A Tuk Tuk Tour around the Small Circuit of Angkor Wat

If you’re thinking about doing the small circuit around Angkor Wat on a tuk tuk tour, then you landed on the right page. Angkor Wat is without a doubt one of the most incredible places we’ve ever been to, and we want to tell you all about it.

Even if you’re just curious about Angkor Wat, then you can hopefully still find some knowledge and inspiration from this travel guide. Either way, we’re just glad you’re here, reading about this magnificent place on earth.

So in this guide, we’ll share our experience of doing a tuk tuk tour around the small circuit of Angkor Wat.

We’ll tell you all the steps on the way such as the opening hours and entrance fee to Angkor Wat, where to stay in Siem Reap, how to find a tuk tuk driver, the price for a tuk tuk, and which temples you can expect to visit on the small circuit.

That way, you’re hopefully prepared to have an amazing day in this extraordinary place on earth.

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Things to know before visiting Angkor Wat

Before we start writing about our experience in Angkor Wat, we want to share some historical facts about the place and some practical information such as entrance fee, opening hours, and where to stay in Siem Reap.

But let’s start by learning a bit about the history behind the archaeological grounds of Angkor.

The story of Angkor

“Angkor” is the Khmer word for “city” and from the 9th to the 15th century, the whole archaeological site of Angkor was actually the capital city of the Khmer empire.

“Wat” means “temple” and it’s a word that’s widely used around Southeast Asia to describe a Buddhist temple.

So “Angkor Wat” actually refers to the biggest temple within the grounds of Angkor, whereas “Angkor” is the name of the whole area including all the temples. However, “Angkor Wat” is widely used when people just refer to visiting the grounds of Angkor (which we also do a few times in this travel blog).

Today, Angkor is a Buddhist religious site where it’s common to see Buddhist monks dressed in their iconic orange robes, walking about, praying, and meditating. However, these Buddhist temples were originally built as Hindu temples during the Khmer empire. That’s why you’ll see Hindu gods in the stone carvings of the temples.

The grounds of Angkor finally became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, which it 100% deserves to be.

Angkor Wat opening hours 2023

This section might seem a bit confusing because there are a few different opening hours in Angkor and Angkor Wat depending on which temples you are visiting. But I’ve tried to make it as simple as possible – so here are the opening hours of 2023.

• Angkor Wat ticket office opening hours: 5 AM – 5:30 PM.
• General opening hours for temples in the Angkor grounds: 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM.
• Places with early opening hours are Srah Srang Lake and Angkor Wat: 5 AM – 5:30 PM.
• Places with late opening hours are Phnom Bakheng and Pre Rup: 5 AM – 7 PM.

A rule of thumb is to just visit the archaeological park of Angkor when it’s still light outside because it’s closed when it’s dark. If you want to catch the sunrise or the sunset in the Angkor area, then there are a few specific temples (see above) where you can do this.

Angkor Wat entrance fee 2023

The entrance fee to Angkor Wat depends on the amount of days you want to explore the archaeological park. We just bought the 1-day pass because it’s all you need to go explore the small circuit of Angkor Wat. But we certainly see why people buy more days, and ideally we would have loved to get a 3-day pass.

You can either plan ahead and get your admission ticket online or just show up at the ticket office and get your ticket directly at the counter.

Angkor Wat Pass Type	Prices 2023
1-day pass	37 USD
3-day pass	62 USD
7-day pass	72 USD

Useful tip: If you get your 1-day Pass after 4:45 PM, your pass is valid from that time on + the entire next day. This means that you can actually get a “free” evening and go watch the sunset in Angkor.

These prices might seem a bit steep when you compare them to other price levels in Cambodia. However, some of the money goes to conservation of the place, which it really needs with millions of visitors every year, and some of it goes to a children hospital fund.

Also, there is no entrance fee at Angkor Wat for Cambodians. This means that if you’re Cambodian, then you’re free to walk into the grounds of Angkor and learn about the history of your country.

In our opinion, it’s such a great idea that they’ve made it free for locals or else some Cambodians might never get to visit Angkor Wat because of the price levels.

Where to stay when visiting Angkor Wat

During your visit to Angkor Wat, you’ll want to stay in the nearby city named Siem Reap. Luckily, there are so many hotels and hostel options in the area.

During our trip, we stayed in a hostel named The Hideout. However, I can’t seem to find it on Booking.com anymore. It looks like it may have been replaced by the Mad Monkey Hostel, which is another great place to stay in Siem Reap if you’re looking for a well-located, affordable, and social hostel with a pool.

Booking.com

How to get around Angkor Wat by tuk tuk

Our initial plan was to rent a motorbike and do the small circuit around Angkor and Angkor Wat by ourselves. However, we learned that foreigners aren’t allowed to rent motorbikes or scooters in the Siem Reap region.

