tickets cost:

• Angkor Day pass: $37 USD
• Angkor 3-day pass: $62 USD
• Angkor 1 week pass: $72 USD

Can you pay for your Angkor Wat entrance ticket by credit card? No. You need cash. There is an ATM at the ticket office.

Is Angkor Wat in Siem Reap? Not exactly. It’s about 4 km away.

What is Siem Reap like? Unlike my vision of Angkor Wat being remote atmospheric ruins in the untamed jungle, surrounded by nothing but monkeys, gibbons and a few isolated luxury hotels, Siem Reap, the gateway to the temples, is a vibrant city full of restaurants, bars, markets and hotels.

Who knew? Angkor Wat offers the best sunset Siem Reap has to offer.

 
This brings me to three important Angkor Wat travel tips:

1. Do not take Cambodian riel out at the ATM. You don’t need it. There are approximately 4000 riel to a dollar, so if you take cash out, you’ll be carrying around millions of riel and probably need a separate suitcase just for your cash. You can use US dollars for everything.
2. Easy calculation for Cambodian Riel. Take away three zeros, divide what’s left by four. (It’s not precise but good enough.)
3. If you’re not sure how long you’ll be in Siem Reap buy the longest pass you might need. We liked it so much we spent 6 days there instead of 3, and because of our last minute decision to see the sunrise we had to buy an extra day ticket.

 
 

How to Get Around Angkor

Since the park is so large, walking won’t do you much good – though be forewarned, you’ll be doing plenty of walking within the temples and terraces. You can get there from Siem Reap by car, tuk-tuk – like a motorized rickshaw – or bicycle.

Going by tuk-tuk is, to my mind, absolutely the best way because it’s so much fun. By car, you’re too removed, and with a bike, you have to contend with the traffic getting there – though once you get to the park it would be lovely.

 

Trust Your Siem Reap Tuk-Tuk Driver to Know Where He’s Going

Tuk-tuk drivers know the drill. It costs around $15 or $16 US dollars for half a day and $20 or $21 for a full day.

They know where to buy tickets, where to take you (even when you don’t know where to go) and will patiently wait for you while you trip around the various temples. They also, importantly, somehow always seem to be able to spot you out of a crowd. But just in case, take note of your pick up spot plus their tuk-tuk number.

We used 3 different tuk-tuk drivers, and all were fine. They’re everywhere in Siem Reap, so you can pick one that you like. Obviously, if they try to overcharge you, avoid them. Know, however, that they will probably want you to visit a high-end artisanal souvenir shop. What the heck. Go ahead. You don’t have to buy. Or you can just say no.

Before You Go – Essential Angkor Facts

Visiting Angkor Wat does not mean visiting Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat, the largest religious complex in the world, is only one temple in the vast 400-square-km Angkor Archeological Park, a site which is full of fantastical temples, terraces and moats, and monkeys and jungle.

The Best Temples to See

The Big Three temples you cannot miss are Angkor Wat, Bayon, and Ta Prohm.

A brief history of the Angkor temples: Angkor Wat was built by a king named Suryavaram II who was devoted to the Hindu god Vishnu. Earlier Hindu temples gave way to Buddhism over the years, and some temples are still used by Buddhists today.

 
 

Angkor Thom

Angkor Thom, just north of Angkor Wat, is an entire ancient city with Bayon, the famous Face Temple, smack in the centre of it. For more info visit my Bayon Temple article. At one time Angkor Thom was the largest city in the world, with more than one million inhabitants.

Ta Prohm Temple

Ta Prohm is overgrown and known as the Indiana Jones Temple or the Tomb Raider Temple because it featured in the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom movie. Ta Prohm is 1) crowded and 2) very atmospheric with strangler fig roots slowly squeezing the life out of the shored-up stone walls.

 
 

How to Avoid Crowds

Crowd avoidance at Angkor is vital, though sometimes you’ll collide head-on with a million tour groups no matter what you do.

When we visited the temple of Angkor Wat at lunch hour, when the heat is at its worst and most of the tour groups are having lunch, it was practically deserted. The downside is that, for photography, the colours are a bit washed out.

 
 
Insider Tip: Do not try to avoid the crowds at a jam-packed temple like Ta Prohm by going the opposite way of the signs that say ‘Possibility of a Visit’ – if you do you’ll end up battling the masses to get through narrow doorways and up tricky steps the whole time.

We speak from experience. I blame my husband.

You might, however, want to do the Angkor Wat Circle Tour the opposite way. Many travellers recommend this as a good crowd-avoidance strategy.

 
 

What is the Angkor Wat Small Circle Tour?

Most Angkor travel guides recommend this popular circuit around Angkor, which generally moves clockwise, stops at the top sights and starts at Angkor Wat. Because Mark and I never manage to do anything right, and because we had more time than most, our tours were piecemeal.

Sometimes we’d visit one temple, come back, lie by the pool, then when it was cooler in the later afternoon we’d head out again for another temple or two and the sunset.

 
 

The Best Time to Visit Angkor Wat

Absolutely our favourite touring time was from about 3 or 4 p.m. onwards when the light is better and the heat is less intense. Plus, then you’re there for sunset.

 
 

Don’t Stick to the Top Sights

I have a lot of favourite moments at Angkor, and most of them involve visiting sights that were off the beaten track. One of the most important Angkor Wat travel tips I can give you is to stray beyond the Big Three.

One standout was a late afternoon duo of Preah Kahn and Neak Prean. First, we visited Preah Kahn, the Sacred Sword Temple, which is just a bit further out, wonderfully jungle-y and full of endless corridors. Also, there were no crowds.

Then we whipped over to the delicate Neak Prean, a tiny gem of a temple surrounded by mystical looking water.

Travel tip: Preah Kahn and Neak Prean are generally included in what is known as the Large Circle Tour.

 
 

Don’t Miss Bantaeay Srei

Don’t do what we did and skip Bantaeay Srei. If you’re staying longer than a day, try to get out to this stunning temple. Carved from rock with a pinkish hue, it’s supposed to be the most delicately and finely-crafted temple of all.

 
 

Rolous Temples

Instead of Banteay Srei, we went to see the Rolous Temples. Some of the earliest-built temples at Angkor, they’re about 45 minutes away by tuk-tuk. We enjoyed them a lot. I especially loved the petite Preah Ko, the Sacred Cow Temple, with its intricate plasterwork and intimate lost-in-the-jungle feel.

I really regret not seeing Banteay Srei (and will blame Mark for the YIMO AIAYF for the rest of our marriage, even though – as I did all the trip planning it wasn’t entirely his fault).