Hi,
Looking for info on disabled people getting around Angkor Wat. My wife has to use crutches to get around and gets tired quite easily. We are going to Gt a day pass for Angkor but was wondering if it's possible to hire transport to go from site to site. I Appriciate that there can be a lot of climbing steps but she is happy to view stuff from ground level.
Any advice Appriciate. Not going is nt an option!
Cheers
Sure you can hire a driver to take you from temple to temple, but there is still sometimes a lot of walking involved depends how close the driver can get to the actual temple.
Angkor Wat is a hugh area and you need to walk quite a bit from the entrance to the temple, I don't know if drivers are allowed to the food stands on the left side, but at least there you can sit down and rest up for a while.
Cheers, we know there will be a lot of walking. Just wanting to manage expectations. Luckily her condition calms down a lot I hot climates.
At Angkor Wat no shade or anything to sit down from the bridge to the temple, but smooth ground not to many stairs, I think your wife will do fine with crutches.
Ta Prohm will be more of a challange, you get dropped off at one side and picked up at the other side, you have to walk some way to the temple, but there you have shade, the temple itself has very uneven ground, not many if any stairs, but parts will be hard with crutches.
The Bayon is rather small, at least I can't remember to much walking there.
That is all we did, our driver offered to take us to other places but we were just beat by the heat and humidity so the only thing we wanted was a shower or a pool, the good thing is it gives us a reason to return to see some of the further out temples.
as above, hire a car with a driver to get around. there is no need to book this before you are in siem reap. there will be plenty of people wanting to drive you, so get someone you like and agree on an itinerary and price.
you can enjoy at lot of amazing angkor wat at ground level, with only a couple of stairs. as above, the walk from the bridge to the temple is quite long and there is no shade. but its smooth, so if you take your time you should be fine.
bayon shoulndt be a problem either. i would also visit ta prohm (or a part of it). there are wooden platforms around most of the front part of the temple, which makes for easy walking. ask the driver to wait for you where he dropped you off, as walking to the other side could be a bit challenging with crutches.
if you dont mind a long day, i would also visit banteay srei. this is one of the most beautiful and delicate temples in the siem reap area, with wonderful carvings. also, its flat and not huge, so i think the easiest one (of the places mentionned) to visit for your wife. banteay srei is about 25km north of the other temples, so make sure your driver knows that you want to go there.
I would like to share my experience as my mom accidentally sprained her ankle in Phnom Penh.
However, we still had a great time for Angkor Wat trip.
Though it's true that many sites are high with stairs.
Still there are many sites that are flat we could go.
Her condition was she couldn't really walk. She could walk with crutch but not for long.
It's easier for her to hold the wheelchair to walk.
Most of time she sat in the wheelchair and i pushed her wheelchair , but some parts she need to walk a little bit
Sometimes she would push wheelchair to assist her walk.
We would skip the sites with too many stairs that some you can tell easily from the entrance.
Or some sites maybe we just visit the flat parts and skip the parts that require to walk up.
I did find in web that there is a travel agency name ABOUT Asia could do disabled travel in Angkor Wat.
They even have people to carry you to the some high parts.
This is the link
https://goo.gl/RjWEjT
For us, we just rent a tuktuk and put the wheelchair and crutch with us.
It worked okay for us.
I couldn't recall the sites that we have visited, but i remembered more than 5 for sure.
We did go to banteay srei; and i agreed with previous reply nathalie2; it was a lovely place.
There were some stairs to climb, but not many, in general was flat.
I recommend that that you should leave early maybe 4 to 5am everyday since it is really hot.
Then call it a day early.
My friend told me that you can rent a wheelchair in Siem Reap for maybe USD 5-7 per day.
maybe you can check with your hotel or hostel.
Hope you enjoy the trip:)
Angkor Wat was gorgeous!
The ground is pretty uneven throughout but on crutches it should be OK. Hire a driver the majority of temples are not too far to walk to or at least see. Just for people's knowledge there are a couple of modified tuk tuk in siem reap which are designed for wheel chairs.
As a mobility impaired person who has used crutches for a long time, I can tell you it can be done as long as you take regular breaks. Wear a wide brimmed hat to keep the us off (it's damned hot out at the moment), take plenty of water inside with you and enjoy your time there.
Some of the higher parts (eg. where the King is entombed) will be too difficult to climb. Some areas need careful navigation to avoid falls.
Do the tour and don't have regrets of what you may have seen but for a disability.
This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.