Banteay Kdei

Banteay Kdei tickets and tours: which one to book

There is no separate ticket for Banteay Kdei. Like every temple in the Angkor Archaeological Park, it is covered by the Angkor pass, sold for one, three or seven days at the official ticket centre on the road from Siem Reap or online through the official channel. The one-day pass costs USD 37, and staff check it at the entrance, so keep it with you. Visitors arrive in one of three ways. Most hire a tuk-tuk or car with driver for the day and follow either the small circuit, which passes Banteay Kdei after Ta Prohm, or a custom route. Many take a guided tour: a half-day walk through Ta Prohm and Banteay Kdei with a licensed guide, or a full day that adds Angkor Wat and the Bayon.

These usually include hotel pick-up, an air-conditioned vehicle or tuk-tuk, the guide and water, while the Angkor pass is almost always paid separately. Sunrise tours that start at Angkor Wat often end the morning here. The sensible choice for a first visit is a guide on day one, when the history of Jayavarman VII and his Buddhist foundations makes everything that follows easier to read, and an independent tuk-tuk on later days. Banteay Kdei itself is easy to explore unaided, and cycling there from Siem Reap is possible for confident riders.

Visiting Banteay Kdei: what to see and how to behave

Banteay Kdei, the citadel of chambers or of monks' cells, is a Buddhist monastery built by King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th and early 13th centuries on the site of an older 10th-century sanctuary. It follows the plan of Ta Prohm and Preah Khan in a smaller, simpler form, and was lived in by monks at intervals until the 1960s. Most people enter from the east, opposite the great royal pool of Srah Srang, through a tall gate whose tower carries the four serene faces of the Bayon style. A causeway lined with naga balustrades leads through a garden of trees into the Hall of Dancers, a pillared terrace named after the apsaras carved on its piers.

Beyond it lie two concentric galleries enclosing a cluster of shrines and towers, a maze of low doorways, collapsing vaults and carved stone. Walk straight through to the western gate, which faces Ta Prohm about 600 m away. Look for the dancing apsaras and the finely cut false windows, and for the places where Buddha images were chiselled away after the empire turned back to Hinduism. The building was put up quickly with poor sandstone, which is why so much has fallen, and conservation work continues; respect the barriers and do not climb loose blocks. Dress modestly, keep voices down near any monks or worshippers, and do not touch the carvings. Banteay Kdei lies about 3 km east of Angkor Thom and roughly 20 minutes by tuk-tuk from Siem Reap.

Banteay Kdei: opening hours, ceremonies and the best time to go

Banteay Kdei is open daily within the park's normal hours, roughly 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, with only Angkor Wat and a few viewpoints opening earlier for sunrise. The best hour is early morning, straight after sunrise at Angkor Wat or Srah Srang, when the light filters through the trees and the halls are nearly empty. Late afternoon is also good, once the midday groups have moved on. The dry, cooler season from November to February is the most comfortable;

March to May is very hot, and the wet months from June to October bring green jungle, short heavy showers and fewer visitors. The Khmer New Year in mid-April and the Pchum Ben holiday in autumn fill the park with Cambodian families. Allow 45 minutes to an hour. It pairs naturally with Srah Srang across the road, Ta Prohm to the west and Ta Keo or the eastern temples on the small circuit.