Two temples in Preah Vihear. Koh Ker has 12 tickets and tours to book; Preah Vihear Temple has 2 tickets and tours to book. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
Koh Ker has its own ticket, sold at a checkpoint on the access road and online as a one-day pass; the Angkor pass is not valid here. The ticket covers the whole site for the day, and there are no timed slots or separate charges for individual temples. The real cost is getting there: the site lies in Preah Vihear province, roughly 120 km north-east of Siem Reap, and almost everyone comes by road.
The most popular product is a full-day tour from Siem Reap that combines Koh Ker with the jungle-covered ruin of Beng Mealea, which lies on the way. These tours include an air-conditioned car or minibus, a guide, drinking water and often lunch, while the entrance tickets for both sites are commonly extra, so read the inclusions carefully.
Preah Vihear is one of the most spectacular Khmer temples and one of the hardest to reach. It sits on a clifftop in the Dangrek Mountains on Cambodia's northern border, roughly 140 km from Angkor as the crow flies and a long drive of three to four hours each way from Siem Reap. Almost everyone visits it as a full-day excursion from Siem Reap, and that is what is sold online.
The first type of trip is a private day tour with a car, driver and English-speaking guide, often leaving Siem Reap around dawn and returning after dark. The second is a shared day tour that pairs Preah Vihear with Koh Ker, the tenth-century capital with its seven-tiered pyramid, which lies roughly on the way; it is cheaper but makes for a very long day in a minivan.
