Everybody wants to see the Angkor Wat sunrise and it’s the shot every photographer goes there for, but getting it comes with a price. That price is sharing the Angkor Wat sunrise with hundreds, sometimes thousands of others.  I decided to go there during low season when it’s rather hot (like 30-36 degrees) and have less people to deal with (basically my travel motto is “If there’s people there, you won’t see me anywhere near”).  I’d rather put up with being a bit hot than dealing with what you see below, which is photos from Google when you google “Angkor Wat sunrise people”.

Another thing you can do to get the best Angkor Wat sunrise experience is hire a photography tour.  They’ll tell you the best time to go, and the best place to stand to get the best shot of the Angkor Wat sunrise.  I did that and reckon it’s the best way to see Angkor Wat whether you’re a serious photographer or now.  If you’re even mildly in the least bot interested in getting a decent shot of the Angkor Wat sunrise, it’s well worth going on a Photo Tour. You can find out about the one I did here.

Another thing you need to know about the Angkor Wat sunrise is that it might not be that spectacular and be highly dependent on the weather.  If you live in Asia you’ll know that 90% of the time the sunrises and sunsets anywhere in Asia can be full with haze, making for a not so spectacular sunrise.  You’ll also need to shoot in Raw, have a look at the raw image below, which is the same image as above, unprocessed.

Basically there are two “reflection pools,” one on the left and one on the right of the temple – everybody seems to go to the one on the left. The right is (in my photography tour guides opinion) the nicer photograph and it’s usually much more relaxed over there. If you do want to shoot the sunrise, that’s the spot from which to do so. You need a tripod, it’s absolutely essential.

If you want to be in position to shoot the sunrise, it’s important to collect your ticket the night before. The ticket office doesn’t open until 5am and with the sunrise at 5.35am (roughly) at the moment, that doesn’t leave enough time to get from the ticket office to Angkor and get set up. Organising tickets in advance is a fairly simple process; you’ll just need to jump in a Tuk Tuk and head out to the ticket office at the end of Road 60 (all of the tuk tuk drivers will know the location). Tickets for the next day can ONLY be purchased after 4:45pm until 5:30pm.

Some of the info may have changed, so double check it with Google.

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