In 2018, 2.6 million international tourists visited Angkor Wat and the Angkor Archaeological Park each year. That's on top of the domestic tourists and pilgrims who also visit the site.
For us foreigners, the entry ticket comes in one, three or seven day varieties, with the $37USD one day ticket by far the most popular (if the queues at the different ticket desks were anything to go by). That means that, despite the enormous crowds flocking to the "big 3" temples and the main sites, there is a lot of Angkor still to go around: 72 major sites and a few hundred minor ones.
After you pass Phnom Bakheng's hill, but before you get to the main, southern gate of Angkor Thom, you will pass several smaller, little visited 10th century temples, scattered over a grassy and tree-lined bank of the moat.
First up is Baksei Chamkrong, a tall single tower, and one of the ones you can still climb (although the steps are very steep, narrow, and worn - so steep in fact that looking at them triggered my fear of heights, and I elected to stay on ground level).
Continue past Baksei Chamkrong, and you'll reach Prasat Bei, with triple towers.
Smaller sites like these may not be as elaborate and ornate as the famous sites, but when you're exploring in the sunshine with no one around except the birds in the trees, you have to admit - there's a lot more to Angkor than the big 3, and it's well worth budgeting the extra time and money for the 3 day pass instead.
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| Baksei Chamkrong |
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| Prasat Bei |
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| Some details of Prasat Bei |
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| The moat as seen from Prasat Bei |
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