Cambodia

The new Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport sits 50 km east of town, a 45 to 75 minute transfer. The official shuttle bus is $8; a fixed-rate private car is about $35. Submit the free e-Arrival card within 7 days of landing, or use the tablets at the airport.

The Angkor Enterprise office on Road 60 is the only official seller. Buy the 3-day pass ($62, valid any 3 days within 10) after 4:45pm: it unlocks the same evening's sunset and your three counted days start tomorrow. Your photo goes on the pass; bring your passport. Under 12s enter free.

Pre Rup, the red-brick pyramid of the grand circuit, stays open 5am to 7pm, making it one of the legal sunset spots. Your brand-new pass gets you in tonight without burning a counted day.

First night, first amok. Walk the Old Market lanes and order fish amok, steamed in banana leaf with kroeung curry paste. Pub Street is the spectacle; the lanes behind it are the dinner.

Your driver waits at 4:30. A small-circuit tuk-tuk runs about $15 to $18 for the day, plus roughly $3 for the sunrise start. Agree the price the night before, not at dawn.

The temple opens at 5am. Walk the causeway to the reflecting pools; the smaller pool to the right of the causeway gives the same tower reflection with far fewer tripods.

The sunrise crowds are heading back to hotel breakfast. You go in: the bas-relief galleries, then the Bakan upper level. Real sleeves required up top; a draped scarf gets turned away. Shoulders and knees covered everywhere.

The 11am to 3pm window belongs to air conditioning. Lunch is nom banh chok (fermented rice noodles under green fish curry) or kuy teav (pork noodle soup), $2 to $4 at any busy stall.

The jungle temple late in the afternoon, when the big groups have gone and the light drops through the silk-cotton trees onto the roots strangling the stonework.