Our second plan was then to rent bicycles from our accommodation. However, the morning of our departure, our hostel had completely forgot about it, so we were standing there at 4:30 AM with no mean of transportation that could take us to Angkor Wat.

Luckily for us, a friendly Cambodian named Chen was parked right outside of our hostel in his tuk tuk and he said that he would happily take us around the small circuit of Angkor Wat.

Why go by tuk tuk to Angkor Wat

So, it was actually completely random that we ended up doing a tuk tuk tour around the small circuit of Angkor Wat. But now we can 100% recommend going there by tuk tuk.

First of all, it was a luxury to be driven around instead of having to bicycle the area ourselves. Cambodia is hot and humid, so not having to pedal our way through the jungle was in fact very nice.

Secondly, Chen actually turned out to be a big plus on our day in Angkor. He spoke good English and he told us many stories about how he and his family lived in Cambodia. He also shared more personal stories about how his parents survived the Khmer Rouge and the horrible mass genocide of Cambodia. Spending the day with Chen was honestly so interesting, and we would happily recommend him to any future Angkor Wat visitors.

Lastly, going around Angkor Wat in a tuk tuk is just so much fun!

How to find an Angkor Wat tuk tuk driver

It was dumb luck that we met Chen. He was standing outside our hostel looking for work, and we were standing outside of our hostel without a ride.

But there are so many tuk tuk drivers in Siem Reap which will gladly take you on a tour around the big or small circuit of Angkor Wat.

In fact, walking around Siem Reap as a tourist can actually be rather stressful because of the many “tuk tuk?” that’s constantly thrown at you. At every corner of the city, at least 3 tuk tuk drivers are waiting for work. So, it’s not hard to find someone to take you.

If you want to plan ahead, then you can also easily book an affordable tuk tuk tour on Viator. Apart from tuk tuk tours, you can also find guided tours, sunrise tours, and much more.

The price for a tuk tuk tour in Angkor Wat

We didn’t really have to haggle over price. We just told Chen that we would pay him $20 to take us around for the day, and he gladly accepted. Plus we also ended up paying his lunch ($2) just because he was so nice to us.

After talking with a few fellow travelers, the price to take a tuk tuk around Angkor Wat for a day varies between $20 – $25. We would personally not pay less than $20 since it’s the price for driving you around all day for 8-10 hours.

But if a tuk tuk driver tries to charge you a price like $30 to take you around Angkor Wat, you can either haggle or just move on to another one.

Just make sure to settle on a price before you start your trip to Angkor Wat, so you and the tuk tuk driver are on the same page.

Useful tip: If you’re traveling solo, then find someone nice to go with and split the $20 cost. Then the price for a tuk tuk around Angkor Wat is actually only $10 per person.

What to expect: Angkor Wat small circuit tour

We finally made it to the most exciting part of this Angkor Wat travel guide – the part where we write about all the temples we explored in the small circuit. This trip that we describe took around 8 hours to complete.

1. Srah Srang lake – A beautiful beginning

Most people start the small circuit tour by watching the sunrise over the impressive Angkor Wat temple. But since we were already too late for that, Chen decided to start our trip at the beautiful Srah Srang lake and instead end the tour at Angkor Wat.

It was just after sunrise, which meant that all the tourists were at the Angkor Wat temple and we were all alone at Srah Srang lake.

We sat down and had some breakfast here. Our breakfast consisted of some asian bananas (they’re my favorite) and a few biscuits. It was so peaceful to sit here and eat while looking over this beautiful calm lake.

Srah Srang translates to “The Royal Baths”. We actually don’t know whether it was used to bathe in or not, but because of the name, we can imagine that it may have been the Khmer King’s bath? The lake was dug in the mid 10th-century, so it’s part of the Angkor history.

Useful tip: If you’re looking for a less touristic place to watch the sunrise in Angkor, Srah Srang lake is an amazing little spot to do this.

2. Banteay Kdei – A temple all to ourselves

After finishing our breakfast at Srah Srang Lake, we were ready to go explore some temples! And luckily for us, just opposite the lake, you’ll find Banteay Kdei.

Banteay Kdei was the first temple of the day which we were going to explore. We were the first people to enter when the gate opened, which meant that we found ourselves being the only tourists here. How is that even possible?!

We absolutely loved Banteay Kdei. The temple wasn’t that well-preserved, yet you could feel that it was once a magnificent temple.

Banteay Kdei was built in the mid-12th century and translates into “Citadel of Chambers”. It’s also known as the “Citadel of Monks” because a lot of monks used to occupy the temple.

For us, Banteay Kdei will always be one of our favorite temples in Angkor because it was the first temple we explored, better yet, we explored it almost all alone!

I literally poked my head into a small, enclosed, shrine-looking building and a bat flew straight into my face, which meant that we were the first ones there since nobody had poked their head into that room yet.

We just loved the tranquility of this temple.

3. Ta Prohm – The famous Tomb Raider temple

After exploring Banteay Kdei, it was time to move on to another temple. And this temple turned out to be much more popular.

As soon as we turned up at the Ta Prohm temple entrance, 5 Cambodians ran towards our tuk tuk and tried to sell us books about Angkor Wat, a sarong, a flute, and other stuff… We understand the books and the sarong, but who buys a flute in Angkor?

Anyways, it just prepared us for this to be a much more touristic place. And it was.

Several big tour groups were walking through this temple. We heard tour groups in Spanish, Chinese, and English. It was a complete contrast to the quiet Banteay Kdei which we had just visited.

The main reason why Ta Prohm gained so much popularity is because it was featured in the movie “Tomb Raider”. Another reason is that this temple is still very much immersed by the jungle, which makes it pretty special.

Ta Prohm translates to “Ancestor Brahma”, but it was originally called “Rajavihara”, which means “Royal monastery”. So, this temple used to be a monastery when it was built in the late 12th century.

We actually really liked Ta Prohm because of the way the jungle surrounds it. There is even a massive tree that has sprung out of the temple, which is very impressive! However, it will never be our favorite temple because of the big tourist crowds.

4. Ta Keo – The pyramid temple

We absolutely loved Ta Keo!

When we arrived at the temple, Chen told us to be careful.

Careful? Why? Are there snakes or something?

There were no snakes, instead we quickly learned that he meant not to slip and hit our heads on the massive steps that lead to the top of the temple. Honestly, the steps you have to climb to the top of Ta Keo are huge! But it’s all very adventurous.

Ta Keo actually means “Temple-mountain”, which makes totally sense. Because unlike the other temples we’d seen, Ta Keo was built like a small mountain.

The temple looks like a five-tier pyramid where each tier has a separate terrace. It’s very impressive, and if you ask me, it’s definitely one of the must-visit temples in Angkor.

Although, I must admit that walking up and down the steps of Ta Keo was a bit intimidating for me (I’m not super excited about heights), but it was really worth it. At the top of the pyramid, we found a small temple where some Buddhist monks where praying.

Ta Keo is a very authentic temple, plus excellent views are included.

5. Bayon Temple – Hundreds of smiling faces

The Bayon Temple turned out to be our favorite temple in the small circuit around Angkor Wat.

We completely fell in love with the many small hallways in this temple, which felt like walking through some sort of maze. Plus, all the smiling faces that are carved into Bayon creates a unique atmosphere, which we didn’t feel in any of the other temples.

Apparently, there are more than 200 smiling faces cut out in the Bayon temple, which was built back in the late 12th century.

Even though we started to get a bit tired at this point of our trip, we were still completely taken aback by how much we loved this temple. Bayon definitely put a smile on our faces.

So you should really look forward to visiting Bayon on your trip around Angkor Wat’s small circuit.

6. Angkor Wat – The king of all temples

Now let’s get on with what we’ve all been waiting for – The king of all temples – Angkor Wat!

Angkor Wat is said to be the largest religious monument in the world, isn’t that just crazy? It’s also the temple that you see in the Cambodian flag. Angkor Wat is truly the landmark of Cambodia.

There is so much to be said about this big beautiful monument that we don’t even know where it would be right to begin or end. One thing is for sure, it’s a place that truly deserves to be on everyone’s bucket list.

The Khmer King, Suryavarman II, originally built Angkor Wat in the 12th century for the Hindu god Vishnu, who is the preserver and protecter of the universe. Then it gradually became a Buddhist place of worship, which it remains today.

There is so much history in this place, yet we wouldn’t know how to even begin explaining. We’re not historians so we cannot do Angkor Wat’s history justice on this travel blog. Instead we’ll just advise and encourage anyone who is visiting Angkor Wat to go read about it.

So here are some resources about Angkor Wat that you can start with:

• General Facts
• Architecture
• Wikipedia

We were so happy that Chen had made this incredible pearl the last stop of the day, and we cannot wait to visit Angkor Wat again in the future!

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We hope you enjoyed this blog post about how to go on a tuk tuk tour around the small circuit of angkor Wat. It’s honestly one of our most memorable travel days and it’s a must-visit attraction in Southeast Asia.

If you have any questions about the tuk tuk tour, Angkor Wat, or any of the other temples, then feel free to leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you. Thanks for reading and happy travels!

Read our other travel guides from Cambodia:

• Kep National Park
• Things to do in Kep
• Bokor National Park
• Things to do in Koh Rong Samloem